Be interested in what you think

[beagle2]

This was in the local paper what the hell is wrong with this country. I ask you what are the chances of it ever being more than a bb gun this is not a city with drug gangs etc just a nice country town so why send in armed police.

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/se...ge_Chippenham/

I think that instead of bringing in that stupid hand gun ban what they should have done was to ban all replica guns that includes blank and pellet/bb guns. Airguns and CO2 guns should look like what they are not imitation cartridge guns. If responsible people could have lets say .22 cartridge guns for target shooting then there would not be any need for the imitation firearms. If this was the situation then if there was a report of someone seen with a firearm the chances are that it would be the real thing and not a waist of time and money.

[Top*Shot]

If responsible people could have lets say .22 cartridge guns for target shooting then there would not be any need for the imitation firearms. If this was the situation then if there was a report of someone seen with a firearm the chances are that it would be the real thing and not a waist of time and money.

Is there still a place for replica, deactivated and blank firing guns in this country ?
Consider this point of view. If a shooting enthusiast or collector who has young inquisitive children / grandchildren in the household chooses not to have live ammunition and weapons in the home whilst these children are growing up. Should he be forced into a life totally deprived of guns just because of other peoples mis use. Surely he would be acting "Responsibly" in his personal choice and actions so why should he be deprived of his passion.

Should those who have replica muskets and rifle "ornaments" on their walls be likewise penalised and criminalised.

Punish the criminals to the fullest extent of the law as a proper deterrent and leave the honest law abiding folk alone I say. The "responsible" person wouldnt be in the street or other public place with a replica in the first place.

[BigEars]

This was in the local paper what the hell is wrong with this country. I ask you what are the chances of it ever being more than a bb gun this is not a city with drug gangs etc just a nice country town so why send in armed police.

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/se...ge_Chippenham/

I think that instead of bringing in that stupid hand gun ban what they should have done was to ban all replica guns that includes blank and pellet/bb guns. Airguns and CO2 guns should look like what they are not imitation cartridge guns. If responsible people could have lets say .22 cartridge guns for target shooting then there would not be any need for the imitation firearms. If this was the situation then if there was a report of someone seen with a firearm the chances are that it would be the real thing and not a waist of time and money.

The only problem lies with the number of firearm look-alikes and even toys presently in circulation. Do you want to ban toy guns as well?

If anyone is daft enough to make others think they have a firearm in public they need a visit from an ARU regardless of what it is. He should be grateful he wasn't shot.

Just my opinion as a pistol shooter.

[MikeB]

I think that instead of bringing in that stupid hand gun ban what they should have done was to ban all replica guns that includes blank and pellet/bb guns. Airguns and CO2 guns should look like what they are not imitation cartridge guns. If responsible people could have lets say .22 cartridge guns for target shooting then there would not be any need for the imitation firearms. If this was the situation then if there was a report of someone seen with a firearm the chances are that it would be the real thing and not a waist of time and money.

What naive, simplistic, misguided tosh!

It's people like you who are directly responsible for the wholly disproportionate, unjust and ill-conceived firearms laws we are forced to endure in this country today. When it comes right down to it, the selfish majority are always willing to sacrifice the minority in an attempt to save their own skins, and this argument has been repeated ad infinitum across the whole gamut of shooting sports, and is perpetuated by ignorant, unthinking fools.

Instead of standing firm, we allowed "minority" disciplines to fall, whilst hoping that our chosen sports would be allowed to continue, much akin to turkeys voting for Christmas. I'm incensed that any shooter can pour scorn and derision on another branch of shooting, no matter how far removed from your sphere of understanding it may be.

As for replicas, please explain exactly what the difference is between collecting replicas and de-acts, and collecting stamps, thimbles, crystal glasses, Lladro pottery, classic car models, Airfix planes or old coins? None of them have any intrinsic use, but yet thousands of people enjoy owning them for no other reason than the fact that they give them pleasure; they find them aesthetically pleasing.

Yes, before you say it, a deact, lifelike CO2 pistol or a replica can be used to threaten or intimidate: but so too can an expensive katana, or a Test Match cricket bat, come to that. Many of us enjoy owning and shooting "lifelike" CO2 pistols simply because it's the closest we can legally get to the real thing, and routinely do so without threat or danger to anyone else.

After all, what really is the point of, say, Practical Shotgun? It's not like the participants are ever likely to engage in guerilla warfare or neighbourhood defence, is it? So, on that basis, there's not really any point in Firearms Licensing Departments entertaining PSG as good reason for Section 1 shotgun, and accordingly, we might as well outlaw devastating solid slug ammo to all but registered deer managers and licensed wild boar controllers whilst we're about it.

Advancing that same argument, what use really is clay pigeon shooting? Should we allow it for gamekeepers and syndicate Guns simply in order that they may keep their eye in during the close season? What practical use can possibly be served by simply clay-busting every week, anyway?

Gallery rifle, target rifle, HFT, FT, paintball, airsoft skirmishing... where do you draw the line?

Can you see the slippery slope you advocate, or am I just wasting my time?

[beagle2]

What naive, simplistic, misguided tosh!

It's people like you who are directly responsible for the wholly disproportionate, unjust and ill-conceived firearms laws we are forced to endure in this country today. When it comes right down to it, the selfish majority are always willing to sacrifice the minority in an attempt to save their own skins, and this argument has been repeated ad infinitum across the whole gamut of shooting sports, and is perpetuated by ignorant, unthinking fools.

Instead of standing firm, we allowed "minority" disciplines to fall, whilst hoping that our chosen sports would be allowed to continue, much akin to turkeys voting for Christmas. I'm incensed that any shooter can pour scorn and derision on another branch of shooting, no matter how far removed from your sphere of understanding it may be.

As for replicas, please explain exactly what the difference is between collecting replicas and de-acts, and collecting stamps, thimbles, crystal glasses, Lladro pottery, classic car models, Airfix planes or old coins? None of them have any intrinsic use, but yet thousands of people enjoy owning them for no other reason than the fact that they give them pleasure; they find them aesthetically pleasing.

Yes, before you say it, a deact, lifelike CO2 pistol or a replica can be used to threaten or intimidate: but so too can an expensive katana, or a Test Match cricket bat, come to that. Many of us enjoy owning and shooting "lifelike" CO2 pistols simply because it's the closest we can legally get to the real thing, and routinely do so without threat or danger to anyone else.

After all, what really is the point of, say, Practical Shotgun? It's not like the participants are ever likely to engage in guerilla warfare or neighbourhood defence, is it? So, on that basis, there's not really any point in Firearms Licensing Departments entertaining PSG as good reason for Section 1 shotgun, and accordingly, we might as well outlaw devastating solid slug ammo to all but registered deer managers and licensed wild boar controllers whilst we're about it.

Advancing that same argument, what use really is clay pigeon shooting? Should we allow it for gamekeepers and syndicate Guns simply in order that they may keep their eye in during the close season? What practical use can possibly be served by simply clay-busting every week, anyway?

Gallery rifle, target rifle, HFT, FT, paintball, airsoft skirmishing... where do you draw the line?

Can you see the slippery slope you advocate, or am I just wasting my time?

If you took the time to reed what I actually said and did not go of in some pathetic rant you would perhaps understand what I am saying. When I was young practically all of the boys had airguns and they would go down to the woods or fields and shoot at tin cans and perhaps the odd bird. But the guns that they had were airguns ie webley tempest etc that looked like airguns not proper hand guns so for the most part there was no problems. Lets face it the modern CO2 hand gun clones are fun but they are toys cheep imitations of the real thing for the most part. All that I am trying to say is what chance do we stand of getting our proper cartridge guns back if every couple of days there is a gun scare on the news and all over the newspapers that usually turns out to be some twit with a bb replica gun. And yes collectors should not be forgotten about but for the other forms of shooting that use the CO2 six or eight shot guns why do they have to be copies of real guns I for one would like to have a good quality eight shot pistol that was not a clone of the real thing. The only quality ones that I have seen cost a fortune to buy and look about two foot long.

[Firestorm]

If I transport any of my pistols or rifles, they're hidden from view where possible so as not to cause alarm, in a proper case.

At the end of the day, the laws are in place, and if you agree with them or not, they're here to stay.

In my opinion, if any "tw@t" still insists on carrying any form of "gun" in an irresponsible manner, knowing what responses will be made, they deserve everything they get.

If I was a cop and someone had any kind of "gun" on them, I certainly wouldn't take any chances. Drop 'em first, find out later.

Russ

[MikeB]

When I was young practically all of the boys had airguns and they would go down to the woods or fields and shoot at tin cans and perhaps the odd bird. But the guns that they had were airguns ie webley tempest etc that looked like airguns not proper hand guns so for the most part there was no problems.

Indeed. There was also a time when "horseless carriages" had to be preceded by a geezer waving a red flag; thankfully, things have moved on since then.

All that I am trying to say is what chance do we stand of getting our proper cartridge guns back if every couple of days there is a gun scare on the news and all over the newspapers that usually turns out to be some twit with a bb replica gun.

No chance whatsoever, regardless of twits with BB guns, replicas, starting pistols or otherwise.

When you were a lad, most boys had airpistols and rifles; it was no big deal. Do you think for one minute in these changed times that the average Joe or Joanne could tell the difference between a Webley Tempest and a Glock 17 if it was waved around in front of them? Not a chance. They'd see a GUN, that's all, thanks to years of Government anti-gun policy, ably aided and abetted by an hysterical media machine.

Seriously, only last week I saw an article in my local paper about an off-licence employee who'd been held at gunpoint: The description - a black gun! That is what we're up against.

This is exactly the same argument advanced by "purists" who insist that military-looking rifles and shotguns (like the AR clones, GSG 5, Benelli M2 and SPAS-12) have no place in UK shooting - they are "scary" looking and give entirely the wrong impression to the public: utter, utter rubbish. The public see a GUN, it is SCARY because of the Government's stance on Firearms and a frenzied mainstream media; no one gun is scarier than another when you're already conditioned to be irrationally scared of guns, y'see?

Finally, if you want cartridge pistols back, then demonising other shooters and / or collectors, whilst lamenting the passing of a gentler era on an Internet forum is not the way to go about it.

Hope that helps.

[Jerry Cornelius]

Instead of standing firm, we allowed "minority" disciplines to fall, whilst hoping that our chosen sports would be allowed to continue, much akin to turkeys voting for Christmas. I'm incensed that any shooter can pour scorn and derision on another branch of shooting, no matter how far removed from your sphere of understanding it may be.

Nailed it. I've always thought airsoft was a bit odd myself, but I'd defend it. Same with collecting de-acts. I dare say plenty of people think shooting at bits of paper is pointless, but I enjoy it.

We can't let anything shooting related get chipped away.