"Hush child go to sleep, it's only the sound of a gun..."

Police launched an armed response after three men, including one who was believed to be armed, were seen near Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA), in Falmer yesterday afternoon.

A member of staff at the former Falmer High School dialed 999 after seeing the men and pupils were ushered into their classrooms.

Fear of another Hungerford or Dunblane clearly in their minds, no doubt.

But no. It was just what you really should expect if your school is in the middle of a rural community:

But when the police helicopter located the men it was discovered the gunman was using a legal air rifle to hunt rabbits.

Whew! Panic over, right?

Wrong:

The mother of a 13-year-old pupil said: “My son said it was a boy chasing three rabbits with a gun.

“He apparently fired the gun and a lot of pupils saw it.

“It is really worrying. I’m really worried about how this could have happened.”

And she's not the only nervous nellie:

pcdoc1, Brighton says...

I have a daughter at the school and hearing about firearms being seen was very scary. The teachers have not even mentioned about the incident and we didnt know if our daughter was safe untill she arrived home.

Guns kill even trained firearms experts have been known to make mistakes.

The police might as well put a notice up in this paper saying anyone who wants to do some shooting go to baca school and enjoy yourselfs!

Incompetent!

Trying to reason with people like this is utterly futile, though some commenters try anyway. It falls on wilfully deaf ears:

lana18, says...

for all u inconsiderate prats that obviously dont have kids ,it was a very scary time.For us as parents it is a worrying time! when u hear a gun man is about in baca and u only live down the road with kids ,it is scary not knowing what would happen next,so keep ur stupid comments to ur selfs,cos u all know it all dont u mr i am perfect people ,air rifle or gun either are scary and dangerous!

I can only hope the school does a better job with your kids than it clearly did with you, lana18...

But this is the sort of hysteria and overdeveloped sense of danger that leads, inevitably, to this sort of nonsense:

illagers in Oxfordshire are smarting after being hit with a ban on using a starting pistol to send off competitors in a centuries-old race.

A shotgun was once used to start the Great Shirt Race, which is held at Whitsun and features two teams pushing prams round Bampton's pubs and drinking half a pint of beer at each. But in 2000 that was replaced with a starter pistol after pressure from police.

Now they've been told that because the starter pistol, an Olympic .380 BBM, can be converted for criminal use they cannot use that either.

The issue seems to be a change in the law (as a result of these converted weapons being used in several street murders) and since the starting pistol is now a licensed weapon, and no-one in Bampton has the appropriate license, they cannot use it.

Bet you feel much safer as a result, villagers. Right?