What are the firearm laws like in your country? Do you agree with them? Why?

[Ridge Runner]

Just trying to learn what the laws are like in other countires instead of relying on the major media sources.

If anyone wants to really know what it is like in my part of the country, I will answer as best as I can.

 

[JakeR]

Hi Ridge Runner,

Well, I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject. But i know your allowed an air-rifle up to 12ft lb without a firearm license. 6 ft lb for air pistols.

Definatly no pistols. Shotguns with licenses, but thats all i know!

Someone (or lots ) of people here im sure will let you know.
:biggthump

Jake

 

[tomtom]

Hi Ridge Runner,

Well, I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject. But i know your allowed an air-rifle up to 12ft lb without a firearm license. 6 ft lb for air pistols.

Jake

thats if your over 17

shot gun liscenes over 18..

rifel lisences.. over 18 but you also have to be specil to get one of them i think not sure of the exact rules..

 

[JakeR]

Oh yeah, Cheers Silver Birch.

And 14 for Ball Bearing guns.

 

[tomtom]

not im plymouth market

:rolmao:

 

[JakeR]

All ages in Plymouth?

 

[gb]

you are allowed a shotgun licence if your over 15, my brother has just applied for his and he's only 16. You can own an airfun before your 17 but not buy them.
Fair enough rules i think.

 

[tenbears10]

Like the others said:

air rifle less then 12lb/ft no licence

Shot gun you need a shot gun licence which isn't that hard to obtain (I just got my first recently)

Any rifle, air rifle over 12lb/ft or shot gun which holds over 3(?) cartridges and some hand guns (my wife is allowed one for work) you need a Fire Arms Certificate which is considerably harder to get and you need good reason.

It remains to be seen if we will have to add knife licence to that list as well.

These are very likely to change in the not too distant future. It is becoming less acceptable amongst the majority of the british population (townies) to justlfy owning a firearm of any sort. The problem being that criminals use them. So by that rational we will also licence or ban everything sharper than a spoon and more dangerous than a pillow for the worry of them falling into the wrong hands.


Bill

 

[MartiniDave]

Tenbears has it pretty much spot on.
You can have .22 rimfire on a firearms certificate with good reason, likewise centrefire rifle for such things as deer stalking, pest control and target shooting.
I wasn't aware anyone could still have a handgun (other than sub 6 ft/lb air pistols) for any reason.

No - I don't like it. I used to spend a lot of time at the range shooting pistols when it was legal. I don't think banning them has made this country any safer, in fact the crime figures say things are getting worse!

Anyone need a mechanical designer out in the states? Montana preferably!

Dave ack:

 

[tenbears10]

Anyone need a mechanical designer out in the states? Montana preferably!
Dave ack:

I'll join you Dave, Maine sounds nice as well ): But then the grass is always greener I suppose.

Bill

 

[Buckshot]

Oh where to begin....

 

[Tvividr]

.....I wasn't aware anyone could still have a handgun (other than sub 6 ft/lb air pistols) for any reason....

I also thought that you guys had outlawed handguns completely in the UK.
In Norway :
Airgun / airpistol with less than ?/lb - no license.
Airgun with more than ?/lb - license
Shotgun - license (from age 16 I think, with parents approval and on special license only. Once you are 18 yrs you can apply and get your license - usually helps to have a hunting sertificate).
Rifle (any calibre) - license and have to be 18 yrs and have a hunting license or do competitive shooting (be active member of a shooting club).
Handgun (any calibre) - license and have to be 21 yrs old, and have been active member of a handgun shooting club for at least 6 months before applying for your license. Chairman of the shooting club must sign your application.

Within the past few years we have had several restrictions on the number of guns that any one person can own etc, but it still only takes about a week to get an answer to your license application. This is definitely not bad compared to the 3-12 months it usually takes in South Africa.
Obviously there are some restrictions on the type of rifle, shotgun etc that can be owned.

 

[alick]

The UK has some of if not the most restrictive firearms laws in the world.
Disregarding use by the military and by the law enforcement agencies (who are rapidly changing from an unarmed to an armed force) civilian ownership of pistols has been banned after a high profile incident a few years ago. There are very limited exceptions to this for antiques owned by collectors, for black powder weapons (1800's technology) and for pistols used for slaughtering or "putting down" livestock.
In all cases, firearms ownership is subject to licencing under control of the "home office" department of the government and operated by the police. Shotgun certificates are somewhat easier to obtain than the "Fire Arms Certificate" for rifles and pistols and high power air rifles which are all classed as "section1" weapons.

Fully automatic weapons are classed as section 5 and in practice are never approved for civilian ownership. The same for any self loading rifle in larger than .22rimfire calibre (Ruger 10.22's are ok)

Section 1 Licences are issued for 5 years and require the person to show a good reason for needing EACH individual gun. e.g. Membership of an approved shooting club or stalking, wildfowling, pest control etc. It is uncommon for people to be allowed to own more than (say) 3 to 5 guns, which would be sufficient to cover a range of types and calibres for different uses. Two guns of the same type would typically only be allowed for competitive shooters who need a spare in case a gun fails part way through a competition.

Proof of membership, permission to shoot over the specified ground etc is needed, as are two references and a secure gun cabinet for storage which will be inspected by the police before the licence is issued.
Buying and selling of guns (and ammunition) can only be done within the specific permission of each individual license, and all transactions must be notified to the police so that each gun can be tracked by serial number throughout it's life.

Despite dramatically tightening firearms legislation over the last few years, gun related crime in the UK is climbing dramatically. One might argue that the hundreds of millions of pounds spent by the government in compensation and admin costs when they confiscated all pistols in licenced civilian ownership has been a complete waste of time and money, but then we can all recognise a government pre-election gimmick and shocked outrage helps sell papers. What minority group can stand against that ?

So how are things in your part of the USA ?

Cheers

 

[tenbears10]

Sorry Dave I didn't see the handgun bit in your post.

She has an FAC to allow her to use a single shot pistol as a Vet to put down animals. I think this was the only exception to the ban of handguns. I don't know the caliber etc as I have never seen it, quite rightly. It is kept at the surgery and used owned by work rather than personally.

Bill

 

[gb]

someone mentioned some where that some qualified deer stalkers are allowed to carry handguns dispatch wounded deer.

 

[tenbears10]

someone mentioned some where that some qualified deer stalkers are allowed to carry handguns dispatch wounded deer.

Buckshot might know?

Bill

 

[Ginja]

Fully automatic weapons are classed as section 5 and in practice are never approved for civilian ownership

And rightly so, IMO! Sorry to be a 'spoilsport', but why the hell would anyone ever want/need a fully automatic weapon - other than to, say, kill people or simply to give themselves a h**d on?!

That said, having grown up in Hereford, I have experience of firing shotguns, garden guns (4-10s), air rifles, and even an old Bren Gun years ago on a firing range ... and I can see very clear 'civilian' uses for all of them (apart from the Bren, perhaps!).

As for licensing, I'm no expert (you may have guessed!), but I believe that Canada has similar legislation to the US - maybe even tougher legislation - yet the number of murders carried out using a firearm is only a fraction of that in the US, even though there is an equivalent prevalance of gun ownership (per head at least). Various authors (including Michael Moore) put this down to a difference in 'gun culture' - ie. the way people perceive guns as tools, rather than toys. I think this is why gun crime is escalating in the UK and elsewhere - there is a culture of illegal gun ownership based on kudos, lifestyle, fashion, etc, etc - hence, you could argue that we don't want to encourage this culture by relaxing legislation and sending out the wrong message - and that we also need a robust legal system that can come down hard on people carrying or supplying illegal firearms. Just makes good sense to me.

Though I appreciate that a minority of gun enthusiasts would rather the opposite - and so would I in an ideal world. Bear in mind you are the responsible ones, and I would hazard a guess that you don't live in 'problematic' inner city areas, when gun crime is sometimes a little too close for comfort (and yes, it is very much a 'townie' problem).

That said, the way we seem to be following in the in footsteps of the USA - eg. blame culture and law suits, eating ourselves silly - it won't be long before we'll all be packin' a piece at home, just in case some dirty commie or drugged-up rapist sets foot on our property. Only kidding ... right?

Sorry - seem to be shooting off all over the place here! (excuse the pun).

G :?:

PS: don't mean to deliberately offend any of our American comrades. Apologies if I've pi**ed anyone off.

 

[Lurch]

Some of the comments re age limits are incorrect.
You can have a shotgun licence as a nipper but you can't buy a gun or carts until over 17, but can receive one as a gift.
http://www.sussex.police.uk/online_forms/firearms_law_juveniles.asp
Explains some of the age restrictions.

Full auto weapons (and semi come to that) may not be something that people 'need' but there isn't a great public safety benefit from banning them. The first time that full auto was prohibited was in the 1920's because the government was afraid of revolution. Despite this, criminals seem to have no trouble obtaining full auto weapons. The New Years day shootings for example were enacted using a full auto machine pistol.

Stopping law abiding people from owning firearms does not prevent criminals getting them. Criminals have an annoying habit of not obeying the law.

As for legal ownership encouraging illegal ownership I would most definitely say that this is not the case. Gun crime and the criminal use of handguns rocketed following the "Guns off the streets" cobblers.

re. stalkers. One stalker has authority for a .45 semi-auto handgun, but a number have single shot pistols.
Authority for Section 5 weapons is granted but is unusual and in strict circumstances. It is in theory possible to have a Section 5 weapon for self-defence, but in practice it doesn't happen.
However terrorist, sorry statesman Gerry Adams has a 9mm pistol paid for by the government. :?:

 

[Ginja]

criminals seem to have no trouble obtaining full auto weapons. The New Years day shootings for example were enacted using a full auto machine pistol. Stopping law abiding people from owning firearms does not prevent criminals getting them. Criminals have an annoying habit of not obeying the law.

Very much in agreement with you here Lurch. But as it stands right now, anyone found with a fully auto firearm is in the legal sh*t - which is a-okay by me. Whereas if their usage was legalised/licensed, then surely some 'criminals' would be able to carry them around without hassles from the law, until such time as the gun is used in a criminal act (popping down the post office with a balaclava, for instance! joke ...). Hence, I'm not arguing against legalising fully auto firearms because I think it would necessary encourage 'criminal' gun ownership/use, but rather that it would allow guns to be carried much more easily for the wrong reasons.

Same issue with knives - all a question of context and purpose. Outdoors and away from picknicking 'townies'? Fine. Waving around in your hand at Tesco's check-out? Call the cops.

Not trying to come across as a total anti-gun lobbyist here, as I do appreciate (and to some extent fully suport) the use of guns for both recreation and gamekeeping/hunting.

I just draw a big, fat line at fully automatics!

G

 

[george]

then surely some 'criminals' would be able to carry them around without hassles from the law, until such time as the gun is used in a criminal act

Surely if they're criminals they wont be allowed a license and if they're not criminals then they shouldn't get any hassle?

As far as I'm concerned criminal possession/use of any firearm should be hit with a major sentence. That way you don't need to outlaw any specific type of gun. If you don't have a licence you go to jail. All you need to do is prescribe the behaviours that are allowed - anything else is criminal use, it's then your responsibility to ensure that you keep within the law or go to jail.

It's then up to the licence issuing authority to determine whether you should have a licence for that AK47 or RPG launcher or whatever. I mean I don't have a good excuse for having one (not that I'd want one anyway) but maybe someone out there does - so why stop them from owning it if they are not committing a criminal offence?

george