‘Little men with big guns’

I chuckled to read Kevin Larkin’s letter (Your View, December), suggesting we find an opposing epithet to ‘bunny hugger’.

Walking a public footpath a few years ago my husband and I found ourselves in the middle of a shoot. The ‘guns’ could do nothing about our intrusion, we were on a public right of way, so they had to stop shooting. We slowed our walk to a shuffle and watched as the Pheasants put up by the beaters flew off unharmed. Great! And as I walked along the all-male line I delighted in having the opportunity to politely tell them all what

“little men with big guns” they were, with great emphasis on the “little”.

Surprisingly, they took it, with no return fire, and without hitting my husband (though he admitted afterwards that he was startled that I’d risked it, given that they were all armed). So, there we go – Little Men very adequately sums up the inadequate.

Simone Stanbrook-Byrne