Everyone has the perception that the rules are stringent, which probably helps as the majority cannot be bothered to find out. Every time something happens involving guns, it becomes more apparent that all you need is to belong to a gun club, some fool willing to put their name on an application form saying how they know you, and you wouldn't hurt a fly. And as long as you're not dribbling on the carpets when you hand the form in, you can pretty much guarantee you'll have a licence within a fortnight.
Seriously, if you live somewhere semi-rural and turn up at the cop shop and say, "I've got a smallholding and need a shotgun license to control vermin", they pretty much process your application on a wink and nod. Never mind that your 'smallholding' is, in fact, your back garden in a mid-terraced house.
The UK has some interesting [read: irresponsible] gun owners then. Loans gun to someone to use in a robbery? Not legit.
Actually, given that nobody has a legal gun in the UK, our police don't seem to mind handing back shotguns to unstable people. https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/13/plymouth-shooting-gunman-used-pump-action-shotgun-and-had-licence-15085692/
I don't know the laws there, but didn't think pump action shotguns were permitted.
Everyone has the perception that the rules are stringent, which probably helps as the majority cannot be bothered to find out. Every time something happens involving guns, it becomes more apparent that all you need is to belong to a gun club, some fool willing to put their name on an application form saying how they know you, and you wouldn't hurt a fly. And as long as you're not dribbling on the carpets when you hand the form in, you can pretty much guarantee you'll have a licence within a fortnight.
Interesting. It's a nine month process here for rifle, longer for handguns, and government run courses are a requirement, carpet-dribbler or not.
Seriously, if you live somewhere semi-rural and turn up at the cop shop and say, "I've got a smallholding and need a shotgun license to control vermin", they pretty much process your application on a wink and nod. Never mind that your 'smallholding' is, in fact, your back garden in a mid-terraced house.
I never knew this. It's only shotguns right. No handguns or rifles like we have here? Large calibre rifles and semi-auto handguns etc.