The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19416579

Since 07 lots of pistols have been "lost" too??

All seems a little too vague for my liking.

Mike

Absolutely. I also wondered what the difference was between a 'slaughtering instrument' and a 'humane killer' (and whether in fact the same losses were counted twice). Another thought - is this purely civilian losses, or does it include the (alleged) losses from various services?

Doz wrote:Absolutely. I also wondered what the difference was between a 'slaughtering instrument' and a 'humane killer' (and whether in fact the same losses were counted twice). Another thought - is this purely civilian losses, or does it include the (alleged) losses from various services?

Could "Slaughtering Instrument" mean a captive bolt gun as opposed to a handgun for "humane dispatch"?

What the article has failed to emphasise (IMO) is that about 2/3's were stolen and the rest lost.

This quote implies that each year about 600 shotguns are recovered

"The problem with shotguns is they don't leave unique rounds like firearms do. But each quarter, we probably recover about 150 shotguns notwithstanding the other firearms material."

This would cover all of the shotguns lost or stolen over 2007-2011! So I'd guess that he's including illegal firearms recovered as well those lost or stolen.


Finally, which is more attention grabbing?

Almost 3,000 guns lost or stolen in UK, figures reveal

Almost 2,000 guns stolen in UK, figures reveal

Almost 1,000 guns lost in UK, figures reveal

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Marsh, Acpo's lead officer on firearms licensing, said he wanted to reassure the public that the police are "extremely tough around making sure that people do make their weapons secure".

"We make the UK an extremely tough environment to operate with unlawfully held firearms - and actually there is very little evidence that lawfully held weapons are used in crime."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The UK has some of the toughest firearms controls in the world and comparatively low levels of gun crime.

"Our laws and the mandatory minimum sentences for many firearms offences makes clear that our society will not tolerate this type of crime.

HA! If only, what planet is he living on - perhaps he is still talking about FAC/SC holders and not criminals, who time after time appear to get off very lightly indeed,

DM

Two muskets and a cannon had also been mislaid by their owners.

Mislaid by their owners. LOL!!!!
The writer acts like you would leave it on the counter at the corner shop as you paid for your Mars bar.

Tell me, How do you loose a firearm?
It is not like you lost a Sub compact pistol out of your jacket pocket.
Only way I can see of loosing a firearm is if you overturned your boat, or dropped it off a cliff while mountian climbing.

"I Lost it" is what you tell the Goverment Nazis when they come to inventory or take your firearm.

Ah, the Gun Control Network. The BBC really shouldn't be using quotes from dubious sources such as them.

On their website, they proudly claim under the headline "Facts and Research" that:

"Our job is to persuade the law-makers that they must listen to the majority, and not be swayed by the narrow sectional interests of the shooters"

Then they publish their own, made up, "statistics" which conclude that "probably legal" guns are the biggest cause of shooting-related deaths in the UK. These "facts", they say, are gathered from "Data compiled from reports in British newspapers..." :goodjob:

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any more information available on this FOI request than the figures in the BBC report, so it's not possible to say how these guns were lost/stolen, who they belonged to or what the word "lost" actually means in this context. It could include guns destroyed in fires or lost by the Police etc. etc. Who knows?

Complete non-story, but it would be interesting to see the real facts if they are ever published.

Burner wrote: Tell me, How do you loose a firearm?
It is not like you lost a Sub compact pistol out of your jacket pocket.

You are asking the wrong audience here, ooman. Go ask the West Midlands Police. Or the Metropolitan Police. Together they have lost 7 H&K 9mm carbines over the last 3 years we believe. Apparently the Birmingham brace were left on the roof of a response vehicle at a McDonald's and, surprise surprise, were't still on the roof 20 minutes later when the owners came back with their bags of burgers and fries...