But, according to a mum-of-one who owns a gun shop in Ketton, near Stamford, children of people who enjoy shooting as a hobby are the least likely to become fascinated by the street gun culture.

“Most people in the shooting community get their children involved from a very early age,” said Amanda Brudenell, of Brudenell Guns.

“They will talk them through all aspects of safety and instill a respect for guns.

“These children will have seen what a gun is capable of, what the effects of pulling a trigger are. Most of the young people getting hold of illegal guns have seen them on films and heard about them in songs and don’t really understand what a gun can do.

“To them, pointing a gun at someone and pulling the trigger is like hitting someone on the head with a mallet in a cartoon – in a cartoon that person will get up and walk away. But in real life they won’t.”

Amanda (27) set her shop up seven months ago, after taking the sport up three years ago and realising there was a gap in the market for a gun shop in the area.

She also realised that the sport’s growing number of women followers sometimes feel intimidated when walking into a gun shopped staffed by men.

She said: “I took shooting up because my husband did it as a hobby, and I really enjoy it. It’s exciting, and a great way to meet new people that you wouldn’t normally meet.

“I mainly shoot clays, and it’s relaxing. Over the past three years I have noticed more and more women coming along, mainly with their husbands. I think shooting is more accessible to women these days.”

Amanda added that wasn’t sure how the current problems with guns on the streets could be solved.

She said: “The problems are not coming from legitimate shooters. To get a gun licence you have to go through a police check, and you have to keep your gun locked up.

“You would never even point it at someone when it was unloaded, never mind anything else.

“The guns these kids are using are illegal, bought out of the back of a car boot, or CO2 guns they have bored out in their bedrooms, and it’s hard for the Government to deal with that. Banning air rifles and shotguns isn’t the way, because the people who own those are very conscientious about safety.

“The guns we have have got a paper trail behind them – the police know what you have, where you got it, how long you’ve had it – everything.

“I am open with my eight-year-old son about guns and shooting, and he helps me clean my gun when I get back from shooting. And he has no curiosity about guns whatsoever, because they are not mysterious things to him.”

Amanda goes shooting at Kibworth, and also at Haddon Lodge. She said: “We tend to go shooting on a Sunday morning, not competitively, and it’s just a laugh. We have a joke – most people who go shooting tend to be very friendly, the kind of people who’ll say hello to anyone.”