RFDs for airgun purchase - good idea??

[Cam]

I don't normally stick my neck so here goes!!

Divorcing myself from the issue of why this legislation is being brought in actually I think its a bloody good idea.

Maybe finally those gunshops were you can go to get expert advise might actually be able to make a decent living rather than having the constant spectre of the 'value for money' brigade going to them for advise then ordering the gear over tinternet to save £30.

Expertise costs money in any business and actually I think it will help our sport because people wanting airguns will be forced to go somewhere where they will be given some sensible advise and information.

Its all to easy to forget that the members of this BBS make up a tiny fraction of airgun owners in this country and from my own experiance there seem to be a hell of a lot of who know sweet FA about the legislation that affects them and behave accordingly

Forcing those people into shops can only increase the overall awareness of responsible airgun ownership.

However I admit that realistically catering for 2nd hand sales under this system would be impossible and it is this element that is possibly the most dangerous for us.

[partime outlaw]

Many will lose there jobs and maybe there homes ect. Why should we tolerate this ever tighter control, with 55 million people you are always going to have problems(somone sometime will do evil with virtualy every possible permutation) we cannot regulate ourselves to the point of total inactivity for fear that sommone will mutate our choices to something pernicious. There will be trajedy in most of our lives as that is what being a human being has always included, free will is a double sided blessing but one that sadly we may soon find eroded to the abstract or virtual.

[BunnyHunter]

Anyone watched Equilibrium lately......seems we are heading that way....hmm now to look out my US visa application...

[Sam Vimes]

[QUOTE=Cam]Maybe finally those gunshops were you can go to get expert advise might actually be able to make a decent living rather than having the constant spectre of the 'value for money' brigade going to them for advise then ordering the gear over tinternet to save £30.QUOTE]

All fine and dandy, but with that sentence you have effectively damned the owner of this board and internet/mail order shop in one small sentence.
God knows where the new legislation will leave JSR and therefore this very board.

Chris

[Andy W]

Excellent point Chris. When will you folks learn that simply accepting the 'don't you think it's reasonable' campain is the way to loss of liberty!!

[Farmerpalmer]

It won't do anything for the millions of airguns currectly held in the uk, but is, in my opinion, a good idea to only allow face to face deals with RFDs. RFDs tend to be more careful who they sell to. I have known them to refuse to sell airguns to people who wish to break the law with their use.

The mail order companies can continue selling moderators, scopes, bipods, pellets, decoys, clothes, hides, targets and everything else essential in the everyday life of an airgun shooter.

Its not a ban, but its a barrier to help keep the guns out of the hands of undesirables. I don't mind buying my guns from an RFD, and getting their advice thrown in for free. All hail the local gun shop.

[Stewie]

Excellent point Chris. When will you folks learn that simply accepting the 'don't you think it's reasonable' campain is the way to loss of liberty!!

We lost our "liberty" when Labour were given 4 more years.
They are just letting us know a bit at a time.

[rusham]

[QUOTE=sam vimes]

Maybe finally those gunshops were you can go to get expert advise might actually be able to make a decent living rather than having the constant spectre of the 'value for money' brigade going to them for advise then ordering the gear over tinternet to save £30.QUOTE]

All fine and dandy, but with that sentence you hav effectively damned the owner of this board and internet/mail order shop in one small sentence.
God knows where the new legislation will leave JSR and therefore this very board.

Chris

Mail order/internet is very important to a number of airgunner's who can not get to a well stocked shop. My nearest supplier is 38 miles away which allowing for petrol etc, that one tin of AA Fields gets very expensive.

[Pod]

Hmm, interesting view points on all sides and lots of healthy thought provoking posts and threads. But I cannot help myself, everytime I sit down and think about this, I get so ****ing angry I could kick a ****ing ****er in to the midlle of next ****ing week with a ****ing **** up his ****ing ****. Bunch of ****ing ****ers. What the **** do they ****ing think this will ****ing acheive? ****ing idiot **** pig tosspot **** floggers.

And no I do not feel ****ing better for that.

[Cam]

Dont get me wrong I am fed up to the ********** of this government and totally totally disagree with any new legislation being brought in place but was thinking theoretically

I just cant shake the thought that far too many owners view their airguns as toys and being able to buy over the net does not help this (as said this is based on personal experiance of airgun owners in and around there area I shoot)

[Elmar_Fudd]

This reminds me so much of when i was 14.
Tried to buy booze from the off licence, got knocked back.
Gave older brother money, hey presto.
And so it will be with airguns.
You will not stop "unsuitable" people getting hold of them.
I don't think the restriction on sales will change anything, perhaps tougher penalties would help. Although with prisons already over crowded the govt. wouldn't want to do that.
And yet again, the honest, law abiding man/woman will be the one to suffer.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of airgun sales are mail order, and what are over the counter.

[rusham]

In my industry (Investment & Pensions) we have to abide by the Money Laundering legislation which also applies if you go to open a new building society account. Basically, you have to prove who you are before the account can be opened, I.E. a passport or driving licence as proof of who you are and then a utility bill or bank statement as proof of where you live. In theory, this could be applied to airgun sales both by a RFD and also (slightly more difficult) by traders like JSR who would not release goods until proof of ID is supplied for the purchase of rifles/guns. This would possibly deter the minority who would only use an airgun for the wrong purposes !

Perhaps this government could think down these lines or are my rose coloured specs in need of replacement?

Russ

[stevew71]

If only registered dealers can trade in , guess what happens to the For Sale section ? Guess what happens to the value of your expensive kit ? Guess how this will affect the prats who break the current firearms laws ?
and just for arguments sake, how many of your airguns do the Goverment, Police et al know about ? More to the point how do they plan on stopping these prats from swapping/selling their rifles if they don't know where they are ?

On the whole this will only serve to harm the industry, devalue anything you already own and make it harder to buy your new toys. It will do nothing to stop the idiots out there who get their kicks from taking potshots at anything that takes their fancy.

[Farmerpalmer]

Mail order/internet is very important to a number of airgunner's who can not get to a well stocked shop. My nearest supplier is 38 miles away which allowing for petrol etc, that one tin of AA Fields gets very expensive.

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 !

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Don't worry too much Lads.

Pretty soon the rapidly deteriotating state of the British economy will see the end of the New Labour experiment. Anyone noticed the state of pound lately? Hardly worth buying from the States any more.

New Labour has only been able to survive because it inherited a strong economy from the Tories, and benign world-wide economic conditions. Whatever Blair says, we have a high tax, high spending, Old Labour sort of government.

Blair and Brown will both be consigned to the dustbin of history.