Test of your firearms/airgun law/knowledge

[psycho]

Here is a scenario

 

A Nurse goes to an elderly gentleman's house..the elderly gentleman has a gun in the corner.The elderly gentleman says he has it for hunting.The nurse does not like this a firearm in the corner of the room. it's a gun. She i dont feel safe so contacts the police

 

Lets say the gun is a sub 12 foot pounds air rifle.

 

Here are the questions ?

 

1.Can the police do anything.

2.Does the person have hand over his air rifle

3.Does the person have to lock his airgun away or can he leave it in the corner as an ornamental

sculpture.

 

Expanded answers only rather than yes and no.

 

Let's put some meat on the bone the elderly gentleman lives alone and his grandchildren one of 19 and one of 16 visit every other sunday

[panoma1]

If he lives in England or Wales the answer to all the questions is no........because the law does not require it, and his grandchildren visiting is irrelevant, its nothing to do with the police!

 

that's it, no fleshing out required!

[Wb123]

In england and wales my understanding is that provided no easy access for too young children he is legally ok.

 

Pragmatically speaking though he should lock it away or get in the car/taxi to said nurse.

[Paul taylor]

by law he has to prevent access to the rifle by anyone under the age of 18 as do all of us.how you do this is not specified by law like it would be with shot gun or firearms.

[GingerCat]

by law he has to prevent access to the rifle by anyone under the age of 18 as do all of us.how you do this is not specified by law like it would be with shot gun or firearms.

That's my understanding as well.

[panoma1]

I believe a person aged between 14 and 17 can borrow an air rifle and ammunition, and use it on private land (with permission) unsupervised, but you must be 18 to buy and own one!

[psycho]

Answer to bottom bit

 

The law requires to take reasonable steps to keep an airgun out of the hands of anyone under 18 this includes anyone under 18 living in the house or under 18 come to make a visit this can mean locking away or securing in such a way to prevent use (trigger lock). As rightly said someone between 14 and 17 may borrow an air rifle. So precautions must be made when the 16 year old grand child visits

 

What about the old gentleman ..the nurse and the police.

[vampire]

Answer to bottom bit

 

The law requires to take reasonable steps to keep an airgun out of the hands of anyone under 18 this includes anyone under 18 living in the house or under 18 come to make a visit this can mean locking away or securing in such a way to prevent use (trigger lock). As rightly said someone between 14 and 17 may borrow an air rifle. So precautions must be made when the 16 year old grand child visits

 

What about the old gentleman ..the nurse and the police.

This

[Ultrastu]

I hate gun hysteria .

The problem lies with the nurse .she should seek help and understanding when she has solved her problems then she maybe bmdeemed fit to return to the house .

In the mean time please send a mentally stable nurse as this one isnt fit to do her job .

[chrisjpainter]

I hate gun hysteria .

The problem lies with the nurse .she should seek help and understanding when she has solved her problems then she maybe bmdeemed fit to return to the house .

In the mean time please send a mentally stable nurse as this one isnt fit to do her job .

If I were in her position, I'd feel distinctly uncomfortable about it too. Plus, we only have minimal details. if we put some more meat to the story, I can totally understand her point of view. If we assume a) she's never met the chap before (and so has never been to the house) and b) she was going there alone, I think that's cause to feel concerned/uncomfortable. Look at it this way: A woman who works for the section of the public sector that receives the most abuse from the public goes alone to a man's house whom she's never met before, there's no one else in the house and she has to spend considerable time one to one with him and there's a gun in the corner in plain sight.

 

To say she's not fit to do her job because she felt unsafe in that situation is unfair.

Edited August 24, 2017 by chrisjpainter

[Guest]

The nurse's reaction is understandable because your average person does not know the law. On my permissions I am very careful about visibility to Jo Public because of his ignorance.

 

I reckon the Police would strongly advise the old boy to keep the rifle locked away but no Caution etc.

[psycho]

I reckon the Police would strongly advise the old boy to keep the rifle locked away but no Caution etc.

Nearly but wrong...the police say sorry there is nothing we can do as the old gentleman is not breaking the law.....

 

More meat..the old gentleman now as he is not breaking the law. Sits on on his chair at every call with the gun across his knee polishing it..

 

Is there anything that the police can do now.. the nurse is very uneasy about this

[bruno22rf]

The Nurse needs sacking - no laws are being broken and the Airgun is no more threat to her than the carving knife in the kitchen drawer. If the Gentleman was known to be mentally unstable then that's a different matter but that has nothing to do with the Airgun. In the eyes of the law, according to my FEO, the words "don't touch the Gun" could be considered restricting access.

[oowee]

He is not breaking the law as before no action can be taken. The Nurse should offer to help with the polishing.

[Mr.C]

Well playing devils advocate for a second.

Not everybody is as comfortable around guns or knowledgeable. If she feels intimidated then no-one should have to work in fear. And he is being a tad cantankerous too. I can understand him being miffed about the involvement of the law but if communication occurred it shouldn't have got that far.

So Psycho, put the gun away

Although this is moving from a test of law to a discussion of rights

Edited August 25, 2017 by Mr.C

[Guest]

Nearly but wrong...the police say sorry there is nothing we can do as the old gentleman is not breaking the law.....

 

Is this what actually happened or just your opinion?

[Wb123]

The issue with the nurse is easy, you dont work alone in a situation where you feel unsafe. It doesnt matter if it is previous allegations, the neighbors dog, other people in the house, too unsanitary conditions... Your own safety comes absolutely above all else.

 

If he either removes the perceived threat or travels.

 

If you pressure the staff to accept conditions they feel are unsafe you end up with trouble.

 

 

Now you may find other people working locally are fine with his air rifle, in which case it may be workable to try and manage with just their involvement, but in my experience once somebody says unsafe everyone quite rightly draws a line even if privately we may not agree.

[Muddy Funker]

This just highlights an inability by some to see something from another persons perspective.

I don't think the nurse (whether she exists) is acting like some demented snowflake at all, she likely doesn't know what it is. Air rifle/toy/sniper rifle it may well be the same thing to her, plus it's not exactly standard behaviour having it propped up in a room or on a lap at each visit is it?

She'd probably be concerned if he was sat there polishing a meat cleaver too.

[ips]

This just highlights an inability by some to see something from another persons perspective.

 

I don't think the nurse (whether she exists) is acting like some demented snowflake at all, she likely doesn't know what it is. Air rifle/toy/sniper rifle it may well be the same thing to her, plus it's not exactly standard behaviour having it propped up in a room or on a lap at each visit is it?

 

She'd probably be concerned if he was sat there polishing a meat cleaver too.

This 👍

 

No law may have been broken but common sense should dictate that the rifle be hidden when guests to the house are expected.

[Breastman]

Just because you CAN do something don't mean its a good idea to do it. You could pull up next to a police car at the traffic lights and take a swig of water from an old beer can and you wouldn't have broken any laws, but I seriously doubt you'd be going anywhere soon.

 

Just put the gun away when the nurse comes round and stop being a cantankerous ****hole

[psycho]

No laws broken even if the old gentleman had some mental health issues as he has not broken any laws

 

however the hospital has a duty of care towards staff ..so they can do something they can send a letter to warn person that medical treatment can be withdrawn from a community visit unless the gun is put away on every visit and the community staff will ring prior to a visit.....

 

No one should have to work in a situation were they are afraid

[Ultrastu]

And education allays fear .

Ignorance compounds it .

[Savhmr]

There are no provisions in law for "locking away" or fitting trigger guards to air rifles...where does this stuff come from, honestly!? There are provisions to prevent unauthorised access and use by persons under the age of 18 and for reasonable steps to be taken to keep such air rifles away from the casual visitor or other "unauthorised" persons, including minors. It is up to the individual whether this means storing in an attic space, in their wardrobe out of sight or under a bed, or indeed locked in their gun cabinet. Lets not make things up though. There are no provisions whatsoever that state that a sub 12 ft-lbs air rifle has to have a trigger guard fitted or be locked in a gun cabinet. On a more pragmatic note, if said owner was also an FAC holder, then the police would reasonably be entitled to call into question their responsibility, and hence suitability for keeping firearms, if they demonstrated such disregard for basic common sense safety provisions, or flaunted even an air rifle in front of visitors, especially if it made them feel uncomfortable. I would not fancy that persons chances come renewal time if a repeat complaint were made. Remember, that just because the police say there's nothing that they can do, the FEO and licencing team might take a very different stance come FAC renewal time.

 

As far as the nurse goes, it seems an OTT reaction to shop a patient to the police, even if she was ignorant of the law. Her discomfort, if not translated to being in immediate danger due to the attitude of the patient, are not grounds for anything except reporting back to her superiors and she had the option of leaving as soon as she saw the air rifle if she felt in any danger or discomfort instead of acting like a busy-body. She would be perfectly entitled to refuse a repeat visit to that address and her employer has a duty of care towards her. IMHO, the correct course of action would have been to report it to her employer and for them to write to the gentleman requesting that if he wanted more home visits, then the air rifle should be kept out of sight.