UK gun laws

I'm on the side of @shiney here. I'm living in Germany and spent a fair share of my life in the military.
Civilians don't need guns! Period!

1. I want to use them for recreation.
Sure, go ahead, I used to shoot in a club as well. But they can stay there, locked away and highly secured.

2. I have to protect myself and my family
bull's manure. More guns mean higher threat for everyone. I'd rather have a burglar enter my house with just some tools, than have them armed because they expect a gun in every household. And most people getting shot are not burglars, but teenagers coming home late and drunk after making out at their girl-/boyfriends place being mistaken for a burglar by panicking and half-asleep gun-owning parents.

3. I need to be on the same level as the criminals.
I don't want the police to assume everyone has a gun. This makes them twitchy and when I doubt, they will shoot first because you want to grab your wallet. Same goes for criminals that will probably shoot you because they assume you might be armed.

4. But you can get illegal guns everywhere - this only levels the field...
The problem with most illegal guns is: they used to be legal at one point. Crates if handguns don't magically appear out of thin air. They are legally produced and sold to mostly legal persons or companies. And THEN they get stolen, fenced, sold online or are used for illegal purposes.
Once you remove the legal guns, it is a lot harder to get an illegal one as well. The US market is completely oversaturated with both legal and illegal weapons because they are so easy to get.

5. So give guns to "good citizens" only?
Doesn't work. There are enough people out there which, on paper, never hurt anyone. But a lot of "good people" are only a few drinks, a lost Job, a cheating spouse, a bad day or some other guy stealing their last parking spot in front of Costco's away from losing their cool. I don't want them to have a gun in those moments.

6. Can't be that hard to use a gun
A gun ain't a wonderful cure-all for your make believe problems. If you don't train with it, train drawing, shooting, reloading, handling the recoil and cleaning it, it won't magically "make the bad guy go away". You will be under a lot of stress when using it. You only have little time to react. There will be screaming, shouting, adrenaline. Most people will probably shoot themselves or bystanders by figuring out how to use that thing correctly. It it will jam because they had it lying around for far too long without proper care, causing the "bad guy" to kill you first because you are flimsily trying to ready your weapon.

Final words:
Keep calm. Stay calm. Unless you live in a disfunctional third-world country or one where wild angry animals roam the streets you don't need a gun. Let the professionals handle it and relax.

 

I know a few people that have been shot by they're mate's getting through fence's with gun's loaded and not broken (12 bore shot guns) some with shot in they're back sides still to this very day, the worst one the guy is not with us any more, not the guns fault but humans at fault for not taking care with a gun

 

Straying off topic, but are there any laws regarding knife ownership.

Just asking for a friend.

 

Doesn't mention sheath knives .

 

I think it must have been still legal right into the 60s and possibly the 70s.

 

Following on from @shiney 's UK Knife Law link. It's also nigh on impossible to send one out of the country or through the post. Three years ago I bought a Scottish Sgian Dubh pronounced (Skee-ern doo), blade length approximately four inches, to send to my son in America. The Post Office wouldn't handle it. The only way to send it was to return to the shop I bought it from and they kindly parcelled and posted it for me. This was possible because they export these knives as part of their trade.

Internet image

 

@shiney these knives are only produced for 'dress' purposes and even though the blades are blunt when produced they could still do some damage.

A man of many talents!

 

I think I'm supposed to say "it's the taking part that counts".

 

Totally off topic, but a good story. My 7 years old child had been educated on Eastern and the crucifixion of Jesus. On the way back from the school the blessed child of scientists asked if the crucifixion of Jesus was an actual historical fact, or more of a cultural folklore.

I did my best to discuss the topic from various perspectives and the child concluded "well, I suppose it's the taking part and that everyone has a nice day that really matters".

Not quite how I would sum up a, or The, crucifixion but for the 7 years old it was apparently quite ok.

Disclaimer- I sincerely do not wish to offend anyone, we do respect faith and do not make fun of of any of them. The fun part is solely the reaction of my child and my reaction to her comments.

 

I wonder if his female assistants see it that way.

Or was it not that kind of knife throwing.