Would you give up airguns if a licence was brought in

[Segata]

I second that, mind you every Airgunner up there would be the size of a house after a while as theres a reason why its seen as a winter dish.

[32:1]

No way, Id carry on as is.
Why would a license change my enjoyment

[Carrott]

It currently takes about 12 months for an FAC in Cumbria.
Any extra workload would grind things to a halt.

[negotiator]

Crime would go up regardless, not gonna make any difference to the scrotes!

[madcarlos]

Not been stupid enough to fall for the new type car licence which people had to pay for, Not falling for that trick.

[ToniD]

I've only just come back to airguns, there's no way I'm giving up now. I'd just buy the licence.

[junglie]

No I wouldn't,
but since both the Police & Home Office stated they didn't want them licenced, less than 2 years ago it's a moot point.

At the moment they're consulting about removing Mod's from the FAC register largely to free up the work load, adding airguns would cause the whole system to collapse.

I would however like to see some sort of safety training requirement, some of the things you see & hear around guns is appalling.

Me too, like the cbt training for motorcyclists & i'm a biker too, but it did decrease accidents a lot. I was lucky & was taught to shoot on my uncles farm with an old webley bolt action .410 my dad gave him when licencing for them came in so was taught safety first ,but when i got my first bike a 200cc kawasaki I was lucky to survive the first ride to durham & back following my 2 mates on 250's on the roads.

[Tea Kettle]

Bit like the Cycling Proficiency Test, done by many school kids years ago ? A lot of good that did.
My daughter, who is a teaching assistant at a nursery infant school, has been told that they must not "Molly coddle" the kids, relaxing the safety aspect eg, let them learn when its been raining, climbing apparatus are slippery and you could hurt yourself.
Slightly similar in the same sort of vein, many years ago when I joined the army, we were being fitted to our SLR for stock fit. I was 17. When it came to my turn, the corporal said to me, as I shouldered the rifle, ' where did you learned to do that ?'. I replied ' playing cowboys and indians'. Got me 10 press ups !
Do we really need a safety training requirement ? Do Screwfix ask for it as they hand overyou chainsaws and the like ? When filling your car at the petrol station, would you need safety training to put that volatile liquid in the tank ? Even women are allowed to do this ! (Joke) Do you remember petrol pump attendant s where you used to sit astride your motorbike while the attendant filled your tank up.
Lighting fireworks. How many read the small print and retreat after the fuse has been lit to the recommended distance ? The best safety training is common sense.

Indeed! A chipped knee falling off yer bike, a black eye picking a fight with the wrong 'un, wasp stings and getting your finger caught in your dirt bike chain, rusty hinges and that pen knife you bought teach you all the common sense you need to know about life's surprises.

[4end]

50 or so years ago there was a licence available from the Post Office that covered both airguns and shotguns. It was revoked when the Shotgun Certificate was introduced around 1971 and air rifles became unlicenced. It cost 10/ or 50p and I remember buying one in 1963 on my 14th birthday when it was legal for me to posess an air rifle and later a shotgun.
It was something anyone could buy as there was no formal application or vetting and was no more than a means to collect revenue. In the present climate can you imagine the Police trying to administer a licence system with the many tens of thousands of airguns distributed throughout the country and a backlog of initial applications clogging up the system. It was revoked because it was pretty much useless and I cannot see the Government reintroducing it as the original was a failure and given the amount of admin it would cause the Police who would probably vetoe it to become like the Fox Hunting laws that are not enforced.

[Barryg]

50 or so years ago there was a licence available from the Post Office that covered both airguns and shotguns. It was revoked when the Shotgun Certificate was introduced around 1971 and air rifles became unlicenced. It cost 10/ or 50p and I remember buying one in 1963 on my 14th birthday when it was legal for me to posess an air rifle and later a shotgun.
It was something anyone could buy as there was no formal application or vetting and was no more than a means to collect revenue. In the present climate can you imagine the Police trying to administer a licence system with the many tens of thousands of airguns distributed throughout the country and a backlog of initial applications clogging up the system. It was revoked because it was pretty much useless and I cannot see the Government reintroducing it as the original was a failure and given the amount of admin it would cause the Police who would probably vetoe it to become like the Fox Hunting laws that are not enforced.

If an airgun licence was like the one from the 1963, I wouldn't hesitate getting one just thought that I would post a pic of my mates one for the younger members who have not seen one


I understand what some of you are saying about the backlog we already have.
But if they are considering licencing crossbows with the complex task of separating them from some modern bows and no serial numbers it might be even more clogging of the system.
I also noticed that it made main stream TV this morning. Anyway, I am still watching to see how it goes with interest.

[angrybear]

Indeed! A chipped knee falling off yer bike, a black eye picking a fight with the wrong 'un, wasp stings and getting your finger caught in your dirt bike chain, rusty hinges and that pen knife you bought teach you all the common sense you need to know about life's surprises.

I 100% agree,
But
Today we live in in a pink fluffy society where kids are wrapped in cotton wool, everything has to have Health & safety approval and someone else is always made accountable should little Tarquin get so much as a scratch.
The result is that kid's don't learn common sense because "the system" is so over protective they never have to think for themselves, and it's been like that for so long many of their parents are just the same.
The knock on effect is that when they grow up with someone else dealing with the risk, they need other people covering the risks for the rest of their lives because they're not educated to think it through for themselves.