Air pistols & guns. Time for them to be licensed?

[Leo001]

I'm sorry, but there's some loose thinking going on here.

 

Some people see criminal behaviour, and the only solution that occurs to them is to pass more and tighter laws.

 

But that behaviour is criminal because there are ALREADY laws making it so. The logical solution therefore is for the police to actually enforce the present laws and for the Criminal Justice System to punish those who break them.

 

The sad fact is that our police and the Criminal Justice system appear to be unable or unwilling to do this anymore, except for the more mundane and trivial offences.

 

Frankly we are in the mess we are in because, thanks to our present government, the systems designed to ensure the rule of law and order in the UK are simply no longer fit for purpose.

[melthebell]

My late Grandfather taught me how to shoot safely with air weapons - the importance of assuming any gun to be loaded until one has personally proven otherwise, and never pointing a gun at a human being ( unless, as Grandpa said, you intend to shoot them). Like wise I've shown my eldest how to handle and shoot air rifles and pistols.

I was a member of an air rifle club with my Dad for a while and I'm a damned good shot - I have put five shots through the same hole at six yards with my .177 Sharp Innova.

I don't think air weapons should need licensing, no. As Dungbeetle pointed out earlier in the thread there are plenty of more dangerous weapons available, that are far more likely to result in serious injury or death. A cricket ball,half brick a well thrown stone...

 

but thats the point, britain is full of idiots these days, just cos you learnt how to handle guns doesnt mean every other one of the anti social ***** has.

and just cos people can use any other inanimate object as a weapon is no excuse not to have tighter controls on something as i sad we dont NEED in a gun less society.

if people want to shoot whats wrong in joining a registered gun club instead of letting savages run around anywhere with em.

 

or is it purely a thing of i hate guns get rid, or i love guns you cant do that?? cos thats what it looks like to me tbh lol, all the people that hate em click yes, all the ones that have used em / love em click no

[RudiUK]

This government has tried (and failed) to ban / spin / asbo its way out of criticism over the country's criminal and social malaise.

 

Why do people complain about inanimate objects as though they are the root of all evil when it's actually criminals who are causing the problems

 

The basic issue is that criminals are no longer afraid of the law.

 

The quicker the government focuses on effective policing rather than soundbites, amnesties and performance targets the better.

[madcow]

personally i played with toy guns as a kid, moved on to airguns as a teenager,moved onto the real thing in my late teen's when i joined the force's. still own a moderatle powerful air rifle today

 

legislation exists prohibitting the use of /ownership of the "real" thing but as we are seeing on an almost daily basis people are still getting shot.

i don't feel any further legislation concerening air guns would subseqently reduced the nimber of idiots that have been previuosly described on this thread. but would perhaps make it difficult for the responsable air gun enthusisast to enjoy their sport..

 

it's more of a social thing whereby parents & airgun suppliers should shoulder the burden of responsability for the sale and use of these weapons.

[madcow]

personally i played with toy guns as a kid, moved on to airguns as a teenager,moved onto the real thing in my late teen's when i joined the force's. still own a moderatle powerful air rifle today

 

legislation exists prohibitting the use of /ownership of the "real" thing but as we are seeing on an almost daily basis people are still getting shot.

i don't feel any further legislation concerening air guns would subseqently reduced the nimber of idiots that have been previuosly described on this thread. but would perhaps make it difficult for the responsable air gun enthusisast to enjoy their sport..

 

it's more of a social thing whereby parents & airgun suppliers should shoulder the burden of responsability for the sale and use of these weapons.

[madcow]

personally i played with toy guns as a kid, moved on to airguns as a teenager,moved onto the real thing in my late teen's when i joined the force's. still own a moderatle powerful air rifle today

 

legislation exists prohibitting the use of /ownership of the "real" thing but as we are seeing on an almost daily basis people are still getting shot.

i don't feel any further legislation concerening air guns would subseqently reduced the nimber of idiots that have been previuosly described on this thread. but would perhaps make it difficult for the responsable air gun enthusisast to enjoy their sport..

 

it's more of a social thing whereby parents & airgun suppliers should shoulder the burden of responsability for the sale and use of these weapons.

[flann]

Once again there is a knee-jerk response to a problem.

 

A yob misuses something so ban or licence it.

 

Where do you stop? Baseball bats? Golf clubs (yes, people have been attacked with them).

 

And what about kitchen knives? There is far more knife crime than airgun crime. Should you need a license to buy a breadknife?

 

The problem doesn't lie with whatever the yob misuses, it is with the yob.

 

Social responsibility has broken down in the UK. Currently you need to be 17 to buy an airgun, come October it will be 18. So my first instinct is to wonder what the hell the parents of the yobs are doing. Do they know if their kids have air guns or not? Do they even know where there kids are?

 

What we are in desperate need of in this country is people living up to their responsibilities and duties to society, not more bad laws passing.

 

Under current laws misusing an airgun is treated as a firearms offence and there are severe punishments on the statute books.

 

For threatening someone with an airgun, whether loaded or not, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

 

The problem is the Courts refuse to pass sentences which will act as a deterrent, the laws are on the statute books, perhaps we ought to start using them before introducing new ones.

[oldrecoiler]

i don't believe that making new laws would make a difference.

The mindless yobs that everyone on this thread keeps describing would not care that there was a law banning all air wepons. The fact is it is already against the law to misuse air weapons.

Even if you introduced the law and only allowed clubs to use guns then the people that were willing to use guns for crimes are not going to use the clubs, are they. They would continue to use the weapons illegally as they already do.

There are more dangerous weapons out there such as guns that fire live ammunition, that are already banned, but these are just as easy to get hold of on the streets.

And if anyone has ever fired live ammunition and air weapons they would know that there is a world of difference between firing them and that you could practice with an air weapon but that would'nt make you a crack shot with a rifle or a pistol on the street

[melthebell]

i don't believe that making new laws would make a difference.

The mindless yobs that everyone on this thread keeps describing would not care that there was a law banning all air wepons. The fact is it is already against the law to misuse air weapons.

Even if you introduced the law and only allowed clubs to use guns then the people that were willing to use guns for crimes are not going to use the clubs, are they. They would continue to use the weapons illegally as they already do.

There are more dangerous weapons out there such as guns that fire live ammunition, that are already banned, but these are just as easy to get hold of on the streets.

And if anyone has ever fired live ammunition and air weapons they would know that there is a world of difference between firing them and that you could practice with an air weapon but that would'nt make you a crack shot with a rifle or a pistol on the street

 

as i see it, effectively banning people from using them apart from clubs etc would make it easier to spot traoublemakers, if your seen with an air pistol AT ALL your illegal.

on your last point, its gotta make you more of a crackshot than not ever using a gun at all

[cinstone]

Hello everyone.

 

Let's try & put a few facts together & then people can make a judgement based on them & not just on hearsay.

 

So, some folk want air guns licensed, some may even want them banned. Well after the Dunblane incident, handguns were banned in a kneejerk reaction to the incident. Ask yourselves this if you will. Has it stopped anyone, 1, Getting hold of handguns. 2, The use of these handguns. 3, Has it stopped anyone getting injured or killed by the use of these handguns? The answer is no.

 

Illegally held handguns, as we have seen recently, are in the hands of certain people. Firstly, may I underline the fact that these handguns are illegally purchased kept & used by these people, who do not want to abide by the law in this country.

 

One of the posts earlier in this thread said that "anyone can walk into a shop & buy a air gun". Well I'm affraid that this is not the case. There are many rules & laws to do with purchasing, keeping & using air guns, and these will be even more strict & restrictive come October when the Violent Crime Reduction Bill comes into force.

 

The first rule of purchasing an air gun is that you must be 18 years old or more. The "kids playing in the park" would therefore be using the air gun illegally.

 

Now these kids may have stolen the gun, or they may have purchased it from somewhere like a car boot sale, which, if the gun was just on the table for sale is also illegal as if the gun is in public it must be 1, Only be in public with good reason, for example, taking it to the rifle range for target practice, & also it should be enclosed in a suitable case or bag. So an air gun being sold in the open at a car boot sale is already illegal & come October it will be more so, as you will have to be a registered firearms dealer to sell air guns.

 

So, if come October, someone over 18 wanted to purchase an air gun, you must first buy it from a registered firearms dealer. The dealer will then write down your details in a firearms register. After purchase you would then only be able to take it outside & to your car if it was covered up in a suitable bag or case. Pellets for the gun must also be kept separate from the gun & the gun must not be loaded when not in use.

 

There are many more rules & laws that should be abided by & responsible air gun users like myself & many thousands of other people in the sport do abide by them. The penalties, if used to their full extent are severe.

 

There are many things in this country that are licensed;-

 

T.Vs. Does this stop everyone using them without a license? No.

Cars. Does this stop everyone using one without a licence? No. Neither does it stop some people using them without tax, insurance & M.O.Ts either.

 

In reality, the only people who would licence an air gun legally would be the people who use them legally now. Criminals, yobs & hoodies, call them what you like, would not give a thought to licensing them.

 

A history lesson for you. Back in the 1920s in America, alcohol was banned. It was called "Prohibition". Did it stop alcohol being produced & consumed? Nope. It all went underground & became massive business for organised crime gangs.

 

One other example for you. There are many people killed or injured on our roads everyday. Some are accidents & some are due to dangerous or irresponsible driving. Now does an accident caused by a person driving dangerously mean that all cars should be banned? How many of you would vote for that?