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Should legal limit Airguns be licensed?


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Airgun Licensing  

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  1. 1. Should legal limit Airguns be licensed?

    • Yes
      108
    • No
      105


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I think they should be REGISTERED to you but not a licence in the sense of the word, held on a data base with your local police authority and if sold/transfered as per SGC police must be imformed with all details, ie. new owner etc.

Alan

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"Licenseing will help to stop a good percentage of people using airguns illegally. Particularly as the Police will have no choice but to enforce the law. Whereas at the moment its all haphazzard, a question of civial & human rights and unfortunately funding. "

 

Whenever were criminals deterred by those pesky things we call "laws"?

Gun crime has actually increased since 1997 since handguns were banned, so ever increasing licencing system will mean that the criminals will afford an ever increasing weaponry while the public will make do without.

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I bet that most sub 12ft airgun shooters vote no and FAC & SGC vote yes.

 

They already have to, so don't see why others don't.

 

Living in central London would be a lot harder getting any kind of licence.

 

By all means register them and make insurance obligatory.

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The problems seem to arise when kids are left unsupervised with them. I think it should be obligatory to have a secure cabinet at very least. When I was a kid there would have been shelve too high for me to scale to get my hands on it.

Edited by vole
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Sorry to be naive, is there a lot of trouble with kids and air riffles? I know that 12ft.lbs is supposed to be less likely to kill a person that FAC units (obviously), but I definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a pellet. I suspect regulation would put people off taking up the sport of shooting in the first place, especially if the price of their first gun is going to be doubled by the cost of getting a cabinet and paying for the licence.

 

Are there a lot of people injured by air riffles? I know that one of my mates still has a lump of lead in him from when he was a kid so he'd say "yes", but I haven't heard of many instances. But I'm also very new to the sport so could be totally wrong.

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Which shooting organisation are you talking about? ???

 

ZB

 

I am talking about BASC and its bowing down to the banning of lead, then I am pretty sure that when the government will get airguns licenced they will kow-tow and not put up much opposition. With friends like these the antis need not bother. :drinks: I am very upset.

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"Are there a lot of people injured by air riffles? I know that one of my mates still has a lump of lead in him from when he was a kid so he'd say "yes", but I haven't heard of many instances. But I'm also very new to the sport so could be totally wrong. "

 

Exactly, very good point. Hey let's promote shooting by agreeing with the govenrment to ban and licence everything and in 5 years time we will talk like old people now when they speak of the war.

"Back in the day when we had guns...."

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I,ve just read through all of the posts on this thread, that certainly helped my poor little brain wake up I can tell you! I have voted YES, but I can not see this ever happening and I am not sure what would be gained if it were to go ahead and, further to that I do not see any way that it could be cost effectively implimented or monitored!

If we were to license Air Guns what would that achieve! There are so many in circulation at the moment how on earth would the police know where to start looking for the "unlicensed" or "unregistered" ones. If it were done with an aim of stopping gun crime then I do not think it would make very much difference at all. Lets face it the SGC and FAC laws were brought in to do this, to cut down on "gun crime" yet we can still watch the news and regularly see that there have been even more gun crimes in the form of Armed Robberies, Gang Shootings and Revenge Killings, and that's not to mention the unfortunate accidents that happen when children get their hands on guns (Including air weapons). Will licensing air weapons stop or change this, I think not. If those that have no regard for the laws want to get hold of any gun, regardless what type of gun they want, then they will - Everything can be brought for a price!

The problem (as I see it) lies with the police not having the time, resources, manpower or inclination (Whichever is applicable) to deal with the illegally held and used guns that are in circulation already and the fact that the courts do not give out hard enough penalties to the law breakers that appear before them who have been involved in (And found Guilty of) crimes that involve guns, knives or any other type of voilence. Until the penalties are dished out with full force and without exception I do not see any answer to out current situation and the amount of perpetrators of these types of crime.

I have voted Yes but I realy do not think that any law regarding the licensing or registering of air weapons will be implimentable or effective!

 

Please note: I have both a SGC and an FAC but this has not influenced me and I am not biased towards legal air weapons holders and users as I also have Air Weapons and would happily have them registered if required to do so!

Edited by Frenchieboy
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Yes I do agree that a lot of kids are using airguns irresponsibly and it has to stop. However wouldn't it be better to educate a child on how to use a gun rather than forbid them to ever touch one? Teaching kids from a young age that guns can be fun but also strict regulations need to be adhered to when using one will ensure that they don't misuse them.

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"Lets face it the SGC and FAC laws were brought in to do this, to cut down on "gun crime" yet we can still watch the news and regularly see that there have been even more gun crimes in the form of Armed Robberies, Gang Shootings and Revenge Killings, and that's not to mention the unfortunate accidents that happen when children get their hands on guns"

 

Yes well since the pistol ban gun crime in the Uk has actually increased per head. That still means that you are unlikely to ever be a victim of gun crime since thankfully the illegal use of guns in the UK is low compared to other countries. Violent crime against the person has increased in the Uk while in America since the 80s violent crie has actually fallen. It is interesting to note that Americans bought 14 million guns last year, more guns than the armies of the top 21 nations in the world.

 

http://www.ammoland.com/2010/01/13/gun-own...s-guns-in-2009/

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Alan50 has a good point. They should be registered. And there should be a days training/education for having one, similar to the what the French do for getting a live .22 rifle. The training/education should consist of subjects that cover the damage an air rifle pellet has on the body and the consequences the shooter can expect if they are proven to having shot someone. Safe use goes without saying and mandatory membership of a local air gun club which they have to attend at least once every so often.

 

It boils down to education. If we can educate the youngsters correctly to start with then respect for all firearms will follow. I don't like unnecssary legislation anymore than the rest of you, but lets face it, with the exception of SGC & FAC's it is pretty unregulated.

Edited by Doc Holliday
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I think there should be a licencing scheme, to deter some people from buying one. If you're truly set on getting an airgun, you will go down the proper route and get a licence (Nothing serious, just like a fishing licence, but with records of the gun and owner)

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Guys,

I don't see what all the fuss is about. Whoever said FAC holders are more likely to vote yes was probably correct but that's because we have been through the process and it's no big deal. If you are realtively sane and have a reason to own a gun the the FAC is not much of an obstacle. If you don't really have a reason for ownership then why on Earth would you have a gun in your house? The people who might just like to have one in their possesion but have no legitimate use (plinking, target shooting pest controll all fair enough in my opinion) are the ones that maybe shouldn't get their hands on one in the first place.

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I voted yes because of all the little scrotes who go around shooting peoples cats etc and get all of us a bad name! It's a shame, but I feel it would be a good move. If you look at it from a cost point of view then a fishing license costs more over a five year period than a co-terminous SGC/FAC. It's not a lot of money. A tenner a year in fact, so less than a pound a month.

 

I say all this with the assumption that after a year of grandfather rights, anyone found in posession of an illegal airgun would get a serious talking to. It's all to easy to make these new laws and then not make full use of them and if this was the case, it would be a complete waste of time!

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"I say all this with the assumption that after a year of grandfather rights, anyone found in posession of an illegal airgun would get a serious talking to."

 

This would be hard to implement practically since there are so many airguns. PLus it would be another money making scheme from the govenrment yet another tax which I would be against.

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No. Well, certainly not on an FAC. Although in principle i agree with a license for an air rifle, implimenting it would be to hard. Would land checks for air rifles be neccissary? What about the delays people expirience with licenses, is it fair that someone in Durham could get an air rifle within the week while some one in manchester could have to wait 3 months. That person in Durham may not be deemed suitable where as the manchester one is, fair?

 

And i also, don't think legal limit air-rifles are powerful enough to warrant a license. Yes, they are dangerous weapons and have the capacity to kill, but where is the line drawn? Knife licenses? Will you have to go to a specialist knife provider opposed to a market to buy a steak knife in the future? They are also deadly weapons.

 

I think such a license would just add to the overly P.C, beurocratic nanny state that britain is today.

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I think they should be REGISTERED to you but not a licence in the sense of the word, held on a data base with your local police authority and if sold/transfered as per SGC police must be informed with all details, IE. new owner etc.

Alan

Following on from the above, My reasoning is simple I agree with the liberty and infringement of rights being lost with registering / licencing Airguns, but its simple we live in a society here in the UK where for particular elements the above counts for nothing they no have no morale values or even a notion of what being a responsible person is, I would add for some it is not there fault its the way they were brought up with no parental guidance, other factors as well obviously. We have areas in the UK areas which the Police struggle to police through no fault of there own, our own no go areas these are ridiculous. I can go on all night, but to my mind if we register/licence airguns it would prevent a lot of the unfortunate incidents occurring, and or make perhaps some traceability.

It could even be the GTA, BASC, or like minded body who administer the scheme.

Alan

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So in true government fashion -> Idiot misuses air gun -> Action -> Let's licence/ban airguns for EVERYBODY -> Everybody is now miserable now since thier hobby/activity/job is restricted and hampered by more bureaucracy and Health and Safety rubbish.

 

Result -> LIBERTY DIES.

I can't believe Thomas Paine was born in the Uk, he would be turning in his grave if he saw what this country has become.

Edited by Kent Militia
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