trouble in store?

[cinedux]

There seems to be a concerted on-line effort to demonstrate how a toy gun (softair/CO2/air) can be altered to fire live ammo. Despite warnings that such alterations are illegal and dangerous such commentaries seem qualified by the suggestion they(the commentaries) are of 'academic value 'only-really? I see such items as fodder for the gun-restricting lobby.I really wish the likes of Asian/Russian airgun makers would quit making lovely replicas for our now very restricted markets.I don't want my CO2 repeaters converted.Some are dead spitting image of course.I can see them becoming forbidden imports.Likewise I see CO2 pistols made in the clam-shell style as being recognised as CO2 guns that can be shot indoors or in the back yard if no other person is alarmed of frightened.Afraid the fate of the dead-ringer handgun blanks and all,is determined. Afraid cracker replicas from Taiwan and the Phillipines probably ought to become verboten. Stickwith the airgun makers of yesteryear and ask them to come up with some sporting rather than military lines.Trev

[Mark D]

Got a link Trev ?

Can't see anything new on this matter after a quick Goggle search

[Josie & John]

I like military style airguns and close replicas such as the Baikal Makarov.

The shooting public have many enemies outside of the sport and pandering to them by calling for restrictions on some guns on the grounds that they may not be to one's taste is not going to stop our enemies from banning target or any other 'sporting' looking airguns.

We all need to stick together and fight every restriction that is proposed as one day, we may find there is no sport left at all.

John M

[micky2]

I doubt if many of the general public could tell the difference. l think to them a gun is a gun and that's it.

[slow_runner]

I doubt if many of the general public could tell the difference. l think to them a gun is a gun and that's it.

The general public are thick, misinformed, fearful, compliant sheep; ever ready to be led by the nose.
How can the enemies of this sport can not succeed?

[Abasmajor]

I and many others suffered unnecessarily because of the 1997 UK ban on the ownership of breech loading handguns. One of the biggest disappointments for me was the disunity shown among our national shooting organisations each concentrating on their own interests rather than defending the sport in general.
I remember organising petitions, badgering my MP and attending protests etc all to no avail. At least I had the consolation of knowing that I had done all I could to make our voice heard despite the odds being stacked so heavily against us.

What we really need is a united front from a national multi-discipline organisation supporting shooting sports and not different branches of the sport as we have in the UK at present. We could never achieve the influence that NRA command in the USA, but we must learn that the next time the bell tolls it might be for you.

Brian

[Garvin]

I like military style airguns and close replicas such as the Baikal Makarov.

The shooting public have many enemies outside of the sport and pandering to them by calling for restrictions on some guns on the grounds that they may not be to one's taste is not going to stop our enemies from banning target or any other 'sporting' looking airguns.

We all need to stick together and fight every restriction that is proposed as one day, we may find there is no sport left at all.

John M

I respect your right to enjoy military-style replica airguns peacefully, John, and will argue as forcefully as I can for you to be able to continue to do so unmolested!

But a part of me wonders whether your predeliction isn't going to invite unwanted hostile attention, as Trev is observing it might (not calling for).

I'm also not sure what guns designed for battle have to do with airguns designed to drop small game or put holes in targets?

You're probably right in saying your enemies and mine are the same, but I think it's easier to make the case that my chosen hobby has less potential to be hijacked by evil people among us.

[evert]

I respect your right to enjoy military-style replica airguns peacefully, John, and will argue as forcefully as I can for you to be able to continue to do so unmolested!

But a part of me wonders whether your predeliction isn't going to invite unwanted hostile attention, as Trev is observing it might (not calling for).

I'm also not sure what guns designed for battle have to do with airguns designed to drop small game or put holes in targets?

You're probably right in saying your enemies and mine are the same, but I think it's easier to make the case that my chosen hobby has less potential to be hijacked by evil people among us.

That attitude has a tendency to backfire. They are not coming for YOUR guns- TODAY- as someone else is at the front of "evil".
But when the military replicas are gone, the "antis" are coming for the next item....

[Garvin]

That attitude has a tendency to backfire. They are not coming for YOUR guns- TODAY- as someone else is at the front of "evil".
But when the military replicas are gone, the "antis" are coming for the next item....

Yes, but when they do, it'll be easier to argue they are barking up the wrong tree.

[Abasmajor]

Yes, but when they do, it'll be easier to argue they are barking up the wrong tree.

Hi Danny,
What I have learned the hard way is that no matter how reasonable your arguments are on these occasions, if you are part of a minority group, they will be ignored. It's easier for the general public to do that than seriously consider the facts. Unfortunately, I believe that a strategy of divide and conquer together with ever increasing draconian legislation will eventually result in the virtual eradication of shooting sports in the UK.
Brian

[Farsight]

Hi Danny,
What I have learned the hard way is that no matter how reasonable your arguments are on these occasions, if you are part of a minority group, they will be ignored. It's easier for the general public to do that than seriously consider the facts. Unfortunately, I believe that a strategy of divide and conquer together with ever increasing draconian legislation will eventually result in the virtual eradication of shooting sports in the UK.
Brian

I fear you may be right, and shooters here appear to be in a cleft stick : They feel constrained by the fact that if any should demonstrate their ire at potential restrictions then the fact that they might be protesting less than politely, may well be used to suggest that they are unfit to have a gun, never mind what sort !
Periodically some stuffed shirt tells us that "the general public think this", or "we have had to bow to public pressure". These are just sound bites. No one in authority has any intention of actually finding out what the public actually thinks, in case they turn out to be more on the ball and less aquiescent than the politicos would like ! Nuff said...

[Muskett]

All I see is moaning in shooting circles. Heck one discipline is far too fast to diss another. Our NRA basically said they weren't interested in military rifles. But they aren't the only ones.
How they heck did we allow sporting handguns to be banned? How the heck did we allow airsoft guns to have to be neon orange or blue?
The largest London march was put together by the Country Alliance. However, there are those who went and now moan it was under false pretences. Maybe it was to them, but thats not the point.
The most modern guns happen o be black, but wow how the woody boys show how much they don't like them.
We make our own bed, and its a lumpy one.

Far too many are meek about the subject.

Any metal machinist can make a Sten gun. Anyone can drive to Europe and smuggle back an assault rifle. Heck, you can buy most guns in France over the counter so long as you fill out an export form (no proof of identity beyond something that can be easily faked required.)

The USA NRA has clout because not only does it have millions of members but it has the cash to make a difference. When has anyone in the UK put £500 into a fighting fund. Maybe half a dozen.
So whose fault is it really? Its a cultural thing.

[edbear2]

I doubt if many of the general public could tell the difference. l think to them a gun is a gun and that's it.

Pretty much... in one of our bell league pubs they have a restaurant area, and the look of horror sometimes on peoples faces as 25+ shooters and reserves wandered in with a variety of slips and cases was a sight. Sometimes one or two would come and have a peek and be O.K. when we showed them, even having a go on occasion,.... on other occasions at the bar I would explain to one of them they were just air rifles etc., and be met with real hostility and "It is a GUN!.....Why does ANYONE need a gun!!!........How are you allowed to walk around with GUNS!!!

The latter being rare as is a rural league so were probably townies

I can only imagine their reaction if they saw some of the .22lr Assault or SMG clones out there, a guy I know has an MP5 with a holo sight on....to him it's just a fun plinker and to any shooter it is just a dressed up rimmy, but the trouble is there are more anti's than pros, they tend to be more vocal and the types to get in touch with their M.P.s or the like.

It's probably a good thing the are clueless about practical S/G and the like too, I can just imagine the headlines.

This is not a critique in any way of any shooting discipline or style of gun, but people who shoot honestly have no idea of the horror and disgust some people would display if they even saw a Gat

After the lever and assist ban a guy sent me a link to a youtube video called "Southern Gun Company .308 Lever Release Rifle" where the guy says "check this out" and rattles a few off. The guy said "do you think stuff like this helps" as he is a traditional stalker and hates any "black gun".

So as Muskett says....we are divided as well I suppose

Anyhow...times past;

https://www.flickr.com/photos/312284...otolist-GFCnTs

ATB, ED

[Powderfinger]

I like military style airguns and close replicas such as the Baikal Makarov.

The shooting public have many enemies outside of the sport and pandering to them by calling for restrictions on some guns on the grounds that they may not be to one's taste is not going to stop our enemies from banning target or any other 'sporting' looking airguns.

We all need to stick together and fight every restriction that is proposed as one day, we may find there is no sport left at all.

John M

Well said. And I question whether there is a clamour from the public to ban anything. The call for bans comes from small but noisy lobby groups manipulating a media that seeks senstion and loves to stir up aggro which has led to bans in the past.

[Abasmajor]

Most of the people I encounter at my club range, shooting meetings and arms fairs etc must be in their mid-sixties. Our generation grew up in a time when we were allowed access to air guns without the stigma associated with today's attitudes. This usually resulted in a progression to live forearms always under controlled conditions of course, but without the severe restrictions imposed these days. Today's youngsters are probably more interested in computer games than airguns and certainly don't have the ready access we enjoyed to try things. Despite several initiatives to encourage young shooters at my club, there hasn't been too much interest and when the hurdles involved with the possession of live firearms are explained, the interest usually fades altogether.

Without an injection of youth into the sport, it can only be a matter of time before shooting will be confined to necessary vermin control etc and sporting shooting may well become a thing of the past.

This may seem over pessimistic, and I will certainly continue to promote shooting in all its diverse forms, but I can't see the resurgence that would be needed to guarantee its future coming any time soon.

Brian