RFDs for airgun purchase - good idea??

[roger 62]

A step towards 'FAC-lite'??

Some things are not entirely clear:

Implications for loaning guns - ie club guns? Presumably these will be brought within the scheme as clubs will be unable/unwilling to fulfill the RFD conditions- this will have serious impact on people joining our sport.

Also how will this affect sales of parts? Seems to be completely unenforceable unless they ban the sales of all bits of metal

No proposals to ban junkie ned scum I notice, or enforce bail conditions. So much for Labour's support of shooting sports

[rusham]

I treat going to my RFD as a social occasion. You get to chat to like minded people in a relaxed atmosphere and pick up some advise, and get to see new kit. ... a bit like being on here ... but real & not virtual.

If we were to use our RFDs a bit more then they might start stocking what we want because there would be a demand for it. You get a local supplied and the RFD gets more business ... and the money gets spent in the local economy ...everyone wins !

I agree, but many of us don't have a local RFD I.E. in the town where you do the weekly shop or a RFD which is within easy travelling distance without going through 3 gallons of unleaded at £4+ per gallon (never mind the green aspect). Mail order/internet sales I think are very important to the economy and the new rules will damage trade and push prices up. Don't get me wrong, I do call on the dealers in Leeds if I am passing through, but to "popping out for an hour luv, just off down gun shop" is a major trek for a large number of us.

[Farmerpalmer]

Don't get me wrong, I do call on the dealers in Leeds if I am passing through, but to "popping out for an hour luv, just off down gun shop" is a major trek for a large number of us.

My local is 35 miles away from home as well
... I just buy more than one tin of pellets at a time when I go.

There are 2 shops closer, but I prefer to give this particular shop my business.

[rusham]

My local is 35 miles away from home as well
... I just buy more than one tin of pellets at a time when I go.

There are 2 shops closer, but I prefer to give this particular shop my business.

Takes me ages to get to my closest dealer, no nice dual carriage ways to speed my progress. Mail order/internet provides a service aswell as cost effective purchases for the public. How much does BAR, Utting's & Litts get from mail order/internet during the normal working week? Could they cope with only providing locals only with guns/rifles via their shops? A drop in profits perhaps. If mail order was'nt profitable, why provide the service?

[Cam]

there is nothing stopping anyone buying pellets and accessories over the net for example so that part of the business would still be very viable.

[Mike H]

How much does BAR, Utting's & Litts get from mail order/internet during the normal working week? Could they cope with only providing locals only with guns/rifles via their shops? A drop in profits perhaps.

I would imagine it would affect BAR very badly. They are constantly packing/posting stuff
Mike.

[DAR]

Strictly speaking I don't think it is restricted to existing RFDs,

''A new registration scheme has been proposed, under which dealers would be required to pay a £150 fee.''

From this I presume that dealers who are not already full RFDs need only to become registed under the new scheme.

[Lightyear]

I maybe wrong but an awful lot of shops also sell over the internet...without this additional outlet it might force a great many of them out of business.

Indeed, has no-one noticed the demise of the smaller specialist shop as a entity? This is because rents and rates have driven them out of business with only chains able to afford retail space in such units.

This is another knee jerk reaction by the nanny state.

The point well made before on this thread is that if the law enforcement agencies did just that then undesirable elements would not pose this threat. I have no doubt that someone in the bleeding heart liberal press will soon suggest that the idiot criminal who pulled the trigger and mudered that poor child was infact the victim !!!!

I bought my rifle on the sales section here and am a resonable, normal, law abiding person (except for 3 points for 37 in a 30!) and to deny that freedom of trade would be just another chip away at all of our basic freedoms, where we will soon be instructed how to breathe, when we can breathe and how much air we are actually allowed to use every 24 hours !!!