Recent content by berrieberrie

UK patrolmen/women carry mace and it's been a long time since I saw one who wasn't carrying an expendable baton or (partially collapsible) PR-24. Armed police (who once were rarely seen but now seem omnipresent) usually carry both Glocks and some HK (MP5 of G36 in various versions). I...

See also Water-man's post: respect for authority, values, the fellow man has gone down the drain the last 50-60 years. One may argue that respect should first and foremost be earned, but no matter how you twist it, the simple fact is that some people (more and more, sadly) respect nothing or...

Disclaimer: European, and very frequent visitor to London and the rest oif the UK. Got some cop friends there, too. I do want to add some things. Of course, it's a TV show and I can imagine the brass wanting to portray their men as the corteous, old-time Bobbies one used to see. Fact is, there...

Belgium here... I'll try to keep it short and simple: most stuff requires a gun permit/license, and even more stuff requires an import license. You need a permit/license for most firearms and ammo, but also for frames, barrels, slides, cylinders, uppers, lowers and bolts. You don't need a...

I don't think those "printing" laws apply to LEO's, especially while on duty - and it's not as if a uniformed LEO carrying openly transforms into a private citizen carrying concealed the moment he puts on a raincoat. Disclaimer: IANAL, but I do carry a gun on duty, although always concealed...

Belgium chiming in here. I can't comment on your military status (which may make things more easy/difficult), but I can say something on handgun/AR-15 shooting: - Italy: some calibres are restricted to LE/military (9mm para, for example) - Germany: has some funky restrictions on semi-auto...

That's exactly what I am trying to say. As a European gun owner and shooter, I can tell you guys that we need to fight everyday for a piece of those rights you are (with good reason) taking for granted. I'd say that on average, European gun laws can more or less be compared to those in NYC, and...

That's just a classification, which - in this case - doesn't mean that civilians can't have access to them. As to the "serious hoops to jump through": we're talking Europe here, not the US. Gun ownership requires a lot of red tape (club memberships, tests, backgroun checks, registration...)...

Please, check your facts and don't discourage the OP from trying to get his son a great heirloom. Guns chambered in 9mm Luger and their ammo are allowed for civilan ownership and use in France - not in Italy, though.

(...) however, gun laws are extremely strict in France-and if the Luger is a functional weapon I don't believe your son can have it on French soil.(...) Sure he can. He'll need a prefectural authorisation category 4 (fancy expression for "gun permit"), but that will not only allow him to own...

Broad generalization. Most people who own handguns ARE licensed target shooters, but there a other categories of people that can get a permit: collectors, "recreational shooters", people with a legitimate need for a gun for self defense purposes...

It depends how you define "shooting sports". In my country, the gun law is rather strict as well, but there's LOTS of people shooting and owning guns (for legitimate reasons, of course). But the shooting "sports" (such as the olympics) are much less interesting, mainly because of the - as so...

Ah, but it IS a legal ground in Belgium - last time I checked, the "self defense" option was still on the application form. Of course, you still have to show some proof that you're at risk somehow (which is a bit ridiculous), but it's still possible to get such a permit...

You thought wrong. This once again shows that "Europe" still (praise the Lord) isn't ONE singular country, and that the huge differences between countries are relatively unknown to US gun enthusiasts. Apart from Switzerland, FAs are legal in the Czech Republic (which is even a better place...

That's the catch: up until now, there wasn't total government control in the UK - it was still possible and relatively easy to own bolt action rifles and shotguns. It is very likely that the shooter was a legal gun owner. As a freedom- and gun-loving European, I am afraid that this might become...