Email from the police, what do you think?

[Scully]

Did this once,a couple of years ago when a new FEO mentioned it to me,so thought I'd give them a courtesy call.The recipient may have been a civilian;I don't know,but she wanted start and finishing times,location,registration numbers of vehicles,type and calibre of weapons being used,certificate numbers,and what we would be shooting.There was only registration numbers I could give with any certainty,I didn't know which rifle my mate was going to bring,nor his ticket number,nor his postcode,and I could only give estimates of time spent at each location;if we even visited each location.When she became quite insistent on specifics I told her I couldn't give all the ones she requested in any degree of certainty,and she then became very insistent,and started to lecture me about armed trespass and the consequences.

Told her I was well aware of the consequences and wouldn't do anything to jeapordise my tickets,but wouldn't be calling again as it wasn't worth the effort.

I always inform the landowner as soon as we get onto their land,however.

[Fisheruk]

It dosent matter if you phone and tell them, if someone phones the police and reports a man with a gun/shots fired THEY HAVE TO RESPOND. Duty of care. And its from a police firearm officer's mouth.

 

Yes they have to respond, but not with the ARU. I do it every time in Lancs., no problem. Get a log number in 2-3 minutes normally. They often recognise my name or location. If they get a call they can make a simple call to my mobile and that is the end of it. I do not want to be on the rough end of the ARU. Come on lads and lasses use a bit of common.

[CharlieT]

Yes they have to respond, but not with the ARU. I do it every time in Lancs., no problem. Get a log number in 2-3 minutes normally. They often recognise my name or location. If they get a call they can make a simple call to my mobile and that is the end of it. I do not want to be on the rough end of the ARU. Come on lads and lasses use a bit of common.

 

I really do hate it when people say "use a bit of common" in their argument to further the slow march of draconian police powers and useless red tape.

Common sence tells me that when I am going about my lawful hobby in a safe and lawful manner on my farm or land of friends that it serves no purpose whatsoever for me to tell the police abot my comings and goings.

Common sence tells me that if a member of the public notifies the police of an armed man seen in such and such an area they are duty bound to respond. All the phone calls in the world won't alter this fact. Which is why, as I posted earlier, Devon and Cornwall Police decided that it was a daft idea and serves no purpose.

[cant hit rabbits 123]

I was of the opinion that the police have to respond to all calls about 'man with gun' etc. Anyway, if a member of the public calls up about me in blind panic, they will hardly say 'there's a chap at XYZ loaction in a field with a gun. Yes, I can give you a description, he is dressed in tweed carrying a lovely old William Powel side lock.'

 

More like 'Ooh, help, there's a crazy man prowling the country side, he has a big gun and his friend has a SNIPER RIFLE!!!!! Please come and save us all from the genocidal maniacs!'

 

Thus the police will be unable to destinguish between you, who called in an hour ago and gave details of your rough location and activities and this reported group of nutters on a rampage through the countryside.

 

So what really is the point of calling in such events? You'll still get a G36 pointed at you by a jumpy ARU officer because a member of the public can't tell an air rifle from an AK47.

 

Edited for spelling.

Edited April 18, 2012 by cant hit rabbits 123

[JonathanL]

It will make no difference, if a call comes in of a person / persons with guns then the police will attend whether you tell them or not.

 

It's about time the public got a bit less guntastic with phoning the police.

 

They will but they shouldn't! A report of a person with a gun in a field does not, of its self, mean that there is something unlawful happening. In fact, in the absence of anything to suggest so then there is no reason to assume that there is. People in the countryside with guns is a normal occurrence so why is there any need to respond?

 

J.

[welsh1]

Most of the areas I shoot have no mobile phone coverage,so if I phoned in the police couldn't get hold of me anyway.

One time a bloke who had moved to a cottage by my permission from London contacted the police and reported a suspicious van parked in a gateway( the same one I have been using for years) I got in at 3am and the wife woke up and told me to call the police,as they had called and asked her if I was out shooting,she said I was,but I could be on four different farms.i called the police and spoke to them, the bloke had called them stating he had heared shots being fired,and he had seen a suspicios van,,they told him that it was to be expected to hear shooting at night as rabbits and foxes were controlled at night,they then got my details from my number plate tried to call me ,got no answer( no signal) called my home, wife confirmed I was shooting possibly in that area,and they just asked me to call them when I got in.

 

No drama,just sensible policing,the idiot was the city boy scared of the dark in his new cottage, funny enough about six months later he realised his chickens were being eaten by mr fox,my farmer gave him my number, and I have shot a couple for him,and keep his rabbits down

People just need to be educated.

Edited April 18, 2012 by welsh1

[geordieh]

Well at the moment it looks like it's a reasonable request to avoid wasted resources - but who know if they'll push for it to become compulsory?

 

The sad thing is that with the public knowing nothing about firearms (with some not even aware that they can be held legally) they don't see the difference between the gangs carrying pistols and someone in a field with a rifle slung over his shoulder - if anything they think that the telescopic sight makes it into a 'sniper' rifle to be feared.

 

I accept that the police must investigate every call they receive - but I don't see how that needs to be a visit to the area IF they know who's shooting there. If you've rung up to tell them you'll be there, and they later get a call from the public, I'd have thought that calling you to confirm that it's you and nobody else on that land should suffice. It could save resources.

 

However it does require organisation on their part, and also phoning them up needs to be free and quick - name, vehicle and the land to be covered, with a rough idea of times if possible. It should be done in a 2 minute call, instead of waiting on the phone for ages then to be asked loads of questions.

Still a pain to do, and it should never be made compulsory, but the system could be there to make life easier if you want to ring in. Perhaps they could also have the number of the landowner and ring them, they might be able to confirm if someone is on their land with a gun.

 

Hi All

Yes i can imagine some of my farmers getting a phone call in the middle of the night two or three times in a week easiest way in the world to lose permission. I don't even tell my farmers when i am on their land shooting, they say just get on with it

Geordie

[activeviii]

so your on a shoot and theirs an anti having a bad day. they shoot has phoned the police to tell them the shoot is on. someone see's this anit in the field next door and hes taking pot shots with his air gun. police are phoned and told theres a man shooting.

Yep, we know their shooting, carry on is the reply.

 

 

biggest load of bull i have heard. i phone IF i think im in a sensitive area. one feild in a housing estate that gets hammered with pigeons. the rest of the time i want to do as i like, when i like, without having to answer to anyone, im with in the law and going about my lawful business.

 

what next, phoning the police because im riding my push bike on the hills and i MIGHT run someone down.

 

get lost,if they help me then i might help them. 3 months for a 1-4-1 is not helping.

[pat g]

To be honest, if a member of public had phoned the police and reported me shooting on my permission, my reply to any officer attending would be how has anybody seen me. Because if they have, they have clearly been trespassing and it is them who has committed an offence in the first instance. I am of course lucky i suppose to be able to shoot in a very rural area and appreciate that some shooters do have urban areas near or around their permissions.

However i think it is more about educating the general public and making them aware of people who legitimately use firearms in the course of everyday business.

The site of the gun in the country side should be as it was years ago, and that is part of the rural scene .

ATB,

Pat