I'll echo what your mate said...Dunno.

the same reason we need big red sports cars I think - i.e. to make insignificant men with small willies feel powerful

Apart from "sport", the usually-cited reason is farming, gamekeeping or another related profession where the owner may need to shoot vermin, etc.


I'm a little concerned by the "dunno" response of the OP's friend though: I'm assuming he didn't say that when he applied for his firearms license. A valid sporting or work-related reason is a licensing requirement. (That's assuming he actually owns rifles, though: you don't need to give a reason for a shotgun license.)

Really? So I could apply for a shot gun license and not have to give a reason?

I'm not an expert on the licensing requirements, but that's my understanding. It's the main difference (I believe) between a firearm certificate and a shotgun certificate.
From Wiki:
"A firearm certificate differs from a shotgun certificate in that justification must be provided to the police for each firearm; these firearms are individually listed on the certificate by type, calibre, and serial number. A shotgun certificate similarly lists type, calibre and serial number, but permits ownership of as many shotguns as can be safely accommodated."


Prior to Hungerford, the registration of weapons on a shotgun license wasn't required: neither was the "secure storage" of those shotguns...

I don't see any need  at all. Even farmers don't need them. There is always some sort of hoond that will do the job.
The incident that made Mrs Joe and I curse the tellybox was  the jerkwad who said, "You can't ban guns because we would never be able to host the Olympics!"

The "Olympic Games" argument is simply not valid, as there's always a way around any ban for special circumstances. Under the current legislation, Olympic pistol events are already illegal in the UK, and it's illegal for the UK's pistol competitors to train on the mainland (I believe the law's different in NI and places such as the Channel Islands). However, the government can easily give "special dispensation", and that's what they did to allow the shooting events in the 2002 Commonwealth Games (Manchester) and the 2012 Olympics.

Wow!! Thanks for the info. Eugene. So, I could arm myself to the teeth if I wanted (and sometimes I do want to on the school run...That horrible Lolly Pop Lady needs to be taught a lesson ) 

We thought that dragging the olympics into it was in extremely bad taste. (Apart from the fact that neither of us could give a toss whether the olymics takes place anywhere)

As you know Joe...I am an Olympian at heart...I still have hopes of taking part and am awaiting 'Forum Faffing' to be considered a viable event in time for 2012 

I think farmers do need them, especially if there is a fox, dog or other animal attacking their animals.

Leaving aside the fact that the whole "Olympics" argument is bollox anyway, I do agree with you.
I saw the spokesman (I assume) you're referring to, and my reaction was "13 people dead, and that's the best counter-argument you can come up with?"

A link to the BBC article on gun ownership and the current law

As far as numbers are concerned, the article says:

According to the most recent figures for England and Wales, there are 138,728 people certificated to hold firearms and they own 435,383 weapons. There are 574,946 shotgun certificates which cover 1.4 million shotguns.

Statistics for Scotland show that 70,839 firearms were held by 26,072 certificate holders at the end of last year. Some 50,000 people in Scotland are certificated to hold shotguns - and 137,768 weapons are covered by that scheme.

.
That's a total of sbout 790,000 people rather than the 1.7m per the Sky news item.

The Home Office statistics for last year are:

• In 2008-09 firearms were involved in 0.3% or 1 in every 330 crimes recorded by police in England and Wales
• Firearms were used in 14,250 recorded crimes in 2008-09, an 18% decrease on 2007-08, and the fifth consecutive annual fall
• Excluding air weapons, firearm offences decreased by 17% to 8,208
• Handguns were used in 4,275 offences during 2008-09, a rise of 2% on 2007-08
• There was a large fall in the use of imitation weapons, which fell by 41% to 1,511
• Overall, firearm offences involving any type of injury were down by 41% in 2008-09, from 4,164 in 2007-08 to 2,458
• There were 39 fatal injuries from crimes involving firearms in 2008-09, the lowest recorded by the police in 20 years

These statistics don't split the figures between offences by registered owners and those not registered which I would assume are likely to be the majority.

It should be noted that you do not need a licence to possess a knife - the statistics for knife crime are vague - but some 22,000 incidents were recorded by the police a couple of years ago compared to 14,250 firearms crimes.I'm not trying to justify guns, but if someone is intent on killing people, would a ban on firearms reduce the threat or would that person merely use a different means?

They could just ban anyone with a Y chromosone from owning a gun.

Knives are different. We need men in the kitchen.

That's an interesting question and I was discussing this with my son yesterday.

I'm inclined to think that in some cases it could reduce it. I personally feel it must be easier psychologically to kill someone with a gun. You don't have to get as close..... you can be more detatched from the situation in a way.

Those people who just "flip" can also do far more damage with a gun than with a knife.....as they're less easily stopped.

Banning isn't a perfect solution but it's a step closer maybe.

As I said in another topic, shooting clays and other inanimate targets is a very enjoyable sport/hobby. It is no different to any other type of hobby, in that it is designed for safe enjoyment. One could argue that racing cars as a hobby is more dangerous than something like shotgun shooting as a hobby.

Guns are commonly looked at as being killing machines due to popular perception. Not all guns are designed for killing, just as not all blades are designed for killing. Some guns are designed and made specifically for the sport.

There need to be tighter restrictions on gun licenses for sure. As somebody mentioned in another thread, making gun club membership a requirement for a gun license is a good start. A full doctor's examination should also be a requirement.

Hear Hear 

(sorry one's d-i-l was having contractions every few minutes)

I have been informed  that drinking real ale and  leaving the toilet seat up are unlikely to be chosen as  olympic sports.

Wow!! Congrats Grandpa Joe 

Not as yet! It's all gone quiet-still waiting for further updates.

Thanks for that. I was pretty certain the Sky figure was too high, but I didn't have the figures to confirm it.