should this be banned

[Craig.]

thanks ozzy very much appreciated:)
as for the whole are guns right or wrong this wasnt really aimed in that direction, just more along the lines of should they be easaly avaliable on an open air market stall. but ozzys info has helped answer that.
the only reason i dont have a gun myself is my mum, she hates them, my dad being military has had extenisive training in all light and medium firearms. and has taught me how to use them responsibly.. i dont really have a problem with younger children operating them, but like the rest of you it has to be done so responsibly, they are lethal weapons simple as that.
going against that though i will prob pick up the sniper version they have for

[BFMF]

Where I live, you need to be 18 to buy anything that could be considered a weapon. I have to wait 8 more months untill i'm 18 to legally purchase a small swiss army pocket knife

I guess that's a good law, but it's a little frusterating for me.

[Woodlouse2002]

Well I've just got this answer from my friend who works for Trading Standards, and was also a firearms instructor for the ATC for a number of years.

Air guns - It is an offence for a person under the age of 17 to purchase an air weapon or ammo or for anyone to sell an air weapon or ammo to such a young person, however, they can be owned by someone over 14, they cannot be used unsupervised by anyone under 14. This is specified in the Firearms Act 1968 - Air weapons are classed as firearms, however if they are between 3/4 of a foot pound and 12 foot pounds they do not need a firearms certificate.


Ozzy

I appear to break that law quite regularly. My air rifle is 12 foot pound and therefore the maximum allowed with out a license and I have never been supivised by an adult when using it.

I voted yes. If airguns are sold at a general market any loony can buy them. I think that air rifles and firearms should be sold at gunsmiths only where a responsible adult can decide who gets to buy them.

I also think that a person should not be allowed to own an air weapon inless they have at least 1 acre of land to fire it on. At least then all them people in cities will not just be able to perchase a weapon.

I'm not against guns but i'm against the fact that any fool can buy an air rifle capable of killing someone at a range of over 50 yards.

I shall be 17 in june next year and I will be applying for a firearms license as soon as I can. I just hope that twats with air rifles will not abuse the right they have to own them. Because if they do then the chances are the age limit will be raised and maybe firearms will be banned altogether which will not be good. If you look at records shootings have been on a steady increase ever since dunblaine and the banning of hand guns. If all fire arms are banned then it will only make them more desireable to violent individuals who think they have somthing to make up for.

[Smoke2much]

I also think that a person should not be allowed to own an air weapon inless they have at least 1 acre of land to fire it on. At least then all them people in cities will not just be able to perchase a weapon.

Thanks for that.  There are very few of us that can afford this acre of land and yet we still manage to be safe gun owners, myself included.  Land ownership as a requirement is a really scary thought.  Will we have to go back to tugging our forelocks and calling the lord of the manor "sir" etc?

As you admit Woodlouse, you are breaking the law.  I am a city dweller and I am not.

I think that the whole point of this thread is that unsupervised children should not be allowed free access to dangerous weapons.  Consenting adults should.  The point about being an adult is that you can be held responsible for your actions legally where a child cannot.  If I choose to go shooting with my air rifle and accidentaly injure someone I can be taken to court.  A thirteen year old cannot.

I child who wants to get an air rifle will generally be able to somehow, removing them from markets won't make a major differance.

Will

[ozzy72]

Well I've just had a scary phone call from my mum, someone blew out the drivers and passengers front windows of her Renault whilst she was driving down the main road in Amersham (where she lives). She said she felt the bullet zip past her nose.
The police can't do anything, bet if it was a cops wife they'd have arrested every gun owner in a 10 mile radius, according to them as there is no ballistic evidence! I bet if they bothered looking they could find some! Thames Valley police, a lot less use than a chocolate oven glove >:(, they'll bust you for been a couple of MPH over the limit, but they won't look for a lunatic on the loose with a gun trying to kill women in their cars! Great service....
I'm v.in favour of weapons control. If she'd been going a tiny bit faster she would be dead right now! I hope the idiots that did this are caught.

Ozzy

[Craig.]

glad to hear she is ok ozzy
and i have to agree on the police force in this country they are useless. lets hope they do their job for once in this case

[Smoke2much]

I hope your Mum is OK.  I Have been shot at by air rifle myself, the kids that do it think it's a great laugh.  Parents need to get gloves off with kids that do this stuff, teach them a few lessons in receiving pain.

I agree about the police, they are hopeless in this area as well.

Will

[ozzy72]

Hi guys, right my temper and worry have cooled a little now, and I've stopped shaking with rage and panic.
I'd just like to say that on the whole I think the British Bobbies are amongst the finest police in the world. I've got friends and relatives who are police officers, and I hold them in the highest regard. I couldn't do their job.
However Thames Valley are the unfortunate exception! Even other police officers don't like them.
Thanks for your concern Craig and Will, I've just rung my mum back, and she has had a large Baileys to stop her hands shaking, and the dogs are all over her (funny how animals can sense things isn't it), so she is okay, I think more angry at the damage to her beloved Megane than anything now.
I'm okay now, but maybe we need to look at harsher punishments for people like this, like Will said. Having been shot in the backside with an airgun once, and administering a jolly stiff talking too to the idiot concerned (and turning his airgun on him to see how he liked it, I doubt he ever shot anyone again). Its amazing how one little incident can change your opinion!

Right I'll hop off my soapbox now and have a nice cup of tea.
Ozzy

[Fozzer]

Guns, of any sort, and me, have absolutely nothing in common whatsoever...!
...says it all...

Cheers...
Paul.
(England).

P.S.  glad your know Mum is O.K. Ozzy!
When I first started reading your posting I thought perhaps she was living in Los Angeles...NOT ENGLAND...!!!
Bad news...!

[Smoke2much]

Everything in this tossing country is "someone else's" fault.  The vast majority of the great british public take precisely no responsibility for their own actions.  This attitude is passed on to their children who then commit acts like this and get away scot free.  It sickens me.

Wastoids grow up with no qualifications and no chance of a job and blame the education system for failing them, they blame the social security system for keeping them in poverty and the NHS for not looking after their health after years of smoking, drinking and eating a high fat diet.  

Bring back the right for people to deal with trouble makers in the oldest fashion known to man.  A good clip round the ear will save more hassle and court time than any amount of polite chatting by well meaning but innefective social engineers.

Will

[pete]

Great thread!
( a prime example of how differing views can make contact  & realise they ain't so different after all - once thought is understood )
Guns are lethal weapons. About 50k people die in the US yearly from gunshot. So are cars!

Cars are stricktly controlled - guns are too. Well enough in the US? Not sure. Too much in the UK? Not sure. State by state it's different.  My belief is that all 'adult' activity needs control - unfortunate but true - & that control should be in accordance with the dangers involved & taking into account human & cultural  statistics. The reality of human beings in a particular culture.

If they were totally banned - like heroine - why would anyone want a gun? - of no one else had a gun?.... & if no one else had a gun why would you want a gun.

Of course there is a major complictation - hunting. So is the gun an extended fishing rod? I personally fish & hunt. I love eating food I have caught or shot. It's a primative thing.  
I would never use a gun against a human being unless a person threatened my daughter with a gun.  We are all human!

What I'm trying to say is this: It gets complicated!

I know this was a simple question about allowing airguns on market stalls. I think that's maybe wrong. But I thought I'd add my little bit to a very interesting concept.

[Craig.]

actually pete i am really starting to think it does go beyond the simple question at the begining and i am glad it has done as it sheds a whole new light on the situation on it, and i think you bring up a few valid points

[Woodlouse2002]

Smoke2much, what I meant by my post is that if someone is to own a firearm then they should have somewhere where they can fire it safetly. Whether this be there own bit of land or member ship at a rifle club it doesn't matter but they should be able to fire it without endangering peoples lives.

I live in a small hamlet and I go shooting about a mile away from any house. This means that the only civilisation I endanger is the very occasional dog walker and even there trespassing and shouldn't be there. And as for other hunters, well only me and my dad are allowed to hunt there by rules set by the quarry which we rent the land off. Also when I hunt I usually do it at dusk or at night so there is always practically 0 risk of me injuring a person.

Also I might add that I pity any idiot who decides that they might try and shoot me. Cause I swear I will only shoot back. And I rarely miss what i'm aiming for.

[BFMF]

Do you really think that banning guns will stop people from murdering others???

If a person wants to kill someone bad enough, they will use anything they can. All kind of things like knives, cross bows , sticks, rocks, and the list could go one forever. hell, you can kill someone with your hands and feet.

What we need are stiffer penalties

[Craig.]

hey woodlouse i am the same when it comes to targeting, i do not miss more than once. i have no idea why i really dont take tons of time aim it or anything its like it comes naturally. part of the reason why i might become a sniper for the army if the career in the airlines fails to take off(no pun intended)