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first off Welcome Aboard :s0101:

Ya it's the so called dems aka Commies in gubberment lining their wallets and tells us it's all TRUMPS FAULT WAKE UP AMERICA
 
The Americans and the English are cousins, and haven't shot at each other (on purpose) since 18
Yeah, I was exaggerating a bit. But the reality is, you have to jump through hoops to own a gun here. My wife's son, who is a farmer, has one, for varmints, but I doubt if I could get a decent weapon. And I'm harmless.

My gun club of over 400 members has people from all walks of life. Some have one gun, some have a hundred. Some are native Brits, and some are very definitely not. Bearing in mind the local area, it would be surprising if many were not farmers of some kind, but most are not. We have a number of vets, me included, from all three armed services. Many are professionals - police, firefighters, company owners, land management - even the curator of Burghley House is a member. The importer of Desert Tech Firearms is a member, and there are goodly number of folks actually IN the gun trade - three dealers and two target/tactical rifle builders.

Your first post was not helpful to anybody who might, for one reason or another, even be thinking about coming over here for any extended period, and although you may have back-pedalled somewhat, you HAVE come from a country where gun ownership is a constitutionally-protected RIGHT, to one where is is definitely NOT. You can hardly expect to just walk in to a gun store here and walk out happy - you can't even do that in the USA these days, and you know it.

Your comment 'I doubt if I could get a decent weapon' is 100% true. You can't get a weapon of any kind - legally. What you CAN acquire and possess is a firearm - that's why it's called a Firearms Certificate.

Since I don't know where you live, I can't offer you any advice on how to get things done faster. If you need any help or advice, just ask - publicly here, so's others can benefit from the exchange, or privately via PM. I live in three countries, and I've been there and done that, so the chances are that any exchange will be fruitish

Suffice it to say that the 'hoops' you have to jump through are in place to try and limit the chances of a nutcase getting legal hold of firearms. This HAS happened just THREE times in history in UK - in 1986, in 1996 and in 2010, unlike the USA, where it is an almost weekly event. So you have to wait three, maybe six months before you can apply for a FAC. Well so did I, and so does everybody, even a vet with huge experience of handling firearms.

So ease up, please, on the horror stories - at least you didn't go the the Republic of Ireland, where there is no reloading and no black powder shooting of any kind, no handguns above .22 and even then, limited to five shots, no magazines larger than 10 rounds, no bullpup rifles/carbines, no guns that look so much like the 'black guns' we all love, no AKs or AK-lookalikes, no shotguns that can shoot more than three shells without reloading, and a license for each gun that lasts just three years and costs 80eu each, and, since you are a furriner, almost zero chance of getting a license anyhow. Even an air rifle is classed as a firearm, and pellets as ammunition.

As I noted, I've got nineteen Section 1 firearms, and shoot maybe two-three times a week at our little club.

So if you need any helping paw, just ask.
 
My gun club of over 400 members has people from all walks of life. Some have one gun, some have a hundred. Some are native Brits, and some are very definitely not. Bearing in mind the local area, it would be surprising if many were not farmers of some kind, but most are not. We have a number of vets, me included, from all three armed services. Many are professionals - police, firefighters, company owners, land management - even the curator of Burghley House is a member. The importer of Desert Tech Firearms is a member, and there are goodly number of folks actually IN the gun trade - three dealers and two target/tactical rifle builders.

Your first post was not helpful to anybody who might, for one reason or another, even be thinking about coming over here for any extended period, and although you may have back-pedalled somewhat, you HAVE come from a country where gun ownership is a constitutionally-protected RIGHT, to one where is is definitely NOT. You can hardly expect to just walk in to a gun store here and walk out happy - you can't even do that in the USA these days, and you know it.

Your comment 'I doubt if I could get a decent weapon' is 100% true. You can't get a weapon of any kind - legally. What you CAN acquire and possess is a firearm - that's why it's called a Firearms Certificate.

Since I don't know where you live, I can't offer you any advice on how to get things done faster. If you need any help or advice, just ask - publicly here, so's others can benefit from the exchange, or privately via PM. I live in three countries, and I've been there and done that, so the chances are that any exchange will be fruitish

Suffice it to say that the 'hoops' you have to jump through are in place to try and limit the chances of a nutcase getting legal hold of firearms. This HAS happened just THREE times in history in UK - in 1986, in 1996 and in 2010, unlike the USA, where it is an almost weekly event. So you have to wait three, maybe six months before you can apply for a FAC. Well so did I, and so does everybody, even a vet with huge experience of handling firearms.

So ease up, please, on the horror stories - at least you didn't go the the Republic of Ireland, where there is no reloading and no black powder shooting of any kind, no handguns above .22 and even then, limited to five shots, no magazines larger than 10 rounds, no bullpup rifles/carbines, no guns that look so much like the 'black guns' we all love, no AKs or AK-lookalikes, no shotguns that can shoot more than three shells without reloading, and a license for each gun that lasts just three years and costs 80eu each, and, since you are a furriner, almost zero chance of getting a license anyhow. Even an air rifle is classed as a firearm, and pellets as ammunition.

As I noted, I've got nineteen Section 1 firearms, and shoot maybe two-three times a week at our little club.

So if you need any helping paw, just ask.
Whoa ... thanks! I definitely don't want to discourage anyone coming to the UK. It's a great place, and the home of our liberties. They had the great luck to have a channel between them and their warlike neighbors, so their kings never had an excuse for a big standing army to oppress the people with, so the concept of personal liberty took root and flourished here. And Americans, Canadian, Aussies and Kiwis are the offshoots.

My nearest range is Bisley, and I admit I have NOT been very energetic in trying to sign up ... I have a friend who shoots there and he says he'll get me on the waiting list, but I haven't pressed him, and he's probably forgotten. If it's not too much trouble, give me the details on how to get a license. (To tell the truth, I haven't felt the need to own a personal weapon here, which is why I have been lackadaisical about it.)

The culture here is different. No one knows the future, but the reality is, few people in the UK can foresee any situation in the foreseeable future in which the social order disintegrates ... so, as long as you live in the suburbs or beyond (as I do, in a little village near Guildford in Surrey), you're not worried about mobs rampaging through the streets ... the big cities are another story, though.

But the US is very different. I can bring conversation at a dinner party to an embarassed silence when, after the latest mass shooting in the US, the talk turns to those crazy Americans and their guns, and why don't they just outlaw them ... and people turn to me for corroboration, me being known as a fairly civilized American, and ... I politely disagree.

And without going into the gruesome details, I just say, American history, culture, and above all demographics are different. So if I were living in the US, I would want to have a good semi-automatic rifle at home, plus a few other accessories, and, if possible, to be part of some sort of organized group in my neighborhood, able to deal with situations where the state is overwhelmed or absent. If I really wanted to make my point I'd get someone's iPad and show them one of these videos, but I never do -- why spoil their dinner?.



And ... not to be a downer here ... my reading of the next few decades in the US, as China pushes the US off the top of the heap and develops a military stronger than ours, and the borders get more and more porous, and wealth continues to concentrate, and the world economy goes through its inevitable ups and downs, and the generation indoctrinated by the cultural Marxists in academia continues to fill the posts of our cultural apparatus ... is that the social peace that we've known since 1945, may come to an end. Or it may not, no one knows the future. But I read a lot of history, including, and especially, the history of societies that have undergone profound shocks, so I'm not automatically a short-term optimist. Long-term, yes.

Anyway, thanks for the offer and I'll take you up on it!
 
Well, not being one to interfere with the politics of other countries, I'll confine my comments to those relating to firearms here in UK.

Things to get on board right this second are -

1. There are no privately-owned firearms in this country - the whole of the UK - that may be carried for self-defence. Period.

2. You can't just have a firearm because back home we had them lying around all over the place.

3. You must have what the law calls 'good reason' to own ANY firearm in the UK. you can look 'em up, but here they are anyhow -

a. Target shooting at some kind of paper target.

b. Deer-stalking - you would call it hunting, but here in UK 'hunting' is a horse-riding pastime.

c. Pest control - what you would call varmint shooting. There is only ONE major predator here in UK - the fox. They can be devastating on sheep and birds.

d. Professional keepering/game wardening/estate management.

e. Large animal veterinarian humane despatch.

Obviously, depending on your major interest, there can be a degree of overlapping here - you can be a deer-stalker AND a pest-controller, or a target shooter AND a deer-stalker/pest controller/game warden. However, as a beginner to all this, you'd be strongly advised to get your ducks in line before making decisions. Thames Valley Police - your likely area, are pretty good at managing all this stuff, based mainly on the fact that Bisley hosts tens of thousands of shooters from all of er the world every year, and is home to the UK NRA and NSRA.

for target-shooting, membership of a gun club is mandatory, hence the probie time while you get to know the rules and regs and etiquette required of any new shooter. Remember that here, no matter how experienced you are, you ARE a new shooter, so suck it up. Only after gaining full membership can you apply for your FAC, asking for the firearms you think you'd like to acquire, and for the amounts of ammunition that you think you'll need.

I'm hoping that after six months of membership of the club you will have some idea of what you'd like to do, and will make your choice of firearms accordingly. right now it seems to me that you have nobody to talk to about this, and that's a real pity because you can rapidly get mired in the ramifications of it all.

Soooooooooooooo, Bisley might seem like a plan, but TBH there are almost 2000 gun clubs in the UK, even where you are. My recommendation is to leave Bisley alone for the time being.

My advice to you is to call up your local firearms enquiries officer - FEO - at your county police HQ, find him or her under firearms and explosives licensing department and get the skinny on other gun clubs in your area. Or get ahold of the latest Gun Mart Magazine, and check out the regional club gazetteer.

Just be aware from the get-go that there are NO short-cuts to gun ownership here in UK. Prior experience, even in the Armed Forces, counts for zilch. There are no fast-tracks for serving personnel - I was one for thirty- three years, and even back in the late sixties, when I got my first FAC here, I had to go down more or less the same route. No special treatment for officers - all MY cartridge-firing handguns were taken off me in 1997, just like they were for anybody else. The FAC is a civilian document - the Queen didn't have one, because she is the head of state, but the Duke of Edinburgh did.
 
Well, not being one to interfere with the politics of other countries, I'll confine my comments to those relating to firearms here in UK.

Things to get on board right this second are -

1. There are no privately-owned firearms in this country - the whole of the UK - that may be carried for self-defence. Period.

2. You can't just have a firearm because back home we had them lying around all over the place.

3. You must have what the law calls 'good reason' to own ANY firearm in the UK. you can look 'em up, but here they are anyhow -

a. Target shooting at some kind of paper target.

b. Deer-stalking - you would call it hunting, but here in UK 'hunting' is a horse-riding pastime.

c. Pest control - what you would call varmint shooting. There is only ONE major predator here in UK - the fox. They can be devastating on sheep and birds.

d. Professional keepering/game wardening/estate management.

e. Large animal veterinarian humane despatch.

Obviously, depending on your major interest, there can be a degree of overlapping here - you can be a deer-stalker AND a pest-controller, or a target shooter AND a deer-stalker/pest controller/game warden. However, as a beginner to all this, you'd be strongly advised to get your ducks in line before making decisions. Thames Valley Police - your likely area, are pretty good at managing all this stuff, based mainly on the fact that Bisley hosts tens of thousands of shooters from all of er the world every year, and is home to the UK NRA and NSRA.

for target-shooting, membership of a gun club is mandatory, hence the probie time while you get to know the rules and regs and etiquette required of any new shooter. Remember that here, no matter how experienced you are, you ARE a new shooter, so suck it up. Only after gaining full membership can you apply for your FAC, asking for the firearms you think you'd like to acquire, and for the amounts of ammunition that you think you'll need.

I'm hoping that after six months of membership of the club you will have some idea of what you'd like to do, and will make your choice of firearms accordingly. right now it seems to me that you have nobody to talk to about this, and that's a real pity because you can rapidly get mired in the ramifications of it all.

Soooooooooooooo, Bisley might seem like a plan, but TBH there are almost 2000 gun clubs in the UK, even where you are. My recommendation is to leave Bisley alone for the time being.

My advice to you is to call up your local firearms enquiries officer - FEO - at your county police HQ, find him or her under firearms and explosives licensing department and get the skinny on other gun clubs in your area. Or get ahold of the latest Gun Mart Magazine, and check out the regional club gazetteer.

Just be aware from the get-go that there are NO short-cuts to gun ownership here in UK. Prior experience, even in the Armed Forces, counts for zilch. There are no fast-tracks for serving personnel - I was one for thirty- three years, and even back in the late sixties, when I got my first FAC here, I had to go down more or less the same route. No special treatment for officers - all MY cartridge-firing handguns were taken off me in 1997, just like they were for anybody else. The FAC is a civilian document - the Queen didn't have one, because she is the head of state, but the Duke of Edinburgh did.
Okay, thanks for the information. Those living in the US should take note, because this kind of regime is in your future.
 
Well, not being one to interfere with the politics of other countries, I'll confine my comments to those relating to firearms here in UK.

Things to get on board right this second are -

1. There are no privately-owned firearms in this country - the whole of the UK - that may be carried for self-defence. Period.

2. You can't just have a firearm because back home we had them lying around all over the place.

3. You must have what the law calls 'good reason' to own ANY firearm in the UK. you can look 'em up, but here they are anyhow -

a. Target shooting at some kind of paper target.

b. Deer-stalking - you would call it hunting, but here in UK 'hunting' is a horse-riding pastime.

c. Pest control - what you would call varmint shooting. There is only ONE major predator here in UK - the fox. They can be devastating on sheep and birds.

d. Professional keepering/game wardening/estate management.

e. Large animal veterinarian humane despatch.

Obviously, depending on your major interest, there can be a degree of overlapping here - you can be a deer-stalker AND a pest-controller, or a target shooter AND a deer-stalker/pest controller/game warden. However, as a beginner to all this, you'd be strongly advised to get your ducks in line before making decisions. Thames Valley Police - your likely area, are pretty good at managing all this stuff, based mainly on the fact that Bisley hosts tens of thousands of shooters from all of er the world every year, and is home to the UK NRA and NSRA.

for target-shooting, membership of a gun club is mandatory, hence the probie time while you get to know the rules and regs and etiquette required of any new shooter. Remember that here, no matter how experienced you are, you ARE a new shooter, so suck it up. Only after gaining full membership can you apply for your FAC, asking for the firearms you think you'd like to acquire, and for the amounts of ammunition that you think you'll need.

I'm hoping that after six months of membership of the club you will have some idea of what you'd like to do, and will make your choice of firearms accordingly. right now it seems to me that you have nobody to talk to about this, and that's a real pity because you can rapidly get mired in the ramifications of it all.

Soooooooooooooo, Bisley might seem like a plan, but TBH there are almost 2000 gun clubs in the UK, even where you are. My recommendation is to leave Bisley alone for the time being.

My advice to you is to call up your local firearms enquiries officer - FEO - at your county police HQ, find him or her under firearms and explosives licensing department and get the skinny on other gun clubs in your area. Or get ahold of the latest Gun Mart Magazine, and check out the regional club gazetteer.

Just be aware from the get-go that there are NO short-cuts to gun ownership here in UK. Prior experience, even in the Armed Forces, counts for zilch. There are no fast-tracks for serving personnel - I was one for thirty- three years, and even back in the late sixties, when I got my first FAC here, I had to go down more or less the same route. No special treatment for officers - all MY cartridge-firing handguns were taken off me in 1997, just like they were for anybody else. The FAC is a civilian document - the Queen didn't have one, because she is the head of state, but the Duke of Edinburgh did.
And there is one of the reasons I left the UK and am now an American, Thanks tac for posting this as everyone who even thinks we should let the government encroach on our gun rights should read this as this is were we will end up and probably even worse. You only have to read what they tried to put on the ballot for the last election.
Welcome Doug, Pull up a seat and let me buy you a pint, Brian
 
There is a guy who owns another forum I belong to. He lives in the UK also. This is a picture of his firearms (minus an Auto Mag and an AMT-IV that didn't make it into the picture).

As tac pointed out, you can have them.

SomeOfTheAMTs.jpg
 
Can one of you U.K. fellows explain why Brexit isn't a fact...yet?

In the 'off topic' area.

Thanks!

P.S. I've read about it, but it's as confusing as trying to understand the term 'intersectionality'...to me anyway...
 
Can one of you U.K. fellows explain why Brexit isn't a fact...yet?

In the 'off topic' area.

Thanks!

P.S. I've read about it, but it's as confusing as trying to understand the term 'intersectionality'...to me anyway...

I'd sure like to help you, but what I've gathered about it so far wouldn't make a diaper for a gnat's butt.

'sides, I only live here, so don't go lumping ME in with U.K. Fellows, whoever HE might be.
 

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