Police removing firearms - what are they legally entitled to take?

[Blobby159]

Went to pick up some shotguns from the police station that had been seized from a friend and had to wait for one to be brought back to the station by an off duty officer that had been using it.

Assuming that this outright condemnation can be proven THAT IS JUST NOT ON..!!!!!!!!
Do the Impound Units drive around in the classy cars they take from poorly/badly parked road positions or when the would be owners default on monthly repayments etc. Etc.?? I am beginning to wonder now whether at least some Police Officers understand their privileged positions in our lives or if the old adages about 'Bent Coppers' are more true than we - the Public who employ and generally HAVE TRUSTED them - would like and/or want to believe!??.. This line of thought is quite unsettling to me I have to say...
However, I have two good friends who are/were serving Police Persons and this kind of trick is/was NEVER in their repertoire I can categorically state without fear of being proven wrong! But that even occasional one 'bad apple' is one too many isn't it?? And smelly sh#t sticks for a long time doesn't it?

 

[reloader54]

Assuming that this outright condemnation can be proven THAT IS JUST NOT ON..!!!!!!!!
Do the Impound Units drive around in the classy cars they take from poorly/badly parked road positions or when the would be owners default on monthly repayments etc. Etc.?? I am beginning to wonder now whether at least some Police Officers understand their privileged positions in our lives or if the old adages about 'Bent Coppers' are more true than we - the Public who employ and generally HAVE TRUSTED them - would like and/or want to believe!??.. This line of thought is quite unsettling to me I have to say...
However, I have two good friends who are/were serving Police Persons and this kind of trick is/was NEVER in their repertoire I can categorically state without fear of being proven wrong! But that even occasional one 'bad apple' is one too many isn't it?? And smelly sh#t sticks for a long time doesn't it?

"lets face it, the fella who works art the nut and bolt factory is always bolting stuff together, but you never see him at the hardware store"

 

[macfarlane]

I bought a 22/250 from a guy that had his guns taken from him had to go to police station to collect the gun after half an hour or so an officer turned up with said gun, now first thing I do when picking up a gun is open the bolt upon doing that to said gun a live round jumped out. Guy who had the guns taken from him swore blind the gun was empty and had no round chambered when he handed it in. I went bloody daft.

 

[TH4]

The guy I picked the shotguns up for is a meticulous cleaner of all his guns, when I got them home 2 had been fired and not cleaned and 1 had damage to the stock and was in a completely different gunslip to when it was seized.

 

[TH4]

Back in 1964

if this is happening now the intern investigation systems are so robust it wouldn’t pass under the radar unless no complaints were made or in actual fact the off duty cop didn’t have said shotgun and it had been booked in incorrectly.Which happens.

Not in 1964 my friend, it was in 1999. And no complaints were made because the owner did not want any more hassle with the police than he had at the time.

 

[Sonicdmb73]

Not in 1964 my friend, it was in 1999. And no complaints were made because the owner did not want any more hassle with the police than he had at the time.

Wouldn’t be the first time the Evidence locker had been abused.
The problem with not complaining is they get away with and carry on doing it.

 

[TH4]

Exactly, I would have complained but my friend was convinced that they would make things worse for him if he did

 

[ColinJ]

1999. Still 20 years ago. A lot of things change in 12 months let alone 20 years. There is an independent police complaints body now, which was formed in 2004. Complaints like the examples given above would not be tolerated today.

As for what can they take? It depends on whether it is a licensing matter or criminal. If firearms are being seized for evidence in a criminal case they will (legally) take everything. The accessories may be vital to identification, for example from CCTV or witness statements.

If your firearms are being seized in a licensing case you have a better chance of retaining accessories, but a lot will depend on your attitude. If you launch into a tirade about being a Sovereign Citizen, a Freeman of the Land, and you know your rights under the Magna Carta, then don’t expect much cooperation. Similarly, knowing the Chief Constable won’t help, most officers don’t like senior officers.

If it is all coming on top, get your firearms into an RFD ASAP. Police don’t like dealing with property, especially firearms, so getting them into an RFD is doing the officers a favour. Unless it’s a criminal case, then they’re getting seized regardless.

 

[enfieldspares]

No sensible police officer for BOTH their safety and your safety is, at that moment, IMHO, going to allow you to handle any weapon, even an air weapon, he or she has come to seize. Common sense. For how do they know you've not a live round in a pocket you're going to slip into its chamber to then turn the weapon on them or on yourself. Some here seem whatever the issue to berate the police. Yes they are not perfect but in the same circumstances if you were coming to seize a weapon from a person you don't know would you let them, at that moment, handle it freely whatever reason they gave you? I wouldn't.

 

[Ranger22]

No sensible police officer for BOTH their safety and your safety is, at that moment, IMHO, going to allow you to handle any weapon, even an air weapon, he or she has come to seize. Common sense. For how do they know you've not a live round in a pocket you're going to slip into its chamber to then turn the weapon on them or on yourself. Some here seem whatever the issue to berate the police. Yes they are not perfect but in the same circumstances if you were coming to seize a weapon from a person you don't know would you let them, at that moment, handle it freely whatever reason they gave you? I wouldn't.

On the flip side of this, the police should send trained officers to secure firearms. These firearms are worth a lot of money, they should be handled accordingly.

Regards berating the Police, some deserve it and more. I was involved with a court case where two officers lied in an attempt to get a result. I knew they were lying and fortunately had the money to fight them. The Fiscal saw straight through them. Sadly, I have no confidence in our police at the moment.

 

[ColinJ]

Of course police should send correctly trained officers. There are lots of things they should do. However, police numbers have been cut by 22,000 and support staff by 7500. Reductions of this size impact every aspect of policing.

 

[camo304]

When they came to take mine some years ago, they let me strip the scopes off after i complained they where not a firearm and just took mods and rifles plus S-Guns.

 

[mickyfinn]

Ref the above where guys collected rifles from the police station, one of my mates committed suicide with one of his shotguns many yrs ago now, his brother who also shoots, went to collect the shotgun the police took from the scene, it still had a live shell in the chamber.

 

[ColinJ]

Ref the above where guys collected rifles from the police station, one of my mates committed suicide with one of his shotguns many yrs ago now, his brother who also shoots, went to collect the shotgun the police took from the scene, it still had a live shell in the chamber.

When was this? Did they complain?

 

[mealiejimmy]

It is my understanding that only firearms trained police officers are allowed to handle firearms except in an emergency.
OK, circumstances can vary and in some cases removal of firearms from a certificate holder may be an emergency, but in most cases it is not.
In such a case would the certificate holder be entitled to check that the officers who have come to collect the guns are in fact firearms trained.
If the officers are not firearms trained then how can they ensure that the weapons are made safe?

Cheers

Bruce

 

[CarlW]

It is my understanding that only firearms trained police officers are allowed to handle firearms except in an emergency.
OK, circumstances can vary and in some cases removal of firearms from a certificate holder may be an emergency, but in most cases it is not.
In such a case would the certificate holder be entitled to check that the officers who have come to collect the guns are in fact firearms trained.
If the officers are not firearms trained then how can they ensure that the weapons are made safe?

Cheers

Bruce

I think if the police have turned up to take your guns away, it's not really their fitness to possess that one needs to be worrying about...

 

[ColinJ]

If the police turn up to take your guns you’re not in a position to start asking what their qualifications are.

In London the FEO’s were not firearms qualified but they were trained to make safe.

 

[mickyfinn]

When was this? Did they complain?

Back in the 90s yes he did complain but got nowhere.

 

[Blobby159]

It is my understanding that only firearms trained police officers are allowed to handle firearms except in an emergency.
OK, circumstances can vary and in some cases removal of firearms from a certificate holder may be an emergency, but in most cases it is not.
In such a case would the certificate holder be entitled to check that the officers who have come to collect the guns are in fact firearms trained.
If the officers are not firearms trained then how can they ensure that the weapons are made safe?

Cheers

Bruce

Hi Bruce... I have a good friend (really good friend) who has recently retired from active duty with local police. He was employed, in part, to go to sites where firearms were being found/discovered/being handled for various reasons, SPECIFICALLY TO MAKE SAFE where/when the officers who may have called him in want anything that can/might go "BANG"! sorted for safety reasons once the items had been photographed and otherwise evidentially recorded at the scene....

Though he NEVER let me (or anyone else non-police as far as I know) have details of the finer points involved he did occasionally say he had real nightmares after his visits and was gratefully surprised when nothing "untoward" happened with loaded arms before he was able to get to the site(s) and do his bit to "MAKE SAFE"... Without his involvement there would most certainly have been LOADED firearms handled by completely untrained crime officers as they were being tagged & bagged in ziplock polythene bags and then taken by them in totally unsafe ways back to their respective central police stations... According to my friend "Regular"(?) police officers who have to attend domestic and criminal crime scenes (both) are, in his many years of experience, mostly UNTRAINED in SAFE weapons handling of ANY kind. Make of that what you will in this thread, but that is the inside S.P. on this stressful situation, for EVERYONE involved with these horrid cases, straight from the horses mouth!...

ATB ....... and shoot safely.

 

[Nick703]

When this happened to me a special cop came to my house giving me a card with a phone number on,I was told to ring the number straight away, when I rang the number it was firearms licensing,they told me I had two hours to dispose of my guns and however had them must ring them to confirm this , shotguns to a friend rifles to rfd, they said just the guns had to go ,I was left with all ammunition and told to give it to friends, everything was sold as it was three years before I got my licenses back