The British Have A Different View It Seems

[Madcap_Magician]

My mother was an anti and hated that I hunted. She used to tell me how unfair it was that I had a rifle and the deer did not. I asked her what chance that cow or pig or chicken had...

I had this issue with a girlfriend between high school and college. She was a sweetheart (and gorgeous), but the relationship was doomed as soon as she asked me in all seriousness why my state had to legalize a mourning dove season.

I don't even hunt, myself, but I told her that people enjoyed hunting, and that mourning doves were edible just like most small birds that are hunted like quail and grouse.

She asked me, well, why can't those people just eat chicken?

And I said, "The chickens don't commit suicide, you know."

And that was the beginning of the end.

 

[Mike OTDP]

Colfi isn't joking. I've shot at World ML Championships in the UK and Australia, and Australia was far worse. You needed paperwork not only to get in, but to get out as well.

The best? Believe it or not, France. They took one look, asked, "Are they all muzzle-loaders?" and waved us through.

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Mike, do you know my buddies here in NC, Todd W. & Tom W.? They are on the International Team. They are also both N-SSA shooters with a CSA artillery battery here in the Tarheel state.. Tom didn't go, but Todd did well in the trip to Spain.

I'll see them tomorrow at our club's meat shoot. Be interesting who "brings home the bacon" and who gets to "ham it up".

 

[Mike OTDP]

Yup. Todd did quite well in Spain - he's really honed his shooting in the last two years. Tell them Merry Christmas for me.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Originally Posted by Madcap_Magician:

She asked me, well, why can't those people just eat chicken?

And I said, "The chickens don't commit suicide, you know."

And that was the beginning of the end.

Well played sir.

 

[Palehorseman]

It is often interesting for reactions of people from other countries to see the 2nd Amendment at play.

Back in the 1980s we were installing a reverse osmosis filtration plant for removing all water and Co2 from product stream (pipeline company requirement) in a remote natural gas field. One of the engineers from the filter company was from India, and he at first freaked out to see all the (major) company employees carrying handguns.

But within a month, he was shooting all the different handguns and loving it. He sent pictures of himself with guns to his family back in India. Then it was their turn to freak out.

Another time company was selling off an enhanced oil recovery polymer injection facility no longer needed. One of the prime prospects was the Chinese communist government. Those Chinese reps truly freaked out to see the hoi polloi employees openly carrying guns.

Our company was very liberal about allowing employees to carry guns, most of the other major oil companies were not.

 

[Mike OTDP]

There's a really interesting story about India. Shooting had been a just-bately-tolerated sport. Until 2008. Abinav Bindra won 10m Air Rifle - India's first Olympic medal. Of any sort, in any event. Shooting has exploded in that country, I'm told.

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Mike,

Tom told me about you and your travels. He said to tell you Howdy.

He shot his Armi San Paulo Rogers & Spencer, and I shot my custom target-model Ruger Old Army, and he beat me by 8 points. He did better on the iron turkeys at 50 yards, and I did better on the 50 meter International target at 25 yards.

One of our club members brought his recently purchased Savage & North .36 caliber revolver, and a original DA Starr revolver, both refinished, unfortunately, but in working order.

I picked up some Hornady .358 diameter hollow-base wadcutter bullets to use with 14 grains of 4FG in my Ruger Old Army .36 caliber. Tom "Muley" Ball custom-fitted it for Lynn Shoeffner when he was the NMLRA "king of the hill" in the '90's at Friendship.

He won the National Pistol Championship in '97, shooting all ten events on Sunday, 8 AM to 4 PM, jumped in his car and drove eight hours to go back to work on Monday here in NC. Then, when I called him on the following Saturday to tell him He won, he hopped in his car, drove back to Indiana for the Awards Ceremony on Sunday morning, and returned home Sunday evening.

 

[Mike OTDP]

I miss Tom Ball. You could trust him to do good work on a revolver.

Have you ever considered trying out for the International Team?

 

[Panzerschwein]

I think it's super said to read some of those, sounds like it's a huge ordeal just to get a shotgun for hunting for food. That is ridiculous... I guess it's the supermarket or nothing. I also didn't like how the first poster said he would send his wife out to defend the home or something to that effect.

I REALLY hope he was joking, if so it was a poor joke IMHO.

 

[BHP FAN]

I don't know...MY wife is SCARY! When Red's in a bad mood, I think the burglar would prefer dealing with me!

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Mike,

I should have done it back in the early '90's, when I was really good. I won the caplock aggregate at the national matches in the Expert class with a 290-13X/300 score in 1990. I shot consistently 98's & 99's on 25 yard SF & TF.

The early '90's were my best years. In that 290-13X agg score was a 93-2X at 50 yards. I beat the national champion that year, and only one Master shooter, Jim Doyle tied my score. I won the 25 yard re-entry match, shooting a 99-6X/100. I missed a 100-6X by .09". "Close but no cigar".

Now, I'm pushing 70, fighting arthritis and equilibrium. I go to local matches and shoot against Tom & Todd just to keep them "on their toes". I feel glad I can still shoot a 97 at 25 yards, but its a chore to shoot past 85 at 50 yards. I shot at Friendship from 1986 to 1998, and haven't been back since then. But I'd like to go back. I miss the "feeling". I was in the N-SSA from 1962 til 1967.

 

[driver243]

As a Brit living in the UK I would like to add some comments.
Hunting: As we are a small country there is virtually no public land we can hunt on freely. All land in the UK is owned by someone. We can hunt on private land with the landowners permission, but only with shotguns. If we wish to hunt with rifles, the police have to inspect the land to check its suitability. If it passes that check, we get authority to use specified rifles but only on that land.
Black powder shooting: There is a big following here both with pistols and rifles I belong to a local club and shoot my Uberti 1851 and Pedersoli Tryon rifle once a week. Once again the police are very strict, my firearms licence restricts the use of the weapons to the club that I am a member of and if I was stopped with the guns in the trunk of my car I would have to show that I was either going to or returning from shooting. A couple of years ago I took up wild west re-enactment and had to have the police endorse my firearms license to include this hobby.
I think, overall that hunting and shooting are doing well here but weapons must be out of sight unless being used. Its a cultural thing. Also illegal possession of firearms attracts a minimum 5 year jail sentence here.
Finally we all have to have our guns locked away in a gun safe when not in use and the police make regular spot checks to see if we are obeying the law.
Despite all this we all have a great tine hunting and shooting!

 

[Crawdad1]

That's what my buddy said also who lives in Germany. In Germany the police make stops at your home and inspect where you are keeping your firearms. His next door neighbor was told to improve the safe's lock, I think that's what is was but it was something with his safe, and it cost him the equivalent of $150.00 dollars.


And the police came back and inspected his safe after he notified them that the corrections were completed. I probably wouldn't own one either.

 

[rodwha]

"...and if I was stopped with the guns in the trunk of my car I would have to show that I was either going to or returning from shooting."

I'm curious how something like that can be proven without a doubt? It seems it's open to interpretation by the stopping officer, and that you could find yourself in an interrogation room instead of at the range.


"...but weapons must be out of sight unless being used."

This brings up another question. Is it unlawful to protect your household were there an armed intrusion? Or must you find an alternative to protect yourself/family?

 

[Mk VII]

Not unlawful but you'd have a hard time explaining how you got to it in time to use it if it was secured properly.

 

[rodwha]

We have safes that work by fingerprints or combinations that can sit on the bedstand if you wish. Doesn't take long at all. However they may not be a legal form of securing it there.

 

[Choctaw]

Driver, in Texas we are kind of in the same boat as you guys in the UK as far as hunting goes. Nearly all the land in Texas is privately owned. We do have some public land but it is heavily restricted and can be quite crowded.

I'm stunned that you have to have the police give their okay to where you hunt with rifles. That's just sad.

 

[robhof]

robhof

When I was stationed in Belgium in the 80's I noticed an abundance of pheasant and large rabbits everywhere and inquired as to the ability to hunt there as a US citizen. I found out you could purchase a non resident license for around $50 US, get permission from a land owner usually a fee of $30 US and you would have to give/offer your game cleaned to the land owner. A fellow from my unit from South Dakota came by one day and asked if I wanted some pheasants; seems he found them to be slow to start from the road if approached slow with a car. We enjoyed many pheasant dinners after that. There's more than one way to skin a pheasant!

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Actually, it was after WWI when the British lost their guns. In the early part of WWII(remember the war was actually three years longer for Europe than the US)when it looked like Hitler was going to invade England, the British realized they had few guns having lost a sizable number at Dunkirk. The gun laws after WWI had confiscated & destroyed most of the civilian guns. In the US the NRA collected and sent guns donated by US owners for the defense of England two years before we entered the war. Draw your own conclusions.