It is hard not to feel slightly alarmed when you hear the breathless headline on the TV news that thirteen children under the age of ten have been issued with shotgun certificates in the past three years. Hard too for that alarm not to turn to panic when you hear that one of the recipients of these licences to bear arms is just seven years of age.

Set in the context of a rising moral panic about children and young people and following hard on the heels of the inquest into the appalling murder spree of shotgun and rifle-owning Derek Bird, the scene was set for a sensational story. So it proved.

Almost every BBC news outlet, both TV and radio, plus a number of national and regional newspapers carried the story last week, the essential facts of which are that between 2008 and 2010, there were 7,071 shotgun certificates issued to under-18s, and that 13 of them went to children under ten.

The information, gleaned via a Freedom of Information inquiry, came from 51 police forces up and down the country. Only Dorset Constabulary refused to hand over the information.

Unsurprisingly, given the rural nature of the far South West and the relatively high level of gun ownership, Devon and Cornwall police granted the most certificates to young people with 418. They were followed by West Mercia (346) and Norfolk (324). Gloucestershire Police issued the licence to the seven-year-old.

The implication, from the tone of the BBC's original story and several of the follow-up pieces, was that there is something seriously amiss here. "What an earth," was the clear message coming through, "are children as young as seven doing with guns? And what, in these deeply troubled times, with knife crime apparently rife on the streets and armed maniacs running amok, are police forces doing actually encouraging it"?

At this point many in the shooting community here in the South West and many officers and civilians in the police firearms licensing departments up and down the country, will have been rolling their eyes in disbelief and asking what all the fuss was about?

First of all let's consider what the law actually allows. Although there is no lower age limit for the granting of a shotgun certificate, it is illegal to buy or hire any gun or ammunition below the age of 18 – whether you have a certificate or not.

So the risk of a seven year old rolling up at his local gun shop and buying a 12-bore and 1,000 cartridges, on the production of his certificate and an appropriate wad of cash simply isn't going to happen.

What he and other keen sporting shooters under 15 can do, however, if they have successfully obtained a shotgun certificate, is use that weapon under the close and strict supervision of an adult over the age of 21.

The issuing of a licence to a ten-year-old makes no material difference to the way the law would react if the child in question were out walking the fields and hedgerows alone with the loaded weapon in his hands. Even as a certificate holder he would be committing an offence unless a responsible adult was supervising him.

There are only two other ways a young person can get started in shooting without first obtaining a certificate and that is under the supervision of a landowner on his own land – which rules out 90 per cent of youngsters unlucky enough not to have been born into families with rolling acres – or at an approved clay pigeon ground, which is not always possible in rural areas.

The sane and sensible way to regard young people who apply for their shotgun certificate is that they are exhibiting the kind of law-abiding , socially responsible behaviour that should surely be encouraged, not condemned. It is not the dozen or so officially sanctioned under-ten shotgun users we need to worry about – it is unlicensed guns and their criminal users that pose the biggest risk.

Give a boy or girl under 15 a shotgun licence, let them have the use of a gun under close supervision and they learn to respect guns, behave safely and get some healthy outdoor exercise into the bargain. They will also be "in the system" having been visited by the police and checked out as one who is suitable to be engaging in shooting sports – not the sort of scrutiny to which a budding gun criminal would willingly subject himself.

There will always be people who object to guns, are opposed to shooting sports, particularly shooting sports involving live quarry, and want to see the law on all gun ownership considerably tightened.

In rural areas, however, where shooting – both of targets and live quarry – is a traditional activity and part of the culture, with significant economic and conservation benefit, why shouldn't young people, under the right supervision, get involved?