British Olympic pistol competitor article.

[hso]

An interesting article from the NYT on how their Olympic cartridge pistol competitor was hampered by the firearms laws in the UK. It is interesting to see.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/s...-olympian-georgina-geikie.html?pagewanted=all

 

[Mk VII]

I knew Margaret Thomas, a dentist who belonged to our club at one time. One of many national-level competitors who walked away from gun ownership after the ban and never came back. Some live abroad now.
They have had to issue Part Five authorities to the competitors, and the coaches, and all the officials, and even the journalists covering the event. Very few people here are still qualified to officiate or to be on the jury of appeal at UIT level after 15 years as you have to keep in date.
The range, constructed inside the Artillery Barracks at Woolwich, will be torn down immediately afterwards to make sure we don't get any legacy out of it. Some of the target apparatus will supposedly go into store for the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow in 2014. The range for that will be built inside the Army base at Barry Buddon (nowhere near Glasgow) and torn down afterwards.

 

[Midwest]

" The guns used in three Olympic shooting events, the ones involving cartridge pistols, were banned altogether in 1997.Since then, anyone wanting to practice had to do so on the Continent or at least in Northern Ireland, where the laws are looser. There were no exceptions"

Then they mentioned about a rare exception of granting a permit just for the Olympics, and yet people still complained...

"The exemption was not looked on favorably by gun control advocates like Chris Williamson, another Labour M.P."

So the until the exemption was granted, the Olympic shooters had to either use shotguns in the U.K. or shoot pistols in other countries like Switzerland. If we don't keep fighting for our rights, we could go the way of the U.K.

Interesting article and the comments after the story are just as interesting as well. With all due respect for our friends on the other side of the 'pond'...a lot of them are brainwashed into believing gun control is a good thing. However there were a lot of pro-gun comments as well...the NY Times has not censored them out...yet...

 

[DavidMS]

Attitudes will change (I hope).

I don't see how the UK will ever be competitive until attitudes towards guns change. I hope that the British realize that guns don't cause crime. Guns are misused by criminals. Its a fairly basic concept and yet so misunderstood.

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

I can't imagine it's a lot easier to be an Olympic shooter in CA....

 

[Shear_stress]

I can't imagine it's a lot easier to be an Olympic shooter in CA....

Uh, yeah it is. Last I heard handguns weren't banned in California.

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

Uh, yeah it is. Last I heard handguns weren't banned in California.

i was finally able to find the "list"... what a crock!!



http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/pdfs/firearms/forms/pdf/op.pdf

 

[oneounceload]

Try reading the viewer comments from the US folks calling for banning everything - truly sickening

 

[Nikdfish]

Remember you are talking about a country in which a homeowner using force to protect themselves and family from a B&E burglar is likely to spend more time in jail than the burglar ...

Nick

 

[Shear_stress]

Uh, yeah it is. Last I heard handguns weren't banned in California.

i was finally able to find the "list"... what a crock!!



http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/pd...rms/pdf/op.pdf

I'm aware of the list, having lived in that state. So, you're basically arguing that having a list of 1300 available new handguns, an explicit exemption for competition target pistols from state safety requirements, a similar exemption for single action revolvers, and the grandfathering of the millions of handguns already in the state is pretty much the same as a complete ban on handguns. Not sure I follow you there.

 

[sidibear]

My friend spent the best part of £18k over the last two years training for the Olympics handgun squad only to be told two weeks ago that they were no longer submitting a squad.

Its the government and do gooders over here that want the handgun ban, it seems most other people want a way to defend themselves.
Nikdfish is correct, kick the crap out of a bad guy over here and you will be arrested and possibly face a sentence.
I will defend myself and my family and take the risk personally, until the government proves it has got rid of all the bad guys or people with bad intentions.

 

[Odd Job]

A Briton (Peter Wilson) won the mens' double trap yesterday, he was speaking about how funding for the sport had been cut and he said on TV it would be good to get that funding back.

Here's the final:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w2zwp

 

[CmdrSlander]

My friend spent the best part of £18k over the last two years training for the Olympics handgun squad only to be told two weeks ago that they were no longer submitting a squad.

Its the government and do gooders over here that want the handgun ban, it seems most other people want a way to defend themselves.
Nikdfish is correct, kick the crap out of a bad guy over here and you will be arrested and possibly face a sentence.
I will defend myself and my family and take the risk personally, until the government proves it has got rid of all the bad guys or people with bad intentions.

How well is the handgun ban over there working? Do criminals employ handguns against a disarmed populace often? Can you even carry a pocket knife?

No offense intended by these questions, of course.

(I'm just glad my family got out of there back in 1620)

 

[Mk VII]

1. Depends how you define 'working'
2. Not often. Usually against each other. Usually zip guns of one sort or another. Very few real ones.
3. No