gun question for the British folk on my flist

[thrihyrne]

I'm writing a HP story and a character who's forced into being 'Mugglefied' has had it grudgingly suggested to him that he purchase a gun— for self-defense. Being in the States, our gun control is, well, pretty lax, depending on the state. How difficult is it to buy personal arms in the U.K. (this story is set in England proper, however), and, what I'm really wanting to know, are there semi-public ranges for people to learn how to shoot one? We have them here, the proverbial gun club, but I have the sense that they are far less prevalent in the U.K. Okay, I'll be honest; a year or so ago I wrote a story set in England and had someone shooting at a pesky raccoon and it was pointed out to me that that would be highly unlikely to happen in England, as opposed to many parts of the U.S.

Any comments are welcome!

Comments

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

No raccoons either. People with shotguns usually shoot at pesky rabbits. Foxes are also a possible target. In some parts of the country and at some times of the year, one might conceivably shoot deer, various game birds or the Beast of Bodmin. No non-criminal civilian would have a handgun or an automatic weapon in the normal course of things.

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

No non-criminal civilian would have a handgun or an automatic weapon in the normal course of things.

What a lovely concept!! That's certainly not the case here. Thank you for your comment.