Bought nylon shooting accessories from the US, now Police want to talk

[mr smith]

To the OP,before you spend anymore money on kit get to a club that shoots PSG and see what people actually use.

 

Try 4islands forum for more info.

Edited December 9, 2016 by mr smith

[BRYAN3]

Right I have ordered some condoms where do I get the girls from ?

 

I saw some goats for sale.

[Wingman]

Christ I can't believe people can be so oblivious to the current security posture the UK is on at the moment. Of course this kind of stuff is monitored it's part of the UK government prevent strategy.

[Jaymo]

Omg

 

I'm really worried now that I might 'get a visit' or my Certificates pulled ( will be a shame as I have held them for more than 30 years)

 

It's probably nothing and I'm worrying unnecessarily but I feel I should come clean--- when I was seven I purchased a 'Cowboy' outfit including a cap pistol, I'm not a cowboy or even had the intention to be one- but I just fancied the outfit.

Secondly and more recently I have purchased a Rusksack for 5.11 Tactical to replace my old one.

 

So, am I/should I expect a 'tug'--- like the OP?

NO

He merely purchased an accessory that in no way is controlled.

This smacks of the "oh, a 'black' gun-that must be powerful" , and not the more logical reply of " its the cartridge and not the colour/looks that makes it dangerous"

 

As for tarnishing his record or ability to gain a Certificate in the future- you are joking aren't you! Do you have any idea of what backgrounds/investigations that some Certificate holders have endured ---- just check out a. Thread on this very forum that was posted on recently over the guy who even appeared in Court regarding charges of vandalism with other complaints against him too.

 

Blackfriar-- ignore the negatives and focus on the positives from this thread, as to why you posted it on PW? Why not- we're supposed to be a friendly/informative lot ( well not all :-), ).

By all means buy 'legal' equipment if that's what you wish for ( btw, The rig you have is used by the Airsoft shotgun boys), but on the flip side- check if it's suitable for the particular discipline you wish to pursue in the future.

The days of Fig 11's in full camo have long gone.

[old man]

blackfriar, you really still don't understand? ?

[Breastman]

Omg

 

I'm really worried now that I might 'get a visit' or my Certificates pulled ( will be a shame as I have held them for more than 30 years)

 

It's probably nothing and I'm worrying unnecessarily but I feel I should come clean--- when I was seven I purchased a 'Cowboy' outfit including a cap pistol, I'm not a cowboy or even had the intention to be one- but I just fancied the outfit.

Secondly and more recently I have purchased a Rusksack for 5.11 Tactical to replace my old one.

 

So, am I/should I expect a 'tug'--- like the OP?

NO

He merely purchased an accessory that in no way is controlled.

This smacks of the "oh, a 'black' gun-that must be powerful" , and not the more logical reply of " its the cartridge and not the colour/looks that makes it dangerous"

 

As for tarnishing his record or ability to gain a Certificate in the future- you are joking aren't you! Do you have any idea of what backgrounds/investigations that some Certificate holders have endured ---- just check out a. Thread on this very forum that was posted on recently over the guy who even appeared in Court regarding charges of vandalism with other complaints against him too.

 

Blackfriar-- ignore the negatives and focus on the positives from this thread, as to why you posted it on PW? Why not- we're supposed to be a friendly/informative lot ( well not all :-), ).

By all means buy 'legal' equipment if that's what you wish for ( btw, The rig you have is used by the Airsoft shotgun boys), but on the flip side- check if it's suitable for the particular discipline you wish to pursue in the future.

The days of Fig 11's in full camo have long gone.

 

I see not much has changed on here since the years when i used to come here regularly and the ignorance of practical type shooting is still strong Kit far more 'offensive' looking* is freely available up and down the country for purchase by anyone who can afford it, and a lot of it is dirt cheap, certainly cheaper than SOE stuff.

 

You have done nothing legally wrong and i wouldn't worry about it in the slightest. I have to agree with others though in that you've gone about it the wrong way in terms of buying equipment. Not only are chest rigs not permitted in competitions ran to the IPSC rulebook but neither is camo clothing, or equipment. I THINK the NRA organised comps do allow it though but you'd need to check with them. Please do not buy any more equipment until you've been to a club for a go and have a look at the type of equipment that will benefit you in the sport.

 

Good luck getting your chest rig

 

 

*to blued barrel/walnut snowflakes

[panoma1]

If your comfortable with (or prepared to put up with) what is happening, go along with it!...........If you ain't get advice/representation from BASC or any other shooting organisation you are a member of, or if your not a member of one......get specialist legal advice...........

It seems to me those are your choices!

[silverhawk]

Don't worry about it I ordered a cartridge belt in the past and had a 7am phone call from my firearms department about me being reported by customs.We had a chat on the phone and he agreed it was nothing restricted and that was the end of it.It was brought up at renewal too.

 

Another one I had was customs sending me a letter saying they will destroy my parcel for 2 screws and a spring as it's restricted and I don't have a licence for that fiream? I printed off a page off there rules on firearm part and asseroies importation.It says u can import parts for that firearms as long as u hold a certificate and that specific firearm but obviously not pressure bearing parts. I sent a copy of that with my fac copy and parcel arrived in a few days.

 

Best not to order anything until u have a certificate or part of a club as there wondering why u need such a thing when u don't have one.I know u haven't done nothing wrong but with the way things are at the moment.

Edited December 9, 2016 by silverhawk

[Jaymo]

 

Don't worry about it I ordered a cartridge belt in the past and had a 7am phone call from my firearms department about me being reported by customs.We had a chat on the phone and he agreed it was nothing restricted and that was the end of it.It was brought up at renewal too.

 

Another one I had was customs sending me a letter saying they will destroy my parcel for 2 screws and a spring as it's restricted and I don't have a licence for that fiream? I printed off a page off there rules on firearm part and asseroies importation.It says u can import parts for that firearms as long as u hold a certificate and that specific firearm but obviously not pressure bearing parts. I sent a copy of that with my fac copy and parcel arrived in a few days.

 

Customs!!!!!!

You mean a jobsworth not employed by HMRC in the parcel reception depot at an International Hub.

 

Spent many years flying 'post/parcels' around and some of the people I met, along with Aviation Airport Security are among some of the most *power hungry* people I have ever met

[walshie]

I'd imagine ordering anything from that site would attract attention from the authorities. All the testimonials are from "Navy Seals." I'm pretty sure special forces would be issued with decent kit anyway without the Walts having to order their own.

Edited December 9, 2016 by walshie

[ChrisPCarter]

It does look ideal for making a bomb vest out of.

I imported a Spyderco knife from US last year - a carbon fibre handle and special steel version of a knife I already own. It was far cheaper to import it and wasn't generally available in this limited edition here. It was a Spydeco Manix folding lock knife, nothing tactical or particularly scary and I have a few of their knives.
It took its time to deliver and I started chasing it thinking it was lost in the post. I could get no info from couriers which was odd.
A few weeks later I got a knock on the door from two officers at 7am, who had come to ask if I ordered a parcel and what did it contain?
I told them it was a knife and they said it's an illegal gravity knife and they wanted to speak to me at the station under caution of possession of an illegal weapon.
At that point I showed them the one I already had, which I bought in UK from a dealer and showed them 5 other shops and websites in UK where they were on sale.
The officers said there has clearly been a mistake but they still needed to discuss it properly.
I went to the station as agreed and they said they would have a chat about it but it was no longer "under caution". Phew!
I had taken print offs off the item with me and they appologised and said "Border Control have clearly made a c0ck up".

They would tell them to release the goods but Border Control are a law unto themselves - their words.
So I waited for the knife and it didn't arrive. Weeks later I got a letter of seizure to say they had intercepted it.
Well we knew that and police had already told them to release before they sent this letter out.
The letter contained a form to say if they didn't hear from me the knife would be destroyed (£150 worth) or I could fill out a form to request a court hearing, potentially at my cost. As I knew I was in the right I requested a hearing.
They never replied... long story short I wrote 6 letters and a dozen emails to them and escalated it to higher departments - not one single reply.
I made an official complaint and received an automated reply saying I needed to write to them - again!
Guess what - no reply.
Months later I received a letter from my firearms dept that they had been informed I had tried to import an illegal weapon and that as a certificate holder a very dim view was taken of this.
So these departments, including the police, don't even speak to each other when it is resolved.

I lost a £150 knife, a day off work visiting a solicitor and the police station, and probably have this on my record somewhere.

When I called the police about it again to try to get a reference number regarding the lost knife for a letter to Border Control they don't have one as I was never cautioned!

Yet the firearms dept obviously know about it as they later wrote to me.
I have another 3 years until renewal but it worries me what might be on my record now.
Be careful what you order, even if you know it is legal, you can open a right can of worms.

Edited December 9, 2016 by ChrisPCarter

[panoma1]

Do the post office not do this work on behalf of HMRC? Because they (the post office) certainly collect the VAT on imports on behalf of HMRC...........then overcharge the recipient for doing so!

This case sounds like some inadequately trained employee over reacting to and ringing the alarm bells at the mention of guns, shooting etc.......

[ChrisPCarter]

Do the post office not do this work on behalf of HMRC? Because they (the post office) certainly collect the VAT on imports on behalf of HMRC...........then overcharge the recipient for doing so!

This case sounds like some inadequately trained employee over reacting to and ringing the alarm bells at the mention of guns, shooting etc.......

 

No it's HMRC Border Control intercept things before it gets to the Post Office handling stage.

They take over and refuse to do the right thing, don't respond to their own forms, letters, emails or even their own official complaints procedure.

As the police told me, they are a law unto themselves and that's what I later discovered.

They obviously have a lot of new procedures in place at the moment due to terrorism.

The police told me they are sick of Border Control sending them out to innocent people over items in the post.

They used to seize items and write to you but now they don't write a letter, they send out the police for a surprise visit first to see what it's about.

Then they send a letter out to inform you months after the event offering you your item back if you are prepared to discuss it in court at your cost.

They have you over a barrel.

 

What amazed me is that they would send two officers round to the home of a 45 year old firearms holder about a small pocket knife - I've got a cabinet full of guns for gods sake!

If I'm authorised for those what danger is a pocket knife? With shotguns I'm pretty likely to need this kind of knife for hunting!

Most knife crime is committed with kitchen knives and I've got a drawer full they don't seem concerned about.

Crazy.

[fortune]

It does look ideal for making a bomb vest out of.

I imported a Spyderco knife from US last year - a carbon fibre handle and special steel version of a knife I already own. It was far cheaper to import it and wasn't generally available in this limited edition here. It was a Spydeco Manix folding lock knife, nothing tactical or particularly scary and I have a few of their knives.

It took its time to deliver and I started chasing it thinking it was lost in the post. I could get no info from couriers which was odd.

A few weeks later I got a knock on the door from two officers at 7am, who had come to ask if I ordered a parcel and what did it contain?

I told them it was a knife and they said it's an illegal gravity knife and they wanted to speak to me at the station under caution of possession of an illegal weapon.

At that point I showed them the one I already had, which I bought in UK from a dealer and showed them 5 other shops and websites in UK where they were on sale.

The officers said there has clearly been a mistake but they still needed to discuss it properly.

I went to the station as agreed and they said they would have a chat about it but it was no longer "under caution". Phew!

I had taken print offs off the item with me and they appologised and said "Border Control have clearly made a c0ck up".

They would tell them to release the goods but Border Control are a law unto themselves - their words.

So I waited for the knife and it didn't arrive. Weeks later I got a letter of seizure to say they had intercepted it.

Well we knew that and police had already told them to release before they sent this letter out.

The letter contained a form to say if they didn't hear from me the knife would be destroyed (£150 worth) or I could fill out a form to request a court hearing, potentially at my cost. As I knew I was in the right I requested a hearing.

They never replied... long story short I wrote 6 letters and a dozen emails to them and escalated it to higher departments - not one single reply.

I made an official complaint and received an automated reply saying I needed to write to them - again!

Guess what - no reply.

Months later I received a letter from my firearms dept that they had been informed I had tried to import an illegal weapon and that as a certificate holder a very dim view was taken of this.

So these departments, including the police, don't even speak to each other when it is resolved.

I lost a £150 knife, a day off work visiting a solicitor and the police station, and probably have this on my record somewhere.

When I called the police about it again to try to get a reference number regarding the lost knife for a letter to Border Control they don't have one as I was never cautioned!

Yet the firearms dept obviously know about it as they later wrote to me.

I have another 3 years until renewal but it worries me what might be on my record now.

Be careful what you order, even if you know it is legal, you can open a right can of worms.

Seeing as you again did nothing wrong and the item is not illegal and importable what grounds have they got for pocketing your knife. if it were me I would never have let it go. I would have bombarded everyone from my MP to the minister responsible to the chief constable and the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leader of the local boy scouts with letters demanding either the item or full compensation for every inconvenience. We get rolled over because people lay down and allow it to happen. It's a matter of principle.

[McCloggie]

It's the polis going completely ott over this. Have you seen what stuff you can buy from companies like military1st etc for the folk that do airsoft ? You can kit yourself out like if you're SAS or a Blackwater operator and it's all legal.Jobsworth cops who could have spent their time and effort to better use. You did nothing wrong.

[ordnance]

You would have thought the police and customs would have better things to do, how dangerous can a cartridge belt be. You have done nothing wrong i would tell the police were to go and ask customs to release my goods.

Edited December 10, 2016 by ordnance

[6.5x55SE]

Many years ago i went through a similar thing. I ordered a RCBS Kinetic Hammer ( for pulling Projectile from Rifle ammunition ) which basically is a plastic hammer. It was held at Customs who informed my local Police i was attempting to smuggle Illegal Firearms Parts into the UK .

The police came armed to my place of work to arrest me after using a work computer to show them exactly what I'd ordered and the USA supplier confirmed it was not in anyway a Firearm Part. Customs released the Kinetic Hammer with No apologies or from the Police in fact the attending Police laughed and thought it was funny.

[mossy835]

You would have thought the police and customs would have better things to do, how dangerous can a cartridge belt be. You have done nothing wrong i would tell the police were to go and ask customs to release my goods.

 

 

you wont get very far saying that.

[ordnance]

 

 

you wont get very far saying that.

Why ? he has done nothing wrong and is being hassled by the police.

[CharlieT]

I think some posters need to wake up and see the light.

 

Like it or not, with the current elevated terrorist threat level, I for one would be highly critical of the police, customs and security services if they did not investigate and follow up those who tried to import questionable articles.

 

I think it perfectly reasonable that customs would question anyone bringing such things into the country in their luggage and see no reason why someone who has something imported by post should not be subject to the same level of investigation.

 

Certainly those with a liking for paramilitary kit and such gizmos always flag red in my mind, as I'm sure they do with the security services.

[fortune]

you wont get very far saying that.

I don't see why. Why shouldn't they sort it out. They are coming down and harassing him.

 

Why ? he has done nothing wrong and is being hassled by the police.

I agree with the above. We as a shooting community take far too much **** from the so called authorities. This bloke has done nothing wrong so why should he or anyone be harassed and stressed up and basically robbed of their goods because of the inability of the police to communicate with other departments and the willingness of us to just take it and roll over. Look at the number of posts on this one subject that have left comments that make it look like the OP is at fault in some way. Ok he might have bought stuff that isn't compatible with the sport that he would like to do but so what.

[ordnance]

I think some posters need to wake up and see the light.

 

Like it or not, with the current elevated terrorist threat level, I for one would be highly critical of the police, customs and security services if they did not investigate and follow up those who tried to import questionable articles.

 

I think it perfectly reasonable that customs would question anyone bringing such things into the country in their luggage and see no reason why someone who has something imported by post should not be subject to the same level of investigation.

 

Certainly those with a liking for paramilitary kit and such gizmos always flag red in my mind, as I'm sure they do with the security services.

There has being a elevated terrorist threat level here for as long as i remember, you would wonder how i have managed to import parts from Europe and America for my firearms with no problems.

[ordnance]

 

Certainly those with a liking for paramilitary kit and such gizmos always flag red in my mind, as I'm sure they do with the security services.

Yea Terrorists are goint to order ( paramilitary kit ) as you call it from America to use in an attack in the UK, they might be mad but doint make the mistake of thinking they are stupid. The items are harmless unless you think they are going to carry out a mass attack using a cartrige belt, maybe strike people really hard with it while dressed in camo.

Edited December 11, 2016 by ordnance

[fortune]

I think some posters need to wake up and see the light.

 

Like it or not, with the current elevated terrorist threat level, I for one would be highly critical of the police, customs and security services if they did not investigate and follow up those who tried to import questionable articles.

 

I think it perfectly reasonable that customs would question anyone bringing such things into the country in their luggage and see no reason why someone who has something imported by post should not be subject to the same level of investigation.

 

Certainly those with a liking for paramilitary kit and such gizmos always flag red in my mind, as I'm sure they do with the security services.

 

Just read the above and I agree to an extent that we are at threat but what I don't agree with is the total ineptitude of the way the police in particular go about dealing with this. There needs to be someone with a few grey cells dealing with this. It's no good going out armed and threatening people who have bought a penknife online that you can buy in a local shop. Especially when they have guns at home and carving knives in the kitchen. Then there is the issue of coming out to find that the person that they want to talk to isn't there. The whole situation is a total comedy and a situation that the real terrorist will just walk around. People like peadophiles like Jimmy Saville did and are doing this. And have used the system to avoid what they have been doing.

[blackfriar]

On facebook group I belong to, I posed the same problem and asked for advice going forward - a lot of them are of the opinion I should get myself a solicitor. Does anyone here echo that?

 

It seems unnecessary to me at this stage, when they just want to ask a few questions and I have nothing to hide. What do you think?