Jump to content

Shooting incident in Plymouth


henry d

Recommended Posts

A horrific incident, all the worse because he was someone who had been deemed suitable to hold a shotgun.

Without wanting to detract at all from the awfulness of the situation, it's probably worth reminding people that forums such as PW are scrutinised by firearms departments and are likely to be even more so now given what has happened.  We remove daft comments where we find them but please remember to think before hitting the post button as people have been pulled up in the past for things posted on here and elsewhere, and that's only likely to increase.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 281
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

13 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

Tyhe Police video (Chief Constable?) has just confirmed he was a licensed holder.  No more details.

Oh no,  disastrous for the shooting community.  We are at point in history where the gun ownership is being increasingly frowned upon.   I guess the police will start looking at peoples' YouTube and Facebook posts as well as their medical records....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Zapp said:

A horrific incident, all the worse because he was someone who had been deemed suitable to hold a shotgun.

Without wanting to detract at all from the awfulness of the situation, it's probably worth reminding people that forums such as PW are scrutinised by firearms departments and are likely to be even more so now given what has happened.  We remove daft comments where we find them but please remember to think before hitting the post button as people have been pulled up in the past for things posted on here and elsewhere, and that's only likely to increase.

We get warned in Northern Ireland not to even post pictures of ourselves with guns on our own social media accounts. Or behave in such a way that could be demonstrated that a thief traced us through social media leading to theft of guns. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A truly horrible horrible incident. As a parent to young children myself I couldn't imagine anything worse. My heart goes out to anyone who is affected by this tragedy.

It also highlights how as shooters and licence holders although we have to jump through hoops to gain our tickets we always have to be on our guard and look out for each other. Clearly this person had some mental issues and was going through some problems. It shows how we all need to look out for our friends and fellow shooters and anyone else in the community who may need some help or even if we may need to intervene and alert the authorities if we suspect someone has issues.

I know sometimes police forces can be overzealous with reactions but when horrible things like this happen it shows that we all have to be on our guard. I know for me the only people who know I hold a licence are other shooters and the same goes to some of my friends. I would hope that if I was not of sound mind that my friends would not be afraid to intervene or even alert the authorities, even if it compromised our friendship, and vice versa. We all have a duty of care to our fellow shooters and I hope for some people lessons can be learnt from this.

Such a waste, again I feel for everyone affected, I know we can't stop every tragedy but in this day and age things like this should never be able to happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, nabbers said:

Oh no,  disastrous for the shooting community.  We are at point in history where the gun ownership is being increasingly frowned upon.   I guess the police will start looking at peoples' YouTube and Facebook posts as well as their medical records....

If a PW member can find what sounds like very iffy comments and associations of a license holder that has killed a number of people, maybe the police should have a look before granting a license!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, bluesj said:

If a PW member can find what sounds like very iffy comments and associations of a license holder that has killed a number of people, maybe the police should have a look before granting a license!

 

Thats easy after the event he must have passed all the critreria needed to be granted a ticket 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is beginning to sound like a wrong un got allowed to acquire a shotgun with the full blessing of the police firearms department and chief constable with tragic consequences.

I truly feel for all affected by this horror and seriously hope those responsible for allowing the shooter to hold a shotgun never gets to vet any other applicants. As is usual the lawful decent shooters will likely be further restricted while the authorities seek to deflect blame from themselves and exploit the incident towards further gun control. One can imagine the FLO and others concerned will retire with decent pensions and golden handshakes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, bluesj said:

If a PW member can find what sounds like very iffy comments and associations of a license holder that has killed a number of people, maybe the police should have a look before granting a license!

 

+1 

I'm genuinely shocked that he has been deemed a suitable candidate for a license. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh Poop that's going to be more hoops for us to jump through . 

He was a licensed holder.

So you just know pritty Patel will try to make every license harder to get / keep .

Be prepared boys .., 

Even though it initially seems as if he shouldn't have had a ticket 

Edited by hodge911
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, hodge911 said:

Oh Poop that's going to be more hoops for us to jump through . 

He was a licensed holder.

So you just know pritty Patel will try to make every license harder to get / keep .

Be prepared boys .., 

Even though it initially seems as if he shouldn't have had a ticket 

Yep, Just been on the news, he was a licence holder, looking at his videos I would have been very reluctant to issue him a ticket.

 

Priti Patel said they will be looking at the licencing procedure, think we all know what that means.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, MARSH GUN said:

Was A pump action not sure if  it is  FAC or a shotgun / restricted . Or  if he held that gun on his licence or not is unclear at the moment.

 

Either way we're all going to suffer for it !

All anyone will hear is "LICENSE HOLDER"

Edited by hodge911
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Rim Fire said:

Thats easy after the event he must have passed all the critreria needed to be granted a ticket 

Yes, easy after the fact, but also simple enough for the police to have a look at someones social media before granting a license, upon renewal, and at any point in between. I was lead to believe that firearms officers do check social media etc 

I wonder what sort of legitimate shooting activities he actually took part in that required him to have, and be granted a shotgun certificate. Is he a member of a club? Does he need it for work? Viewing his social media and YouTube it struck me that the only shooting related things he posted were video game footage, absolutely nothing at all to do with clay/game and nothing to suggest he owned a shotgun himself, but he's clearly very interested in guns based on the types of accounts he's following and commenting on, on YouTube. I guess we'll never find out. 

Presumably the licensing police force will refer itself to the IOPC for investigation and all relevant questions will be asked/answered.

Tragic, the whole situation. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, shotmaker said:

I'm genuinely shocked that he has been deemed a suitable candidate for a license. 

How do you know what he was like when he was issued his licence. He could have quite easily been issued his licence 4 years ago and in that time many things could have changed in his life. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, hodge911 said:

Either way we're all going to suffer for it !

Expected i do agree with that, but think about the day after bird killed those poor people in Cumbria. we expected more legislation then, and David Cameron More or less said "you could not stop such events with legislation2.  So if we avoid Legislation or not will remain to be seen.  but looking at legislation is one thing looks like is going to happen. Lets wait and see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, shotmaker said:

Yes, easy after the fact, but also simple enough for the police to have a look at someones social media before granting a license, upon renewal, and at any point in between. I was lead to believe that firearms officers do check social media etc 

I wonder what sort of legitimate shooting activities he actually took part in that required him to have, and be granted a shotgun certificate. Is he a member of a club? Does he need it for work? Viewing his social media and YouTube it struck me that the only shooting related things he posted were video game footage, absolutely nothing at all to do with clay/game and nothing to suggest he owned a shotgun himself, 

So what you are saying is every licence holder should have his social media monitored and if he doesn't post about shooting or owning guns he's unsuitable for a license. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What alot are forgetting here too is that other people have to be referee for him, so would have been called and asked if there was any reason for the ticket to not be issued. Had these people known of the social media posts then they should be stating that granting is not a good idea. If they said he was all okay, then will they not get drawn into this and questions asked of them?

2 minutes ago, toontastic said:

So what you are saying is every licence holder should have his social media monitored and if he doesn't post about shooting or owning guns he's unsuitable for a license. 

I think you have to be responsible in what you do and don't put up on social media and even on a forum. Also how you act when you are out and in possession of your guns .. 

Act like an idiot on camera then post it, questions will get asked .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This as been mooted before historically in the Uk, But is it now time to remove Firearms licensing from the individual police Authorities and put it into the hands of a Government department like The DVLA was from all the individual licensing  departments with drivers and cars ETC,

Is it time to go for longer term licensing ease the police workload. Not sure. thoughts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Zapp said:

Police firearms departments are overstretched and subject to a lot of bureaucracy.  FEOs, who dont get paid a great deal, have to manage big caseloads and take risk based decisions all the time.  Sadly its inevitable that they arent always going to get it right.

People will slip through the net unless it is fixed, and in my opinion this rather than our gun laws is where the problem lies.  Off the top of my head I can think of two very serious child sex offenders who were members of this forum and who had guns.  I've personally been threatened, stalked and harassed by people who were on PW.   

Agreed, with all points. FEO's have a great deal of responsibility and perhaps not always the resources required to thoroughly vet applicants, particularly not ongoing vetting. Terrible situation all round. 



 

12 minutes ago, toontastic said:

So what you are saying is every licence holder should have his social media monitored and if he doesn't post about shooting or owning guns he's unsuitable for a license. 

No, that's not what I said at all. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, ShootingEgg said:

 

I think you have to be responsible in what you do and don't put up on social media and even on a forum. Also how you act when you are out and in possession of your guns .. 

 

The question of his suitability to own guns has been questioned due to the fact he didn't post about game/clay shooting. Is this now part of the criteria for having a licence that you must go on social media and talk about it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...