Beeneyman

Trust me, the law has changed as a result of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Powers Act 2005. All offences are now arrestable.

"Shooting an air gun is not an arrestable offence. The police are very unlikely to arrest anybody unless the offence carries a five year prison sentence or if the police think the offender may not respond to a summons." All offences are now arrestable, regardless of prison sentences. Even littering. The Police do, however, have to justify each and every arrest and state why it was necessary, and why it couldn't have been dealt with in another way. The most common reason for arrest is so that evidence can be obtained by way of questioning (interviewing). As a result, the majority of 'offenders' are dealt with by way of arrest.

Let's clear this whole mess up. Firstly, when your neighbour called the Police, they would have spoken to an operator in a Police enquiry centre somewhere. They would have created a computer log relating to the incident and then sent the log to the control room. The control room would then make a decision regarding how the job would be resourced. The circumstances will be passed from person to person until they eventually reach an officer. There are a lot of 'chinese whispers' involved when people call the Police. So much so that the original incident often bares no resemblance to the version of events passed to the officer that comes out to you. I would take the allegation of hitting the windows with a pinch of salt. Had there been any credible evidence then you would have been arrested there and then. If the control room deem the threat to be a low one then they would send your average bobby on the beat. If they thought that there was a higher threat (such as people shooting at other people) then they would start getting armed response units together. The Police have to deal with thousands of different crimes and can not be expected to know each individual law word by word. My advice would be for you all to know your law down to the act and section. If you can illustrate to an officer that you are aware of the laws and prove that you are taking steps to act in a lawful manner then they will leave you in peace.

All sorted now. PETSPORTS arranged immediate delivery of a new gun with no questions asked. The new one sounds much better. I was given the company details in another forum and I can't fault them at all. It's worth taking a look if you need to buy anything!

I have referred this to the company who I bought the gun from and they have told me not to fire it any more and they are sending me out a new one.

I am looking for some land in Berkshire to shoot vermin. Unfortunately everywhere I have tried has given sole rights to big shooting clubs who pay through the nose for the permission. Can anyone help?

I am new to Air Gunning and have bought myself an SMK XS20. I know that this is not approved by you experienced shooters, but it was all I could afford and it had some great reviews. The thing is, that when I fire it it make a sort of twang sound. Almost like plucking a very loose string on a guitar (if that makes any sense). Is this normal? Is there anything that I can do to stop it. Is it just because something is loose inside? Is this perfectly normal?