The .22 pistol is to be exempted from the gun ban. The pistol is the one weapon which represents violence. It all started in the so-called Wild West of America and the days of the fabled cowboys and Indians. Years ago, replicas of the pistol were in the hands of practically every schoolboy playing games of cowboys and indians.

From my own Army experience, the .22 calibre bullet, was used on the military ranges where it was emphasised that the "danger area" of this bullet when fired was two miles. It is practically impossible to eliminate all weapons, but why exempt the one weapon which symbolises more than any other the power of the gun?

G BILLINGTON (Mr), East Crescent, Accrington

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