A bit on UK gun laws

[philw]

Below is an article from the Sporting Gun a UK magazine that I thought might be worth reading
 (I have permission to use this article from the editors and author)

      A THOROUGLY DISREPUTABLE HISTORY...
Firearms’ expert George Wallace gives his views on the current state of the UK’s gun legislation.

If you thought that Britain’s firearms laws and the increasingly cumbersome and often mal-administered licensing system were put in place for the prevention of crime and for the benefit of public safety, then you are, I am afraid, most cruelly deluded.
Our modern legislation is based on the firearms act of 1920 and many of the words and phrases used in the act are still in the present one. But it’s got nothing t do with public safety.

The 1920 Act was introduced for the express purpose of disarming the common people and preventing them following the example of the Russians in overthrowing their Government. It was proposed that the populace be disarmed and that stands of arms be established around the country for issue to Government supporters in the event of civil unrest or revolution. Remember that in 1920 virtually every man in the country could handle a rifle as a result o serving in the trenches. The Government having sent three quarters of a million soldiers to their deaths in Flanders, were now afraid of the returning soldiers.

If you look at the1920 Act and subsequent legislation, you will see that there is not one word in the whole jumble of mindless blether that makes it difficult for criminals to get hold of a firearm or in any other way deters him from using it. And if you think that is extreme, just pop down to the pub and see how long it takes to find someone who will sell you a pistol.

No my friends, Britain’s firearms legislation is not aimed at criminals-they simply ignore it. It is aimed at you and me. And it can only function, even as poorly as it does, because of us who are affected by it are, are on whole, law-abiding and generally behave ourselves, with or without the Firearms Act. Which makes the Act pointless and, even more important, a waste of police time.

I find it odd that a country that fought two World Wars and then a Cold War in defence of freedom is now more tightly controlled more restricted and has lost more personal freedoms than any nation on earth. Neither Kings nor Princes nor dictators have ever felt the need to control their people to the extent already achieved by our allegedly democratic government.
And since firearms licensing does not prevent-or even deter-armed crime, perhaps we should ask our politicians why it’s enforced with such enthusiasm?

Is it really a good use of police time harassing an otherwise blameless citizen because he wants to shoot a fox with a deer rifle, or because he has few rounds more ammunition than allowed o his certificate?
Or is it just part of turning us all into mindless automata, unable to think for ourselves?
How much brain is needed to understand that guns and knives don’t commit crimes? You and I know that, but politicians either do not or, more likely, don’t have the integrity to say so. Only people commit crimes and they will continue to do so with illegal guns, kitchen knives, sharpened screw drivers, knitting needles, or lengths of iron bar until our beloved, caring politicians address the real problem instead of farting around giving voters misleading BS and vote-catching sound bites.

They have always used the owners of licensed guns as scapegoats to conceal their total failure to address the real problem of armed crime. Gun owners are abused and the rest of the non-shooting public have been conned. I don’t think that failure justifies MP’s considerable salaries and generous expense accounts.

We are told we must have tight gun controls because we don’t want Britain to become like America.
Like America? Well I reckon that would be great because the average citizen in the USA has much more personal freedom and is far less likely to become a victim of crime than his counterpart here in Britain.

Think about that for a moment. You are in more danger of being mugged, stabbed or shot here in England than you would be if you lived in the USA. The daft, noisy rabble of gun control zealots are either unaware of that fact or simply choose to ignore it.
Our political bosses often look to America for ideas on all sorts of subjects but they like the fact that ordinary citizens carrying concealed handguns appears to be at least partly responsible for the reduction in violent crime and an improvement in general good manners. As one observer put it, “You don’t stick your finger up at a guy who may be packin’ a forty five.

That is, of course , a bit of a throwaway line and doesn’t mean that I think all British citizens should carry a gun for self protection. Apart from anything else, if you are not properly trained you will be more danger to yourself and family than you ever will to a criminal.

On the other hand, since neither the police nor the law can keep us safe at all times, we must have the right to protect family, property and ourselves. And we should be able to do so without some pompous asshole with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight and who has never had to defend himself from anything more than a wasp (and how did he deal with that?)  bumbling on about the ‘doctrine of reasonable force’ and the human rights of the criminal. For my part, if, heaven forbid, someone breaks into my property with violent intent he could find he left his human rights outside on the road.

I was told I could have a bit of a rant this month so I dug out my ‘grumpy old man’ pencil and this is the result. Trust me...... there would be a lot more, were I granted the space!

The bottom line is that it’s high time our firearms laws were repealed and replaced with something, to coin a phrase, that’s fit for purpose.

And if politicians don’t know how to do that, I will gladly write the first draft for them. SG

This article extracted from April 2009 edition of SPORTING GUN is published with permission from the editor of SPORTING GUN and Mr George Wallace.


Sounds familiar why wont the pollies listen?



"When the government fears the people, you have liberty. When the people fear the government you have Tyranny."
When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty (Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence of the United States)

[ericire12]

Its always about control and dependency.

[runstowin]

One big problem we have is that most people won't do anything to save their as until they are pushed absolutely against the wall. A people with integrity would look at laws and decide whether or not they are right in principle. If a law is wrong in principle, it should be rejected, no matter how wonderful it is, even if it is for the children.

[Sgt Z Squad]

"I had always hoped that the younger generation receiving their early impressions after the flame of liberty had been kindled in every breast...would have sympathized with oppression wherever found, and proved their love of liberty beyond their own share of it." Thomas Jefferson

[fightingquaker13]

I despair of the UK. It gave us the very foundations of this republic, the idea of individual liberty and the control of the state. Yet somehow Englishmen refuse to say no to their own government. Whether it is giving up the right to remain silent, putting up with surveillance cameras, tolerating Shariah law or surrendering their right to self defense (dangerous knives indeed {is their any other kind}) they seem to have forgotten that it is the state that answers to the indidual, not the individual to the state.It is just pitiful that the UK has allowed itself to come to this state. (Sorry Phil, Australia falls into this category as well). Winston is spinning in his grave, along with Burke, Locke, Smith and Mill. What Hitler couldn't do, the English have done to themselves. Let us never forget this, and not allow it to happen here.
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[philw]

I despair of the UK. It gave us the very foundations of this republic, the idea of individual liberty and the control of the state. Yet somehow Englishmen refuse to say no to their own government. Whether it is giving up the right to remain silent, putting up with surveillance cameras, tolerating Shariah law or surrendering their right to self defense (dangerous knives indeed {is their any other kind}) they seem to have forgotten that it is the state that answers to the indidual, not the individual to the state.It is just pitiful that the UK has allowed itself to come to this state. (Sorry Phil, Australia falls into this category as well). Winston is spinning in his grave, along with Burke, Locke, Smith and Mill. What Hitler couldn't do, the English have done to themselves. Let us never forget this, and not allow it to happen here.
FQ13

lol don't be sorry  I know we are going that way 

just take the Anti Association laws we now have for the Outlaw Bikies     to make it "safer" for us    FFS  they were all ready Outlaw's  like they give a crap

also sets a massive precedent