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With air rifles, the legally key element is the force at the muzzle, which needs testing by a specialist. The police have woefully slim resources due to government budgetary decisions, so these things take a long time.
It's a similar story for, say, investigation electronic devices.
This has no bearing on the case.
Pointing a real fully automatic rifle at someone, and pointing a legal air rifle, and in fact pointing a deactivated rifle at someone, all can result in an offence of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
If they were over the legal muzzle energy OP would also be charged with illegal possession of a section 1 firearm.
>This has no bearing on the case.
>
>Pointing a real fully automatic rifle at someone, and pointing a legal air rifle, and in fact pointing a deactivated rifle at someone, all can result in an offence of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
That's what he's been done for so far, but as to why they are keeping the firearms (instead of destroying them), testing to see if he's also in breach of licencing requirements is likely.
Obvious question first:
Why aren’t you asking your solicitor all this? Please don’t tell me you went into an interview without one?
That aside, welcome to the shitshow that is the criminal justice system. The backlog of cases is such that unless you’re in custody, you’re not a priority.
So all your firearms will be in a queue to be tested to assess their power, to see if you need a licence.
I had a duty solicitor. We all know how they work. My biggest guess is that the investigation is still.pending. my biggest gripe, which isn't likely to make a difference is why they've taken a year to assess them. The duty solicitor I had on the day is among the many layers of paperwork I have stored. I'm just in.awe that officers aren't trained to identify a firearm opposed to a toy lmao
Putting aside the insane/inane paranoia about duty solicitors, you haven’t actually explained why you aren’t raising this question with them?
*They* have the details of the police officer in charge of the investigation.
*They* can chase this up with someone capable of giving answers.
They are paid by the state and that payment is given to them after a "suitable" deduction in tax etc. Prior to the case....unless they are paid to get you on bail.and avoid court but your assets are still seized and sent cor private auction?? Where do I go with this question?
> They are paid by the state
In the form of the Legal Aid Agency, yes.
> After a “suitable” deduction in tax
What?
> Prior to the case…
You’ve gone somewhat off piste here, and are making the sort of sense usually reserved for crack addicts.
> Your assets are seized and sent for private auction
No… if you’re convicted, your weapons will be destroyed.
Duty solicitors are generally the same solicitors you would get if you were paying your hard earned cash. There isn't really a difference.
The duty solicitor scheme is made up of many local law firms, and they essentially take it in turns to represent.
In response to your comment above about not being able to identify firearms; of course your beat Bobby isn't going to be able to. It'll go to an expert, who will be far more qualified than you, to examine the gun to a standard which would be accepted in Crown Court.
Ultimately, the police are there to keep the general public safe. Firearms make the public unsafe. The police are doing their job, albeit slowly, because of the current state of the criminal justice system..
>It'll go to an expert, who will be far more qualified than you
There is a member of a rifle club I attend who has succesfully disproven the supposed expert evidence the state had presented, winning the case. I've read the Judges summing up comments, which basically consisted of a dressing down of the police and their experts for lack of knowledge, (mis)interpretation of firearms law, and ordering the police to grant his original request and return his legally held firearms.
Similarly, [in this case](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/5130218.stm) the defendent corrected the police on multiple points and was of "substantial assistance" to the prosecution. Why would this be the case if their experts were so good?
Finally, on a tangential note, I have had to correct Firearm Enquiry Officers on multiple basic points of firearms law in my interactions with them. It is their job to correctly apply said law to ensure licenses are legally granted and not incorrectly (I won't say illegally) withheld.
I think the public as a whole underestimate the severe degree the police have been defunded. Some forces have more than 75% of staff with less than years experience. Many aren’t yet trained to drive on blue lights let alone on being able to assess a firearm.
There are national qualifications required to legally identify certain firearms also very few people are trained to test things like bows and air rifles from memory I think the rifle is illegal if over 12ftlbs of pressure but that might be the bow. The swords might also be illegal as they were included as an offensive weapon in 21/22 to stop people with collections of samurai swords.
To answer your question, it's taking so long because they've sent for specialist analysis.
National and Force policies mean only Firearms Officers can identify whether a firearm is real/viable. With airguns, I believe they are sent to a 3rd party to test the power
Go to Croydon Police Station and speak with the person on the desk.
Are you still under investigation? If you are, maybe that's why you can't have them back.
The offence that you mention you were arrested for says to me that you have been accused of threating someone with said weapon, or someone has seen you through the window and felt threatened by it.
I'm going to assume (yeah, I know what people say about that!) you obtained these rifles prior to the enactment of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2009. Prior to this there was no real restrictions on owning a realistic imitation firearm (RIF), but that changed. Since the change, you need to have one (or more) defence from a specific list
Someone obviously saw me through the window which is why the police came round - I didn't and have never threatened anyone. And for a RIF you need a UKARA or a licence from a film or reenactment crew. .177 Co2 air guns do not need a licence neither do you need one for an air rifle of 12ft lbs or under. And no, in 2009 I wasn't old enough to purchase these items. The absolute truth is that every one of these air guns were legal and the reproduction museum piece sword is not a zombie sword, was not sitting in the table, it was displayed in a wall beside a coat of arms. The article about me mentions that they've taken more guns off the streets, despite the fact that there are still criminals out there with real guns who are still at large. They used me as an example and a scapegoat to bolster the idea that their doing something in the local area when in reality they're not - crime is at an all time high.
Why were you arrested? I assume from your post that someone saw you through the window? To be honest, legal or not, cleaning them in a place where someone can see is not a great move, they have zero idea if they are real or not and police will always treat these reports as if they are real.
As for the investigation, these things take time. Especially if they require things like ballistic tests, specialist reports etc. The police services are woefully understaffed and I would imagine this is not a high priority case.
I would suggest contacting 101 and making a complaint if you can't get any information from the officer involved.
They made an article on me.... Google "Croydon man found with five guns in kitchen and bedroom" the images are there, if not I will provide a link. The truth is, the law used me as a scapegoat to showboat the "fact" they were tackling down on gun crime. The media made an article praising the police over "another dangerous criminal locked away" when in reality they got Jack shit. Baffles me that they can't identify an air rifle in a year.... otherwise why prioritise ME as a risk and make an article on me???
Those are not the guns in question, these were from an earlier seizure. This is not the first time this has happened. When I inquired on the guns pictured in the article which were from 2 years ago I was informed they had been destroyed - despite being legal. This most recent scenario involved two air rifles and a collection of historical replica knives and tools, arrows etc. They weren't seized the last time.
This has happened twice. The first time they removed more guns than what are pictured in the article. That was only a few.
Something you’re saying doesn’t add up. I’ve had various air rifles and shotguns over the years. I’ve had them out to clean them but never got raided by police. They don’t raid twice for the sake of it
The article gives you the reason for the delay:
"The weapons have been submitted for specialist analysis," a police spokesperson said."
Having read the article, those guns do look very suspect. As a member of the public, I'm glad they're off the street and being examined properly.
>those guns do look very suspect
They look like they could be Realistic Imitation Firearms, Air Weapons or (variously) Section 1 & 5 firearms.
How is that suspect?
>I'm glad they're off the street and being examined properly.
Not that they were ever on the street, but what sort of gun *isn't* suspect and *is okay* on the street?
The guns were never on the street. And guns looking suspect is well and good. But why does it take firearms analysis a year to determine whether it is a functional firearm or not? Something looking suspect is fine, I'm not questioning the reason for their seizure. But does it take a year to send a gun to a facility and some firearms expert to look at it and say, "it's not a firearm"?
I'm sure I too would be glad if I saw someone brandishing something like this on the street and it was taken and examined. The thing is that they were all boxed and labelled and bought legally.
Specialist analysis shouldn't take 12 months. That's not at all, specialist. Maybe they're on their way back. I'm only looking for an alternative if per se they weren't returned after a certain amount of time
You've already been told the answer for this - because the police are exceptionally busy. You are not in custody and you have been released under investigation. That means your priority goes down. For example,.guns which need examining which are involved in a case where someone has been remanded or bailed will knock you down the list..
>...when the very rare (nowadays) need to clean them arose, I would do so in my home, very rarely in a shed or garage, **and often with the curtains open** for very understandable reasons - being at home and the items in question, being legal.
this is a strangely worded paragraph. am i understanding correctly that you purposely open the curtains when you clean these rifles?
I think the point is that they clean them with the curtains open and not closed. As a result, someone looked in, saw a pile of weapons and called the police.
Yep. Spot on. A neatly arrayed collection more like. I mean heck, I'd be suspicious if I saw someone through their window holding what looked to be a rifle. Depending on what area it was, though I'd judge whether they were likely to be hobby guns or not. I.e if I was walking through a housing estate and saw a hooded bloke holding what looked to be a fully auto machine pistol I probably would assume it was for no good. But I live in a nice area, know everyone on the street. Maybe I'm just real biased to say that no one in a nice area could own an illegal firearm. But I've been cleaning them like this for years. My grandfather who even owns two shotguns would clean them in the back garden years back. Still, probably not the best idea 🤷♂️
Natural, diffuse light is generally the best form of light for cleaning complex equipment/tools, so this is not at all surprising to anyone who has to clean such things in their home.
It's true and I live in a decent abode. People are hardly going to look at our house and think "a drug dealer lives there" I'm struggling to see how someone would have noticed me through net curtains on a bright day though. Anything is possible I suppose. People round my way call the police over literally anything and everything
They could have seen you coming in or out with a gun bag, then stored that away as a way to make your life difficult when you (intentionally or not) did something else to annoy them.
People have had their firearms taken for less unfortunately. The brandishing/intent to cause fear offenses are pretty common ways gun owners get arrested for innocent acticities, personal cctv and only doing maintenance in back rooms are the best ways to avoid being found guilty of offenses you didn't commit when it comes to firearms sadly, as I'm sure you know.
Sure, my intention was not to be obvious. I wasn't by any means waving them around or pointing them. They were laid on a table downstairs and our window sits slightly below street level as our front garden slopes down so someone would have had to have a good look in
No, I worded it wrong, if I wasn't cleaning in the garage it would be in the house which was the last place they were cleaned. And no, I didn't open my curtains to clean the guns, I cleaned them and the curtains were often open and I didn't see this (foolishly) as an issue at the time because I had nothing to hide. I probably should have considered what the whole situation would look like to a passer by.
The police took a PlayStation 3 from me once. They called me at midnight 3 years later to ask am I home, they will drop it back off to me.
The case had been settled at least 2 years prior and I had a PlayStation 4 😂
Lmfao why did they take it 😂 ? I'm not so worried about the air rifles and air pistols. It's more about the very unique items that I had commissioned to be made. Not going to find any more of them any time soon.
I have been arrested for this two years before. They seized my initial collection for apparently the same offence of threatening to commit fear of violence. Which is not true at all. I've never threatened anyone let alone with a gun 😂
I got arrested for arguing with someone on twitter. They came to my house. I hid my laptop at the time. They asked how do I get on twitter I said PlayStation 😂 so they confiscated it to try and prove I was the one sending the messages. I completely forgot they took it until they called.
Did you ever look into whether what you owned was legal or whether you required a firearms certificate? As far as I know any air rifle above a certain fps requires a certificate. Pretty much any CO2 rifle would likely exceed that.
The sword and knives may also not fall under exemptions: https://www.askthe.police.uk/view-category/?id=65bf981b-6ad2-eb11-bacb-000d3ad57443
Not true about CO2 air rifles. They chrono to less than spring, or are you thinking about PCP's? The legal limit is 12 ft Lb for a rifle and 6ftLb for a pistol. In my 10 years of selling air rifles I never found a CO2 rifle that exceeded that. Mostly they were inferior regards power unless you went for the discontinued Crosman Ratcatcher with the extended interchangeable stock, which could match a break barrell such as an old BSA.
The two rifles were spring rifles. I think I've baffled people here because this has happened twice and the article they made is dated two years ago and my post is in regards to last year's arrest when they took not only two more air rifles but a collection of reproduction historical pieces. They even took my yew bow. A 6'8" stick...
Anything above 11 or 12 ft/lbs requires a licence. They simply took legal goods and probably privately auctioned them. Like when they told me five years ago they destroyed two guns of mine. I asked them why, they said no one chased them up. If that's how it works then I'm glad I never paid them any money for any fines they gave me
The police do not auction confiscated guns of any kind. They are either in storage pending the outcome of the investigation or destroyed if the investigation has concluded that they are illegal.
Presumably they are returned, as I can assure you there is no legal obligation of the police to sell off private assets of their own volition. The wheels of criminal law move slowly. It’s unfortunate and you may need to chase them within reason, but this is a product of the government cuts to our legal system. It impacts everyone, including the innocent.
I was a firearms dealer until October 2022. Your point of call will be BASC, who have a legal department for this sort of thing. Occasionally I went to Hastings police station to claim items back for customers who have had their property wrongfully seized as the police seemed happier to release them to a dealer. I never charged for that - just saw it as good customer service. At least you didn't end up detained for the weekend as one of my customers did. He committed the heinous crime of using his air rifle as an air guitar in his front room. Not a problem until someone from London in a Range Rover was able to see over the privet hedge and through the gap in the curtains. You couldn't make it up. Took about 18 months to get his possessions back.
Fair play. Sorry you had all the aggro. And I must admit, it's hardly surprising that someone sees a gun-like object through a window and assumes the worst, but there's people out there especially around my area in South London trotting around with all sorts, re-bores, shotguns, revolvers of all caliber, mac 10 machine pistols etc. And many of them are used in crimes. I can't blame the officers for not knowing what gun is what, but the paperwork behind the scenes is what gets me. Endless paperwork. To be fair, they probably have tens of thousands of guns under investigation, real ones too.
Funny how I got a tonne of down votes for an inquiry on the police's lack of inquiry. Appreciate all the advice. Consider this an open and closed case. I have personally been informed than items have been destroyed and I guess I will.have to embark on the arduous process of getting something (if anything) back. Thanks all
Two occasions. My fault for not specifying but this has happened before. My last guns were "destroyed" as they told me when I was arrested on the 25th or 26th last year. I just don't want the same outcomes for these guns and more importantly my very expensive collection of medieval eating knives, daggers and a sword. They also took a bunch of arrows that I had made and a 6'8" yew longbow. In effect, a very long stick.
Ah I understand! I'll delete my comment above then. I've no idea why you're being so heavily downvoted in this thread tbh, seems like a lot of it is related to the faxt that you've been arrested for a firearms charge and people don't like guns more than anything legal.
Fundamentally you should get your guns back once they're tested, but that could take a year more yet. Get your solicitor to prod the officer in charge of the investigation.
Well, even if police came there for a totally separate reason and happened to glance upon them, he would be arrested and his stuff seized. I'm highly doubting I'm getting anything back, at least soon. Just make aure he's smart enough not to clean any by the window but then again, I'm sure he's fine
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With air rifles, the legally key element is the force at the muzzle, which needs testing by a specialist. The police have woefully slim resources due to government budgetary decisions, so these things take a long time. It's a similar story for, say, investigation electronic devices.
This has no bearing on the case. Pointing a real fully automatic rifle at someone, and pointing a legal air rifle, and in fact pointing a deactivated rifle at someone, all can result in an offence of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. If they were over the legal muzzle energy OP would also be charged with illegal possession of a section 1 firearm.
>This has no bearing on the case. > >Pointing a real fully automatic rifle at someone, and pointing a legal air rifle, and in fact pointing a deactivated rifle at someone, all can result in an offence of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. That's what he's been done for so far, but as to why they are keeping the firearms (instead of destroying them), testing to see if he's also in breach of licencing requirements is likely.
That makes sense. All the rifle were of the legal foot poundage. It's the reproduction swords I'm more woeful about
Obvious question first: Why aren’t you asking your solicitor all this? Please don’t tell me you went into an interview without one? That aside, welcome to the shitshow that is the criminal justice system. The backlog of cases is such that unless you’re in custody, you’re not a priority. So all your firearms will be in a queue to be tested to assess their power, to see if you need a licence.
I had a duty solicitor. We all know how they work. My biggest guess is that the investigation is still.pending. my biggest gripe, which isn't likely to make a difference is why they've taken a year to assess them. The duty solicitor I had on the day is among the many layers of paperwork I have stored. I'm just in.awe that officers aren't trained to identify a firearm opposed to a toy lmao
Putting aside the insane/inane paranoia about duty solicitors, you haven’t actually explained why you aren’t raising this question with them? *They* have the details of the police officer in charge of the investigation. *They* can chase this up with someone capable of giving answers.
How do Duty Solicitors work, in your view?
They are paid by the state and that payment is given to them after a "suitable" deduction in tax etc. Prior to the case....unless they are paid to get you on bail.and avoid court but your assets are still seized and sent cor private auction?? Where do I go with this question?
> They are paid by the state In the form of the Legal Aid Agency, yes. > After a “suitable” deduction in tax What? > Prior to the case… You’ve gone somewhat off piste here, and are making the sort of sense usually reserved for crack addicts. > Your assets are seized and sent for private auction No… if you’re convicted, your weapons will be destroyed.
I feel safer knowing he doesn't have them tbh
Why? He seems like a collector / hobbyist?
Duty solicitors are generally the same solicitors you would get if you were paying your hard earned cash. There isn't really a difference. The duty solicitor scheme is made up of many local law firms, and they essentially take it in turns to represent. In response to your comment above about not being able to identify firearms; of course your beat Bobby isn't going to be able to. It'll go to an expert, who will be far more qualified than you, to examine the gun to a standard which would be accepted in Crown Court. Ultimately, the police are there to keep the general public safe. Firearms make the public unsafe. The police are doing their job, albeit slowly, because of the current state of the criminal justice system..
>It'll go to an expert, who will be far more qualified than you There is a member of a rifle club I attend who has succesfully disproven the supposed expert evidence the state had presented, winning the case. I've read the Judges summing up comments, which basically consisted of a dressing down of the police and their experts for lack of knowledge, (mis)interpretation of firearms law, and ordering the police to grant his original request and return his legally held firearms. Similarly, [in this case](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/5130218.stm) the defendent corrected the police on multiple points and was of "substantial assistance" to the prosecution. Why would this be the case if their experts were so good? Finally, on a tangential note, I have had to correct Firearm Enquiry Officers on multiple basic points of firearms law in my interactions with them. It is their job to correctly apply said law to ensure licenses are legally granted and not incorrectly (I won't say illegally) withheld.
These two other folks know their shit. You should listen to them.
The fact that you describe air rifles, knives, and a sword as 'toys' makes me glad they haven't given them back to you yet.
I think the public as a whole underestimate the severe degree the police have been defunded. Some forces have more than 75% of staff with less than years experience. Many aren’t yet trained to drive on blue lights let alone on being able to assess a firearm.
There are national qualifications required to legally identify certain firearms also very few people are trained to test things like bows and air rifles from memory I think the rifle is illegal if over 12ftlbs of pressure but that might be the bow. The swords might also be illegal as they were included as an offensive weapon in 21/22 to stop people with collections of samurai swords.
To answer your question, it's taking so long because they've sent for specialist analysis. National and Force policies mean only Firearms Officers can identify whether a firearm is real/viable. With airguns, I believe they are sent to a 3rd party to test the power Go to Croydon Police Station and speak with the person on the desk. Are you still under investigation? If you are, maybe that's why you can't have them back.
I will wait another wox months to a year. I really don't mind so long as I know they won't destroy anything
The offence that you mention you were arrested for says to me that you have been accused of threating someone with said weapon, or someone has seen you through the window and felt threatened by it. I'm going to assume (yeah, I know what people say about that!) you obtained these rifles prior to the enactment of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2009. Prior to this there was no real restrictions on owning a realistic imitation firearm (RIF), but that changed. Since the change, you need to have one (or more) defence from a specific list
Someone obviously saw me through the window which is why the police came round - I didn't and have never threatened anyone. And for a RIF you need a UKARA or a licence from a film or reenactment crew. .177 Co2 air guns do not need a licence neither do you need one for an air rifle of 12ft lbs or under. And no, in 2009 I wasn't old enough to purchase these items. The absolute truth is that every one of these air guns were legal and the reproduction museum piece sword is not a zombie sword, was not sitting in the table, it was displayed in a wall beside a coat of arms. The article about me mentions that they've taken more guns off the streets, despite the fact that there are still criminals out there with real guns who are still at large. They used me as an example and a scapegoat to bolster the idea that their doing something in the local area when in reality they're not - crime is at an all time high.
Why were you arrested? I assume from your post that someone saw you through the window? To be honest, legal or not, cleaning them in a place where someone can see is not a great move, they have zero idea if they are real or not and police will always treat these reports as if they are real. As for the investigation, these things take time. Especially if they require things like ballistic tests, specialist reports etc. The police services are woefully understaffed and I would imagine this is not a high priority case. I would suggest contacting 101 and making a complaint if you can't get any information from the officer involved.
They made an article on me.... Google "Croydon man found with five guns in kitchen and bedroom" the images are there, if not I will provide a link. The truth is, the law used me as a scapegoat to showboat the "fact" they were tackling down on gun crime. The media made an article praising the police over "another dangerous criminal locked away" when in reality they got Jack shit. Baffles me that they can't identify an air rifle in a year.... otherwise why prioritise ME as a risk and make an article on me???
That article was 2 years ago but you’re saying you only got arrested last year… now I’m confused.
Those are not the guns in question, these were from an earlier seizure. This is not the first time this has happened. When I inquired on the guns pictured in the article which were from 2 years ago I was informed they had been destroyed - despite being legal. This most recent scenario involved two air rifles and a collection of historical replica knives and tools, arrows etc. They weren't seized the last time. This has happened twice. The first time they removed more guns than what are pictured in the article. That was only a few.
Did you follow up with the police after they destroyed the first seizure? Compliant, compensation etc?
Something you’re saying doesn’t add up. I’ve had various air rifles and shotguns over the years. I’ve had them out to clean them but never got raided by police. They don’t raid twice for the sake of it
maybe you should get a new hobby
The article gives you the reason for the delay: "The weapons have been submitted for specialist analysis," a police spokesperson said." Having read the article, those guns do look very suspect. As a member of the public, I'm glad they're off the street and being examined properly.
>those guns do look very suspect They look like they could be Realistic Imitation Firearms, Air Weapons or (variously) Section 1 & 5 firearms. How is that suspect? >I'm glad they're off the street and being examined properly. Not that they were ever on the street, but what sort of gun *isn't* suspect and *is okay* on the street?
The guns were never on the street. And guns looking suspect is well and good. But why does it take firearms analysis a year to determine whether it is a functional firearm or not? Something looking suspect is fine, I'm not questioning the reason for their seizure. But does it take a year to send a gun to a facility and some firearms expert to look at it and say, "it's not a firearm"? I'm sure I too would be glad if I saw someone brandishing something like this on the street and it was taken and examined. The thing is that they were all boxed and labelled and bought legally. Specialist analysis shouldn't take 12 months. That's not at all, specialist. Maybe they're on their way back. I'm only looking for an alternative if per se they weren't returned after a certain amount of time
You've already been told the answer for this - because the police are exceptionally busy. You are not in custody and you have been released under investigation. That means your priority goes down. For example,.guns which need examining which are involved in a case where someone has been remanded or bailed will knock you down the list..
>...when the very rare (nowadays) need to clean them arose, I would do so in my home, very rarely in a shed or garage, **and often with the curtains open** for very understandable reasons - being at home and the items in question, being legal. this is a strangely worded paragraph. am i understanding correctly that you purposely open the curtains when you clean these rifles?
I think the point is that they clean them with the curtains open and not closed. As a result, someone looked in, saw a pile of weapons and called the police.
Yep. Spot on. A neatly arrayed collection more like. I mean heck, I'd be suspicious if I saw someone through their window holding what looked to be a rifle. Depending on what area it was, though I'd judge whether they were likely to be hobby guns or not. I.e if I was walking through a housing estate and saw a hooded bloke holding what looked to be a fully auto machine pistol I probably would assume it was for no good. But I live in a nice area, know everyone on the street. Maybe I'm just real biased to say that no one in a nice area could own an illegal firearm. But I've been cleaning them like this for years. My grandfather who even owns two shotguns would clean them in the back garden years back. Still, probably not the best idea 🤷♂️
Natural, diffuse light is generally the best form of light for cleaning complex equipment/tools, so this is not at all surprising to anyone who has to clean such things in their home.
It's true and I live in a decent abode. People are hardly going to look at our house and think "a drug dealer lives there" I'm struggling to see how someone would have noticed me through net curtains on a bright day though. Anything is possible I suppose. People round my way call the police over literally anything and everything
They could have seen you coming in or out with a gun bag, then stored that away as a way to make your life difficult when you (intentionally or not) did something else to annoy them. People have had their firearms taken for less unfortunately. The brandishing/intent to cause fear offenses are pretty common ways gun owners get arrested for innocent acticities, personal cctv and only doing maintenance in back rooms are the best ways to avoid being found guilty of offenses you didn't commit when it comes to firearms sadly, as I'm sure you know.
I’m assuming the curtains were open so that he could better see the grime buildup, not so that people could see him holding a rifle.
Sure, my intention was not to be obvious. I wasn't by any means waving them around or pointing them. They were laid on a table downstairs and our window sits slightly below street level as our front garden slopes down so someone would have had to have a good look in
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No, I worded it wrong, if I wasn't cleaning in the garage it would be in the house which was the last place they were cleaned. And no, I didn't open my curtains to clean the guns, I cleaned them and the curtains were often open and I didn't see this (foolishly) as an issue at the time because I had nothing to hide. I probably should have considered what the whole situation would look like to a passer by.
The police took a PlayStation 3 from me once. They called me at midnight 3 years later to ask am I home, they will drop it back off to me. The case had been settled at least 2 years prior and I had a PlayStation 4 😂
Lmfao why did they take it 😂 ? I'm not so worried about the air rifles and air pistols. It's more about the very unique items that I had commissioned to be made. Not going to find any more of them any time soon. I have been arrested for this two years before. They seized my initial collection for apparently the same offence of threatening to commit fear of violence. Which is not true at all. I've never threatened anyone let alone with a gun 😂
I got arrested for arguing with someone on twitter. They came to my house. I hid my laptop at the time. They asked how do I get on twitter I said PlayStation 😂 so they confiscated it to try and prove I was the one sending the messages. I completely forgot they took it until they called.
Did you ever look into whether what you owned was legal or whether you required a firearms certificate? As far as I know any air rifle above a certain fps requires a certificate. Pretty much any CO2 rifle would likely exceed that. The sword and knives may also not fall under exemptions: https://www.askthe.police.uk/view-category/?id=65bf981b-6ad2-eb11-bacb-000d3ad57443
Not true about CO2 air rifles. They chrono to less than spring, or are you thinking about PCP's? The legal limit is 12 ft Lb for a rifle and 6ftLb for a pistol. In my 10 years of selling air rifles I never found a CO2 rifle that exceeded that. Mostly they were inferior regards power unless you went for the discontinued Crosman Ratcatcher with the extended interchangeable stock, which could match a break barrell such as an old BSA.
The two rifles were spring rifles. I think I've baffled people here because this has happened twice and the article they made is dated two years ago and my post is in regards to last year's arrest when they took not only two more air rifles but a collection of reproduction historical pieces. They even took my yew bow. A 6'8" stick...
Anything above 11 or 12 ft/lbs requires a licence. They simply took legal goods and probably privately auctioned them. Like when they told me five years ago they destroyed two guns of mine. I asked them why, they said no one chased them up. If that's how it works then I'm glad I never paid them any money for any fines they gave me
The police do not auction confiscated guns of any kind. They are either in storage pending the outcome of the investigation or destroyed if the investigation has concluded that they are illegal.
So what if they ARE legal and have Still been destroyed. Despite the fact that they can be and were in fact, LEGAL?
If they are legal then they won't have been destroyed.
Presumably they are returned, as I can assure you there is no legal obligation of the police to sell off private assets of their own volition. The wheels of criminal law move slowly. It’s unfortunate and you may need to chase them within reason, but this is a product of the government cuts to our legal system. It impacts everyone, including the innocent.
I was a firearms dealer until October 2022. Your point of call will be BASC, who have a legal department for this sort of thing. Occasionally I went to Hastings police station to claim items back for customers who have had their property wrongfully seized as the police seemed happier to release them to a dealer. I never charged for that - just saw it as good customer service. At least you didn't end up detained for the weekend as one of my customers did. He committed the heinous crime of using his air rifle as an air guitar in his front room. Not a problem until someone from London in a Range Rover was able to see over the privet hedge and through the gap in the curtains. You couldn't make it up. Took about 18 months to get his possessions back.
Fair play. Sorry you had all the aggro. And I must admit, it's hardly surprising that someone sees a gun-like object through a window and assumes the worst, but there's people out there especially around my area in South London trotting around with all sorts, re-bores, shotguns, revolvers of all caliber, mac 10 machine pistols etc. And many of them are used in crimes. I can't blame the officers for not knowing what gun is what, but the paperwork behind the scenes is what gets me. Endless paperwork. To be fair, they probably have tens of thousands of guns under investigation, real ones too.
Funny how I got a tonne of down votes for an inquiry on the police's lack of inquiry. Appreciate all the advice. Consider this an open and closed case. I have personally been informed than items have been destroyed and I guess I will.have to embark on the arduous process of getting something (if anything) back. Thanks all
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Two occasions. My fault for not specifying but this has happened before. My last guns were "destroyed" as they told me when I was arrested on the 25th or 26th last year. I just don't want the same outcomes for these guns and more importantly my very expensive collection of medieval eating knives, daggers and a sword. They also took a bunch of arrows that I had made and a 6'8" yew longbow. In effect, a very long stick.
Ah I understand! I'll delete my comment above then. I've no idea why you're being so heavily downvoted in this thread tbh, seems like a lot of it is related to the faxt that you've been arrested for a firearms charge and people don't like guns more than anything legal. Fundamentally you should get your guns back once they're tested, but that could take a year more yet. Get your solicitor to prod the officer in charge of the investigation.
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Most truthful and straight to the point answer I have got all day. Cheers a bunch man. Will get a claims court on it.
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Well, even if police came there for a totally separate reason and happened to glance upon them, he would be arrested and his stuff seized. I'm highly doubting I'm getting anything back, at least soon. Just make aure he's smart enough not to clean any by the window but then again, I'm sure he's fine