Public survey in to licencing

[Cannon Fodder]

Full of leading questions but done.

[Squirreler]

As above but done.

[DM80]

All done yes to most, but one question should be in their should all airguns be licensed.

Dave

[Black Beard]

Why would anyone want to ask that? It would trash the airgun industry and make everything really expensive. You have only got to see the impact of cutting down on internet sales on prices to see where it would go.

[DM80]

Just be interesting to see result percentages etc

Dave.

[Muskett]

All done yes to most, but one question should be in their should all airguns be licensed.

Dave

I always find this an odd one. How would licensing actually be helpful, for air rifles are already given a low power rating to make then useful but not particularly dangerous when compared to a firearm?
In truth BB, air-soft, have been erroneously given more restrictions because of their "replica" look, and to stop the Police shooting another person holding a replica looking firearm. Bad people can just spray the replica black so its not a deterrent.

Scotland has a licensing system for air rifles, which has cost plenty and a continued cost. Has it made any difference to air rifle use abuse in Scotland? Is it just another barrier to shooting sports?
To me the legislation just smacked of "Trainspotter Politics", and anti shooting. In a place where they need more recreational Stalkers to keep Red Deer populations under control, and air rifle shooting plays an important part as an educational tool to have competent shots. Or just as a self improvement sport.

Firearm ownership is all about personal responsibility. Air Rifles play an important role in the education progression and just a useful aid in learning gun responsibility. That is why those anti gun like attacking air rifles, air soft, and denying those tools to gun responsibility and competence.
To me it is important that part of society are gun competent, be it for security, defence, or wildlife management. Air Rifles make an important youth training aid; for grown ups too.

All this when large parts of society have no issue with playing violent computer games for entertainment. A multi billion pound media business. But this is not reality as no personal responsibility is required. Society has to know the difference between fantasy and reality. But the anti gun brigade wish to deny society the very safe and sensible educational tools that can teach gun reality, and gun responsibility.

Legislation rarely removes society problems. The Hand Gun ban made no measurable difference to hand gun use by criminals. Just denied society a great sport.
Interestingly the Military now issue more handguns to their personnel than ever before.

I'm not against licensing for firearms, for they provide some safeguards. But I see no benefit for licensing air rifles, as the risks don't warrant the resources that would be required to give any measurable benefit. Air-solft went too far, to save face for the Police.
Bad people will find other things to use for their bad ways. Knife crime proves they will find something if they so wish.

Big subject.

[Muskett]

For all my above, thats just general discussion.

This survey, seems to me fishing for reason for a higher level of mental health check from GPs. And shooters to pay for it.
When should the State demand GP's to flag up mental health issues? Do GPs police for driving; for being a teacher; for being a Policeman? Where should patient partiality somehow be State property?
Its a dangerous road to tread.
The Firearm Licensing system places enough demands with the GP part as it is.

Perfectly "sane" people can "turn" on the oddest and most random of reasons. Youth suicide shows that there is only so much that can be done, and eventually it comes down to the individual. For that individual to recognise they need help and then go and look for it. Many failures are after help was sort but not found. Licensing isn't much help, just a use of resources that could often be better spent where it really matters. It has very limited use.
I don't think being grassed up by their GP, and possibly losing their sport, is very inducive for people to be open about how happy and relaxed they are, or admit how much stress they are under. Most people have a chapter in their lives that isn't easy, but they don't all go silly.
Again, it all comes down to personal responsibility: to yourself and to society. I find shooting shorts are excellent in instilling that necessary self discipline and awareness. Most shooting sports are very sociable and very responsible. Air gun shooting an excellent stress reliever being a lot of fun. More people should be encouraged to take it up; and not more barriers put in their way.

[Geezer]

Muskett makes some very good points.

There must be a real danger that linking MH to certificate revocation would lead to people not getting help early on, with worse outcomes.

Most GPs are unable to make more than basic determinations of MH issues, before referring them on to specialists. But even specialists would be highly reluctant, except in the case of diagnosed violent psychopaths, to make any determination of risk to the public from most conditions. Indeed, someone who suffers bouts of anxiety which prevent them leaving the house or even getting out of bed is clearly very unlikely to pose a threat to the general public.

There is some US research that suggests that gun possession correlates with a higher risk of successful suicide attempts, which gets reported as “having a gun increases your risk of suicide”. When you dig into it, it’s much less clear-cut. Do Americans more prone to violence, including self-harm, have a greater likelihood of owning weapons in the first place, given their ready availability? Are there cultural factors around choice of method?

Finally, although some people do just “snap”, the vast majority of those who pose a serious threat to others have prior patterns of violent or other aberrant behaviour.

[wobbly bob]

One always feels one is being steered by tick box surveys, but I have ticked the boxes, and thanks for the heads up

[stagmanv835]

Thanks for bringing this up

All done

[angrybear]

Perfectly "sane" people can "turn" on the oddest and most random of reasons. Youth suicide shows that there is only so much that can be done, and eventually it comes down to the individual. For that individual to recognise they need help and then go and look for it. Many failures are after help was sort but not found. Licensing isn't much help, just a use of resources that could often be better spent where it really matters. It has very limited use.
I don't think being grassed up by their GP, and possibly losing their sport, is very inducive for people to be open about how happy and relaxed they are, or admit how much stress they are under. Most people have a chapter in their lives that isn't easy, but they don't all go silly.
Again, it all comes down to personal responsibility: to yourself and to society. I find shooting shorts are excellent in instilling that necessary self discipline and awareness. Most shooting sports are very sociable and very responsible. Air gun shooting an excellent stress reliever being a lot of fun. More people should be encouraged to take it up; and not more barriers put in their way.

That's pretty much exactly the sort of argument it would have been good to add to the survey reply.

[SuffolkRifle]

Trouble is that a 'tick-box' survey is so easily 'recorded', just stick a template over the top and you've got the number, on a computer, just total up the 'yes' ticks, no need to think.