enfielddream wrote:Question from America. Under your current gun laws are there any of your citizens for a certain reason allowed to carry a gun concealed? What about private security guards for some of your famous actors, TV personalities etc. What about those that guard Her Majesty the Queen and your PM? ( I am sure that is the case but.......)
Just a couple points of interest, I believe that in the states of Illinois and Hawaii there are no permits to carry for the average bloke. In my state (Rhode Island) a permit to carry is $40.00 for four years, you have to qualify with the gun before a certified NRA instructor and he signs a form to be sent with your application. You can carry any type of gun but only in the caliber that you qualify with or below. Example: If you qualify with a .38 you can carry a .38, .380, 9mm, .357, .32, .25, .22. It is the size of the bullet not the power. If you qualify with a .45, you can carry a .45, .455 (they let you sneak it in), 44 magnum, .357, .32 etc down the list.
Handguns (barrel less than 12", overall length less than 24") are banned for ordinary people.* To own one requires special, written permission from the Home Secretary. This is given to, for example prop companies, museums, arms manufacturers and dealers, perhaps to companies that work in training law enforcement and military (I don't know).
Carrying a gun in a public place is illegal without good reason or lawful authority. The latter covers police and military, the former covers hunters, people going to and from target ranges, gun shops etc. Ordinarily 'self defence' would not be considered good reason so even if you are an arms dealer with permission to own handguns you cannot carry one about with you.
Supposedly, and I've never seen actual evidence of this but lots of people report it anecdotaly, a number of individuals believed to be at risk from Irish terrorism were given permission to carry (and own) handguns for self-defence. I have also heard the same of some people at special risk for other reason e.g. people who informed on organized crime. I don't know how this works since I don't recall seeing any allowance for carrying a gun in public with permission from the Home Secretary - perhaps she simply instructed judges and police to consider self-defence to be 'good reason' in their case.
In any case, these instances if they do exist are certainly extraordinarily rare. Perhaps a couple of hundred individuals out of a population of 60 million. Private security guards are not allowed to carry guns. Royal protection is done by the police so they are legally armed.
FYI, Hawaii does have a may-issue concealed carry law - similar to your own Rhode Island I believe, although Rhode Island is quite a bit more willing to hand out permits than Hawaii. In Hawaii the only people who get permits are security guards, bodyguards, celebrities, politicians, people who handle large sums of cash (jewelry store owners etc), and the like.
Until a few weeks ago, Wisconsin did not allow any concealed carry but that has now changed and Illinois is currently the only state in the union that does not allow concealed carry.
*There are some exceptions: muzzle loading pistols, 2-shot pistols for humane dispatch of animals (you need to be someone working with animals e.g. veterinarian, gamekeeper etc), historic pistols, and pistols that are of special note or artistic merit. The latter two have additional restrictions that are quite complicated, essentially some of them can be kept at home but cannot be fired, others can be fired but must be kept at a designated armoury away from home.