Sad news story from England, land o' regulation

I'm a bit skeptical...! I'm no doctor or x-ray tech but it appears all those "pellets" could,

in fact, be shotgun pellets. There certainly is a lot of them..

~MM~

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Fake news or clickbait?

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/police-update-swans-reportedly-shot-2251718

I also found an article from 2011 where supposedly swans were killed in the same area by an airgun. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-12534932

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-12616003



Apparently its a thing for swans to die in groups in Somerset and for some anti airgun groupto whine about it when it happens, even though it turns out the deaths may be natural.


 
Another reported swan death, prior and before this one, was attributed to pellet guns but was obviously from a 'catapult', or slingshot to us Yanks. 

Huge holes and dents in the animal that I'm referring back to.. The pictures make me cringe as a responsible hunter. Fortunately, in the public comment section, knowledgeable contributors pointed out the error, but the article itself wasn't ever corrected, and still remains online titled as an airgunner shooting. Sad...
 
Any more regulations won't stop this type of incident as anyone mindful of the law who would apply for a license wouldn't do this to a swan. I am in Scotland so I know first hand the damage airgun licensing has had on the sport. One interesting point my firearms officer told me is that more folks getting FAC powered airguns given the test is only slightly more burdensome than a sub 12flb. I now have two fac airguns and loving them. If I was in england I would do all I can to oppose licensing as it will vastly reduce the number of kids getting into airguns, which are the gateway to other more powerful powder burners, probably the motivation behind it all....