Sales restrictions “no solution” to airgun crime. BASC press release

[Simon Clarke]

9th September 2005………………………………………immediate release..

A proposal to restrict airgun sales to registered firearms dealers (RFDs) will not reduce airgun crime, according to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).

BASC, the UK’s largest shooting organisation, which has a long track record of involvement in initiatives to reduce the misuse of airguns, believes the proposals put forward by the Scottish Executive and currently being considered by the Home Office will prove ineffective and unenforceable.

Bill Harriman, BASC Director of Firearms said “Firearms dealers could keep a record of initial sales, but after that there would be no enforceable audit trail of where an airgun has gone. The Firearms Acts also make it unlikely that a dealer could be held responsible for subsequent misuse of an airgun which they had sold. It would prove impossible to police private sales between individuals. The police could also struggle to process a flood of applications from retailers wishing to become registered firearms dealers”

“The answer to airgun crime is two-fold; enforcement of the existing law coupled with investment in an educational programme to highlight the dangers of airgun misuse to young people.”

There are an estimated five to seven million airguns already in circulation in the UK. BASC believes restricting sales of new airguns to RFDs will do nothing to prevent misuse with new or second-hand airguns.

Bill Harriman said “Airguns have a useful and legitimate role to play in pest control, target shooting and recreation. The vast majority of owners use them safely and responsibly. High powered air rifles are already subject to the strictest level of licensing allowed under UK law. We will be meeting the Home Office in the near future to discuss these proposals. Effective legislation already exists to deal with airgun crime. Until it is properly enforced and backed with an education programme, further legislation should not be considered.” ENDS.

BASC publishes an airgun code of practice which can be seen at http://www.basc.org.uk/content/airriflepractice

For more information call the press office on 01244 573031

[Simon Clarke]

If anyone hasn't seen this story yet, try

here

or here

or here

or

here

[wgmorgan]

Nice to see the BASC is on top of this Mr Clarke. I personally worry that if tough restrictions are applied to retailers then gun control obsessives will next claim that an anomaly exists if the secondhand market is left untouched. Have you heard anything that would suggest informal markets in airguns, such as on here, are to be banned or restricted?

[Simon Clarke]

The second hand market is one of the main problems with this proposal.
Even if it were illegal to sell without going through an RFD, it would be impossible to police.

The press release points out some of the other obvious problems.

The changes, if they are to be introduced, could be added to the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, which will be going through its committee stage in October.

It is well worth writing to your MP about.
but this must be done NOW.
You might like to include our press release, or take part from it, and perhaps a phrase such as this:

"as a responsible and law-abiding air gun shooter I must point out that the latest proposals to restrict sales to Registered Firearms Dealers will do nothing to curb the illegal misuse of airguns, and present the prospect of becoming bad law: difficult to enforce, ineffective and restricting law abiding people such as myself"

You could also add that the Police could well be hard pressed to deal with a flood of applications by retailers to become RFDS.

One thing MPs have repeatedly pointed out to us is that they get very few letters from shooters.

[Geordie]

My MP has ignored no fewer than four letters from me, and his recent "lets ban airguns" rant in the local rag shows me why

Ronnie Campbell - Labour party ****.

[Lurchermiss]

I have said it before the election what would happen, I have said it after the election and I will say it again. Most of you must have voted this lot in because they are. I actually now feel more secure as I have a rimfire now, but I am not complacent.
I will still of course write in to my MP as I have done on each occasion our sport is threatened.

[Keith Oakes]

Why is it that when something like this happens people like us are made to pay for it while the mindless idiots who commit these crimes get off with a slap on the wrists? I can see exactly what's gonna happen: The powers that be will ban anything with a trigger and there will still be gun crime. What are these ignorant narrow-minded do-gooders gonna say then? It seems to me that us law abiding sportsmen are being gradually done away with and there's nothing we can do. If we live in a democratic society, where the bloody hell is the democracy?

[boltaction]

Its just another piece of what would appear to be of Politicians appealing to the vast majority of the ill informed general public and the even less informed tabloid press, trying to get a story out of nothing and trying to portray they have the interests of their local community at heart, when in fact all they are doing to do is trying to boost their circulation figures. why dont they concentrate on the massive problem of car thefts and the damage and injuries that they inflict on the general public......no that would be to hard, would it not.

The next step would be to ban mail order of airguns, and just remember who funds this forum.


Jim

[svenhass]

Last time I went to my local gunshop the owner mentioned something about a ban on mail order gun sales had already been proposed. Don't know how far the pipeline it has gone but it will be a major blow to the likes of JSR and uttings.

[delta1]

My letter is ready to post, including a copy of the press release.

I am strongly in favour of stopping the local car boot airgun seller, but not at the expense of our mail order companies.

The question regarding 100% enforcement of existing laws has been asked again, see what answer I get this time.

Richard

[starrysmoothhound]

it would be interesting to know the value of the airgun business in the u.k.
plus the amount of people employed.

[lightning22]

Right, mines on it's way, as below;

Dear Angela Browning,

We exchanged letters a few months ago regarding the possibility of further restrictions on the use of air guns. You kindly got a reply from the Minister responsible, unfortunately as the response was couched in legalise and referred to various documents that were not supplied for reference, it was virtually unitelligable.

I have been reading recently how the Government intends to eradicate crime committed with air guns by banning their sale by unlicenced vendors.

I and many of the other law abiding shooters out here are lost to see how this will improve the situation.

The law in the UK has the power to deal with crimes committed with air guns already. The problem is that the law isn't enforced in a way to provide a deterrent to the misuse of air guns.

A ban on the selling of air guns by unlicenced vendors will effect the vast majority of law abiding owners, prices will be increased and several companies who specialise in online sales will be threatened, not to mention the UK manufacturers who will also likely see a drop in sales.

Air gun shooting is enjoyed by adults and children (with strict supervision) alike involved in the many disciplines of target shooting and pest control.

The people not affected by the new legislation will be those with no regard for the law, no changes there.

There are millions of air guns in the UK, on the rare occasion that one is used in a crime the media blows the whole story out of all proportion, what we are seeing here is legislation being passed to appease the media.

Had the current law been enforced the sad excuse for a human being who shot the young boy in Scotland probably wouldn't have been free in the first place. That child was killed because the law WAS NOT enforced when it should have been, as apparently it wasn't the first time he had discharged an air rifle in a public place. Using his tragic death to punish the law abiding is a despicable manipulation of the truth. Perhaps those who are so quick to attack over this issue should look at the reasons for the law not being enforced in the first place.


Yours sincerely,





The last response took a while, we'll see what happens this time.

Rich

[Buggy2]

Nice one Danny and Lightning22, I have emailed Simon and PM'ed him Re; any further developements that the BASC know of.

Please keep up the good work and write to your MP's as a vote is due on this any time.

[deathshed]

e mailed and sent letter to my mp "kelvin hopkins" thets see if he replies?

[termin8R]

Although not an out-and-out statement of support, this is a positive response and I will certainly be keeping Mr Penrose informed:

RE: Further restrictions on Air Guns

Dear Mr <termin8R>,

Thank you for emailing me about this. I'd completely agree that much of the recent gun control legislation, while based on the best possible motives and often in the wake of horrific tragedies, has had the unintended effect of making it harder for law abiding people to enjoy their sport while leaving criminals who use illegal firearms relatively less affected. Clearly I'll need to consider the details of any proposed new gun control laws carefully before finally committing myself to support or oppose them, but you're absolutely right that the issue of illegal firearms is of huge importance and that any new laws should address this problem head-on.

I hope this gives you a straightforward answer to your question. Please let me know your thoughts as these proposals develop in future.

Yours sincerely

John Penrose

MP for Weston-super-Mare

Please remember - just because you know SOMEONE has written to your MP, doesn't mean you don't need to! Far better that he gets 50 letters on the subject, than only one!

Cheers,
Doug