Imitation Firearms

devon and cornwal contabulary

for goodness sake dont sail in our waters (cornwall) with one as the D&C police dont mess about they will shoot you
 
Just writing about this actually.

It's a bit of a grey area, but in fact there's no requirement to have a licence for carrying any kind of gun on board if your intention is to sail away/go cruising outside territorial waters sometime in the provably foreseeable future. Nor do you have to have a gun cabinet or any special stowage.

The chap who was recently jailed had various weapons on board and no immediate cruising plans. I understand these weapons had been aboard for around a dozen years and were discovered after he was rummaged in harbour by the UK Border Agency - presumably after a tip off.

The only requirement is a special permit issued by police for transporting a firearm from A to B. That said, Hampshire Constabulary hasn't issued one of those for a boat for over 30 years so it's a fair conclusion that those who arm themselves for cruising aren't bothering with this, and the police are possibly turning a bit of a blind eye.

Carrying a gun routinely on board a boat coasting in the UK would be unwise, though. From a legal POV, there is a mandatory 5 yr jail sentence for possession of an unlicensed firearm. For that reason I think even the discovery of an imitation gun could ruin your weekend...

Elaine, YW

So do i get done? My 5 yr olds toy machine gun looks pretty real!
 
for goodness sake dont sail in our waters (cornwall) with one as the D&C police dont mess about they will shoot you

Not without a verbal warning first. If you choose not to put the "weapon" down & do as you are told, you will indeed be shot. The poor guy with the table leg ignored all such instructions & continued to behave in a threatening manner.

There have been a number of cases of fully licenced & insured guys hunting vermin with the landowner's permission being reported as terrorists by members of the public because they are wearing camouflage & armed with telescopic air rifles that are thought to be sniper weapons. The outcome is a full armed response squad, often complete with helicopters, searchlights & marksmen. The only thing one can do is put the gun down & follow instructions. It is a bit more "full-on" than a UKBA raid & usually ruins the whole night's bunny hunting.
 
A bit off topic, but...

...The main thing was, the public was hardly aware that there was a major military exercise taking place in their midst, a lot different to Germany where battles took place in villages - with tanks as well!!

Reminds me of a collegue, many years ago. He had spent time with the forces in Germany, and recounted stories of doing deals with farmers while on exercise. They would drive a tank through an old barn - the farmer got compensation to build a brand new one, and the squaddies would get a bath/shower and a hot meal.:cool:
 
[LAMP SWINGING] A dozen years ago, I was driving through Melksham in Wiltshire, when I recalled the directions previously given by a specialist scrap dealer and called into another specialist, who purportedly did a lot of contract-clearing of redundant Naval Stores from the nearby Corsham military establishments. It was thought likely there'd be some 'boaty bits' of interest....

I drove into the yard, and looked around. There were some huge black GRP half-domes that had obviously been intended as sonar enclosures on subs, and big packing crates lying about. The old warehouse building to one side had a roller shutter, which was wide open, so I went in there seeking 'someone to ask'. I wandered down the aisles of pallet-racks stacked up with crates and stuff, much of it marked with NATO stores reference numbers, calling "Hello!"

No-one replied. There was no-one there.

There was a Portakabin at one end, with the lights on, that was clearly the office. No-one there, either.

So I started back down the aisles to leave, until I was stopped by a wooden pallet on the ground, with two Oerlikon 20mm cannon lying on it. Each had a Certificate of Serviceability attached. No magazine, and no ammo that I could see.

I hefted one of them. I could just pick it up.

Clearly, the staff had wandered off somewhere, probably for a pub lunch, and had left the shutter doors wide open. It occurred to me to back our old Volvo estate inside, load the two serviceable cannon into the boot, and push off.

Then it occurred that I'd probably spoil someone's day - and my own if I was traced. And what the dickens would I do with two serviceable Oerlikon cannon....? Rabbits? Squirrels? [/LAMP SWINGING]


Oerlikoncannon.jpg


(Just the black bit..... )

:cool:
 
for goodness sake dont sail in our waters (cornwall) with one as the D&C police dont mess about they will shoot you

Hmm... I don't recall D&C police shooting anyone within the last 10 years. Last one I remember was a chap who got himself shot for waving a gun about on the outskirts of Falmouth.

Maybe they've been a bit more vicious in Devon maybe?
 
So I started back down the aisles to leave, until I was stopped by a wooden pallet on the ground, with two Oerlikon 20mm cannon lying on it. Each had a Certificate of Serviceability attached. No magazine, and no ammo that I could see.


(Just the black bit..... )

A lady of your calibre (rolly laughy icon) would have been able to cobble together a suitable mount in no time.

But, as a retired airwoman you would know that even navy doesn't leave ammunition lying around with weapons. Except by accident.
 
Been witness to an armed response team stopping a car which 'apparently' had armed suspects inside - they have no sense of humour and you will end up manhandled to the floor with a gun pointed at you.

Problem is the armed unit doesn't know it's a toy and will act accordingly, taking no risks with their own or any bystanders lives.

Now imagine someone who has nothing to lose ..... you are immediately taking any incident to the next level and the gun you have doesn't even work.

My advice ... get rid of it and cultivate looking like a bit of a lunatic.
 
I don’t need a toy gun to come under the scrutiny of an armed response unit. That is the times we live in. It just means we have to be careful when walking about with table legs under our arms or having water pistol fights.

An imitation firearm is anything that looks like a gun to a myopic granny at 100yds. My water pistols and old softair pistol fall into that category. There seems to be general mood on the thread that playing with such toys and having them aboard is not worth the hassle. That mood probably reflects the judicial “man on the Clapham Omnibus” so I can't expect much sympathy from a jury if my water pistol is found by the UKBA on a random search.

It looks like the fun police have won the day. I had better ditch the stuff in the dustbin on Friday.
 
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