Sportsman's Association
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The Sportsman's Association is a small UK pro-shooting organisation.
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[edit] History
The Sportsman's Association was formed in 1996 to campaign for the right of sports shooters to own handguns. This was limited following the Dunblane Massacre when Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and their teacher using legally-held pistols. (Though many shooters dispute whether Hamilton held his guns "legally", pointing out that due to his past behaviour, police should never have allowed him to keep a firearms certificate. They maintain that Hamilton only had access to a FAC due to serious errors by the issuing authorities). Membership figures are unavailable, but the Sportsman's Association is not a mainstream shooting organisation and indications are that membership numbers remain small. For comparison, SA's main "enemy" the "Gun Control Network" [sic], which campaigns against legally held guns, though bizarrely not against unlicenced firearms, is also very secretive about its membership: though it is not thought to more than five or six people.
[edit] Policy
The organization has been vocal in supporting conspiracy theories about the Dunblane Massacre, and in March 2006 contributed money to support publication of Dunblane Unburied by Sandra Uttley which alleges a cover-up by the Freemasons to protect paedophiles. The restoration of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has also been a popular topic on the organisation's members forums, often in relation to the Bill of Rights 1689.