British Man kept arsenal of weapons at home, court hears

[Boiler 48,076]

That is bollocks.

I was there and I can assure you we were never given the opportunity to vote.

If you want to see really armed police go to Heathrow.

There are multiple reasons for banning legal ownership.

[Peikko 1,575]

That is bollocks.

I was there and I can assure you we were never given the opportunity to vote.

If you want to see really armed police go to Heathrow.

There are multiple reasons for banning legal ownership.

No, it's not bollocks. You may not know much about your own system of government or how laws come into effect, but that doesn't make what I said bollocks.

As to there being armed police in the UK, I didn't say there were not, of course there are in Heathrow and if you lived in NI, as I did, all the police were armed but in the UK as a whole they are not, including in cities and again, why is that? Why is Heathrow and NI different? You keep answering different questions but skirt around the main one.

Also, if you wanted to introduce a new bill to allow for hand gun ownership say, go right ahead, there is absolutely nothing that could stop you from starting a campaign, proposing a bill and having it introduced in parliament.

[Peikko 1,575]

The reason why there are no gun laws being introduced to relax current law is because no one wants it, not because it's not possible to do.

[Boiler 48,076]

We voted for our gun laws and we have no interest in changing them.

When?

[Peikko 1,575]

When?

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/enacted

You do know how your government works? You personally don't get to vote on specific legislation unless you are a member of parliament. Had you been alive in 1968 however, you would have been aware of the introduction of the legislation and who was in favour and who was not and could have voted accordingly.

As I said, were there to be a popular movement to relax gun laws, that too could be enacted, you just need to introduce a bill and gain popular support for it. If you want to and feel strongly about it, go ahead. Go for it.

[Sousuke 1,214]

I feel bad for the person who died but I too laugh at the article. Believe it or not there are still people in the UK that have a 'fixation" on collecting firearms and they are titled. I hardly call that a concern as the Recorder stated.

There are nearly 2 million firearms in the UK and people still collect them. The difference between the US and UK is that you must be very wealthy and have connections in the UK to acquire and maintain the necessary certificates. Affectively what the UK has done is said that only the Aristocracy may collect. That will keep murder down of course, because most violent crime is driven by poverty. I, however, believe everyone should have equal rights no matter what class you belong to.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Sousuke

[Peikko 1,575]

I feel bad for the person who died but I too laugh at the article. Believe it or not there are still people in the UK that have a 'fixation" on collecting firearms and they are titled. I hardly call that a concern as the Recorder stated.

There are nearly 2 million firearms in the UK and people still collect them. The difference between the US and UK is that you must be very wealthy and have connections in the UK to acquire and maintain the necessary certificates. Affectively what the UK has done is said that only the Aristocracy may collect. That will keep murder down of course, because most violent crime is driven by poverty. I, however, believe everyone should have equal rights no matter what class you belong to.

The UK aristocracy hasn't been wealthy for quite some time, as a species, so you may want to rethink that. Clearly, there are collectors and to maintain a decent collection requires a certain amount of money, but it's possible to do with the correct certification. However, the types of guns that are in collections are not used to make collectors feel safe from intruders and that's the real problem with the number of guns in the US, not the collectors, but the obsessives (I don't call owning loads of stock factory guns a collection) who think the govmint is going to take away their toys who stock pile guns, ammo and everything else because of feelings about the outside world that do not reflect reality.

[Sousuke 1,214]

The UK aristocracy hasn't been wealthy for quite some time, as a species, so you may want to rethink that. Clearly, there are collectors and to maintain a decent collection requires a certain amount of money, but it's possible to do with the correct certification. However, the types of guns that are in collections are not used to make collectors feel safe from intruders and that's the real problem with the number of guns in the US, not the collectors, but the obsessives (I don't call owning loads of stock factory guns a collection) who think the govmint is going to take away their toys who stock pile guns, ammo and everything else because of feelings about the outside world that do not reflect reality.

At minimum, they own land and receive government subsidies...so they are wealthier than the common man. They may not have the money of say America's silicon valley, but they are much better off then the rest.

In reference to the notion of guns are used against intruders, the article indicates a .22 which is also not good against intruders.

Everything else you've written about American collectors is a blanket statement that does not nessisarily reflect reality.

Edited July 12, 2014 by Sousuke

[Boiler 48,076]

At minimum, they own land and receive government subsidies...so they are wealthier than the common man. They may not have the money of say America's silicon valley, but they are much better off then the rest.

In reference to the notion of guns are used against intruders, the article indicates a .22 which is also not good against intruders.

Everything else you've written about American collectors is a blanket statement that does not nessisarily reflect reality.

Hey there is an agenda here that has absolutely nothing to do with facts!

The number of billionaires living in the UK has risen to more than 100 for the first time, according to the 2014 Sunday Times Rich List.

There are now 104 billionaires based in the UK with a combined wealth of more than £301bn, the list says.

That means the UK has more billionaires per head of population than any other country.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27360032

[Sousuke 1,214]

Hey there is an agenda here that has absolutely nothing to do with facts!

The number of billionaires living in the UK has risen to more than 100 for the first time, according to the 2014 Sunday Times Rich List.

There are now 104 billionaires based in the UK with a combined wealth of more than £301bn, the list says.

That means the UK has more billionaires per head of population than any other country.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27360032

Historically, wealth and being an Aristocrat weren't completely synonymous. But yes, today you can pretty much buy a title if you want to.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

I feel bad for the person who died but I too laugh at the article. Believe it or not there are still people in the UK that have a 'fixation" on collecting firearms and they are titled. I hardly call that a concern as the Recorder stated.

There are nearly 2 million firearms in the UK and people still collect them. The difference between the US and UK is that you must be very wealthy and have connections in the UK to acquire and maintain the necessary certificates. Affectively what the UK has done is said that only the Aristocracy may collect. That will keep murder down of course, because most violent crime is driven by poverty. I, however, believe everyone should have equal rights no matter what class you belong to.

And THAT, my friend, is why the USA even exists. Escape from tyranny and unfair rules. From only the religious and rich having what they wanted.

And BTW, crime in the UK isn't nearly the rate portrayed on Wiki, according to this data:

We thought Bier’s points were reasonable, so we tried to replicate his approach. We looked at the raw violent crime numbers for each country, using statistics for England and Wales for 2012 and for the United States for 2011, in a way that sought to compare apples to apples. (We should note that the United Kingdom includes Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the numbers in the meme appear to be based only on crime in England and Wales, which are calculated separately.)

For England and Wales, we added together three crime categories: "violence against the person, with injury," "most serious sexual crime," and "robbery." This produced a rate of 775 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

For the United States, we used the FBI’s four standard categories for violent crime that Bier cited. We came up with a rate of 383 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jun/24/blog-posting/social-media-post-says-uk-has-far-higher-violent-c/

Sems those bloody Brits are keen on hurting one another more than US folks are, even without the guns. Once again proving that guns don't kill people. PEOPLE kill people....

[Boiler 48,076]

My door is open my truck unlocked, it has been a long time since I would have done that in the UK.

The problem in comparison is that the US is a big country and you have hot spots, Chicago, LA, DC etc that confuse the feel overall.

To the extent Dixon of Dock Green was ever true it certainly is not now.

[Peikko 1,575]

My door is open my truck unlocked, it has been a long time since I would have done that in the UK.

The problem in comparison is that the US is a big country and you have hot spots, Chicago, LA, DC etc that confuse the feel overall.

To the extent Dixon of Dock Green was ever true it certainly is not now.

As with everything, there is a like for like comparison that you seem to be missing those, which is not uncommon. There are plenty of rural and suburban areas in the UK were you can happily leave your doors unlocked, you didn't live in one, so what? I know that the US gun huggers like to quote the crimes per 10,000 as some kind of indicator of how horrible things are in the UK, but, as these include Saturday night pub brawls and pushing as violent crimes, most of the violent crimes recorded in this statistic are not even measured in the US, that's how much more crime goes on here than there. There are zero gun gun fights between police and citizens, zero suicide by cop, you do not get caught in the crossfire in gang shootings. All this simply doesn't occur in the UK, period which means the police do not need guns to go arresting people who brawl and get drunk on a Saturday night, they do in the US, nor will you be asked to show your driving license at gun point in a traffic stop, or when you are suspected of being drunk at the wheel, or when your neighbour calls the cops because you are having a raucous party. They don't need to because they know that whatever is going on, the public are not going to start shooting. That's a huge safety consideration and not one that any of you have cared to bother to address. It doesn't suit your agenda, that's fine, not doing so but it weakens your rhetoric as if you didn't know that already.

The choice not to have large numbers of guns in circulation was made by the electorate and brought into effect by government, it wasn't imposed on the citizenry and by the same token were there to be a groundswell of popular opinion that having guns in the home would render the citizen safer, they could vote to implement changes in the gun law as it stands, that's called democracy and universal suffrage. The fact is, that since the laws have been implemented there has been no such public outcry, the regular joe does not feel the need to own a gun or other weapon to feel safe at home. Violent crime that leads to serious injury and death is incredibly low in the UK, lower than the US where, it is also low. No one needs a gun in either country to protect themselves, it's a complete bogus claim that is only made for one reason, to sell more guns and ammunition.

[Peikko 1,575]

And THAT, my friend, is why the USA even exists. Escape from tyranny and unfair rules. From only the religious and rich having what they wanted.

And BTW, crime in the UK isn't nearly the rate portrayed on Wiki, according to this data:

We thought Bier’s points were reasonable, so we tried to replicate his approach. We looked at the raw violent crime numbers for each country, using statistics for England and Wales for 2012 and for the United States for 2011, in a way that sought to compare apples to apples. (We should note that the United Kingdom includes Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the numbers in the meme appear to be based only on crime in England and Wales, which are calculated separately.)

For England and Wales, we added together three crime categories: "violence against the person, with injury," "most serious sexual crime," and "robbery." This produced a rate of 775 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

For the United States, we used the FBI’s four standard categories for violent crime that Bier cited. We came up with a rate of 383 violent crimes per 100,000 people.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jun/24/blog-posting/social-media-post-says-uk-has-far-higher-violent-c/

Sems those bloody Brits are keen on hurting one another more than US folks are, even without the guns. Once again proving that guns don't kill people. PEOPLE kill people....

You don't seem to have escaped from any of that to my way of looking at things. The wealth is polarized into a small number of hands with an every increasing number of people who sit just above the poverty line and you have a far larger percentage of the population trying to implement laws based on christian creedo (or at least a right wing version of same). The UK is far more secular in real terms than the US, despite having a state church, and anyone can believe anything they want to and worst of all, your system of government is ###### up, only those with oodles of money have any real influence in the making of laws and participation in government. I think, all things considered, the UK is doing better, and it has Universal health care. There is nothing wrong with the US, it is what it is, but it could be improved and it certainly isn't a utopia for the common man, even if you do have this extremely dubious freedom to own masses of guns and ammunition regardless of who you are.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Peikko

[Darnell 8,480]

An Arsenal, He had a 22LR and a very small amount of ammo. Cheapie 22LR usually comes in 500/550 packs. And I am pretty sure none of it is is FMJ!

I have 6 varieties, I think, different guns like different stuff.

Eh - he was out in a country area - most likely doing some poaching when he could make the time, and needed the gear. Don't know about the swords, though - I don't kill critters with swords, but I do keep up my skill with swords - swords ain't for killing critters or poaching.

If he was registered at a salle d'arms there in his area, maybe I could understand the swords - unless they were somehow collectible then all the 'stuff' doesn't matter. Collectors collect.