[Spridgets] Gun Laws in England

[JLC]

Kirk wrote: How does the Govt know that they have  cleared all the guns from
people?  

It seems like it would take a  lot of work to track down all the legal gun 
owners and remove their  guns.  

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No, not in the UK. All the legal firearms are recorded, the UK police has
all details, and the right to inspect your firearms and your security
arrangements at will. I had a Firearms Certificate in the UK from 1976 till
I left England for the USA in 1990. The certificate had the details of every
gun I owned, and I even had to register all the ammo I was buying on the
certificate - the most ammo I could buy/hold at any time was 1000 rounds
total. Before  could buy a gun, I had to apply for a variation on my
certificate with the exact gun and caliber I was going to buy, and a valid
reason for the purchase (for example, shooting in 22 LR rifle club
competitions). Self defense was not a valid reason, it had to be a "sporting
purpose". I think I even had to find the gun and give the police the serial
number before I could have it "on ticket" and buy it. The police told me I
could not have two weapons of the same caliber, and I was told several times
that I had too many guns. I think the limit set by the local police was 6 or
8 guns in any case. Staffordshire police was easy to live with as a Firearms
certificate holder, Derbyshire police was another story. When I moved from
Staffordshire to Derbyshire, the first time the police inspected my house
for firearms and security, they made it clear that as a teacher, I should
not have firearms, and stopped short of calling me crazy for having them.
They were trying to get me to give up my guns till I threatened to lawyer
up. When I moved from Derbyshire to East Anglia, I found the police there
much more cooperative and had no trouble with my firearms or security
arrangements.

When I left the UK, I had six guns. I imported them to the US with the
relevant BATF paperwork - I still have them.

I had to surrender a Mini 14 to the police before I left England, as that
was one of the weapons being banned at the time. If my memory serves me
right, I received a letter from the police, and a visit to my house from the
local constabulary to make sure I was going to comply with the ban order. I
did receive payment for the surrendered rifle (I had insurance to prove
value), I don't think they did that when they banned handguns.


JLC, Federal Firearms License and Concealed Carry Weapon permit holder in
Colorado.