From: Jonathan Spencer, [EMAIL PROTECTED] >-a ban on the use of lethal firearms (an oxymoron, as all >firearms in our legislation by definition are lethal) by >anyone aged under 16 unless supervised by a responsible >adult (the Govt. stresses that a complete ban on young >people using firearms is unworkable and unsafe); That'll be anything above 2ft-lbs of energy, since that is considered lethal. >-a minimum age of 18 for the possession of any lethal firearm; But you can drive a car at 17, of course. >-"proper regulation" of the shooting sports to prevent the >development of a "gun culture" (I have no idea what they >are going on about); No, I don't know what a gun culture is. I doubt that those who use the term can define it either. >-revision of Home Office Guidance to Police; Overdue. >-a consolidating Firearms Act; This is overdue, it's very difficult to understand the law as it is. But it's a fair bet that the new Act won't ease the burden on the law abiding shooter. >-a "possible ban" on the sale of replicas to anyone aged >under 18, providing "replica" can be defined. Thorny issue: an 'imitation firearm' is anything that has the appearance of a firearm. >AIRGUNS: > >-a "clear standard" for measuring the lethality of airguns; Oh, that'll be interesting. For years, a 'standard' projectile has been proposed for test firings. >-restricting the sale of airguns to RFDs if possible; Will there be any left? ;-) >-there will be no licensing system for airguns as it would >be "cumbersome, costly and difficult to administer". That's a blessing, at least >SHOTGUNS (i.e. Section 2 firearms): > >-An applicant for a shotgun certificate should have to show >"good reason" for requiring a shotgun certificate (rather >than for each gun, as is the case with FACs); Disaster. This is going to be used in the same way that the present section 1 'good reason' is used. Good reason for the certificate, or good reason for each shotgun? >-"Tighter controls" on how many shotguns can be held on a >SGC (basically a mad system being developed, you would have >to get a variation for the number of shotguns you want, >above some arbitrary basic number); That argument could be turned round and used the other way for rifles. --Jonathan Spencer, firearms examiner "Justice is open to everybody in the same way as the Ritz Hotel." Judge Sturgess, 22 July 1928 -- I got the command paper today, however I spoke to the Home Office on Wednesday about it as the press release was a bit fuzzy (and so is the command paper). The worst provisions obviously are those relating to shotgun licensing. The idea is that a person would have to give "good reason" for a shotgun certificate, moving the burden of proof to the applicant, rather than being on the police to prove that they have no "good reason" as at present. My view is that it is a staging area for Section 1 controls on shotguns, or very remotely a staging area for less controls on Section 1 firearms (as they could be licensed like shotguns). In any event, I don't think the command paper proposals are worth worrying about because I can guarantee that it will be 18 months at least before a Firearms Bill is laid before Parliament and it will be full of other things that the command paper doesn't mention. The one that is really nasty and is a "sleeper" a bit like the ban on expanding ammunition is the requirement to vary a shotgun certificate. The idea is that when you apply for a SGC you would say on the application how many shotguns you want, and if you want more than that you have to get a variation. Not quite Section 1 controls but not far from it. As the average SGC holder owns 2 or 3 shotguns the burden would fall on people like our Olympic shooters who are likely to own more than average. The idea is not to make the average farmer too angry. The age limit requirement of 16 will apparently allow for supervised use by people under 16 on private land only, plus there is no mention of an exemption for people engaged in agricultural production, which was something the NFU wanted. The upshot would be that a farmer could not give his 14-year old son an air rifle to go out and kill vermin with. Steve. Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
