PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR MP NOW
if you want this by email ask me mark@a1decoy.co.uk Thanks
The “Offensive Weapons Bill” has its Second Reading on Wednesday 27 June 2018. This is the first occasion that the bill will be debated.
Within this Bill it is proposed to ban the civilian possession of “any rifle from which a shot, bullet or other missile, with kinetic energy of more than 13,600 joules at the muzzle of the weapon, can be discharged” .. i.e. anything with over 10,000 ft/lbs of muzzle energy.
Were this Bill to pass through Government it will be the greatest threat to shooting sports in the UK since the pistol ban of 1996.
It will end .50 Calibre target shooting in the UK.
Furthermore, it is a threat to all shooting sports as in would set a precedent for the Government to impose a ban on a recognised shooting discipline without the requirement for any evidence and regardless of whether a ban would enhance public safety.
This would undoubtedly lead to further prohibitions on shooting sports without any evidence base for need or efficacy in reducing risk to the public as the Government seeks to promote a perception of a hard stance on violent crime by limiting the legitimate activities of law abiding sports men and women.
Target shooters are already a marginalised group with few resources to argue against such politically driven prohibitions that lack any evidence base.
In order to have any chance of successfully having the Bill amended, politicians need to be persuaded that it lacks any of the evidence base that is required, that it is disproportionate and that it would not enhance public safety, to do this we must engage the politicians, in the first instance your MP.
I have attached a proforma letter you could send by email and modify as you see appropriate.
Please do so immediately, even if you have already done so before, as the second reading is on this Wednesday.
Could I ask that you forward this email to the secretaries of any shooting club or syndicate that you are a member of and ask them to distribute to all club members, all shooting sports are at risk if this Bill is passed.
Please also pass to anyone else you can think may be of assistance,
Your local MP’s contact details can be found at:
https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/
The Bill and purported evidence base can be found at:
https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2017-19/offensiveweapons.html
Please let me know how you get on,
Many thanks,
Mark Curtis
DRAFT LETTER TO SEND BELOW
[FONT="]Dear [/FONT][FONT="]RE: “Offensive Weapons Bill” due for Second Reading Wednesday 27[SUP]th[/SUP] June 2018[/FONT]
[FONT="]I write urgently to ask you to respond to the above Bill, due for its second reading.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Within this Bill is stated intent to ban the civilian possession of “any rifle from which a shot, bullet or other missile, with kinetic energy of more than 13,600 joules at the muzzle of the weapon, can be discharged”. [/FONT][FONT="]This proposed prohibition will bring to an end the long established sport of .50 calibre rifle target shooting in the UK, a sport in which the UK participates and excels in annually in the World Championships held in the USA.[/FONT]
[FONT="]This part of the proposed legislation is deeply flawed for the following reason:[/FONT]
A special thanks to Chris Stephenson for all the above .[/FONT]
if you want this by email ask me mark@a1decoy.co.uk Thanks
The “Offensive Weapons Bill” has its Second Reading on Wednesday 27 June 2018. This is the first occasion that the bill will be debated.
Within this Bill it is proposed to ban the civilian possession of “any rifle from which a shot, bullet or other missile, with kinetic energy of more than 13,600 joules at the muzzle of the weapon, can be discharged” .. i.e. anything with over 10,000 ft/lbs of muzzle energy.
Were this Bill to pass through Government it will be the greatest threat to shooting sports in the UK since the pistol ban of 1996.
It will end .50 Calibre target shooting in the UK.
Furthermore, it is a threat to all shooting sports as in would set a precedent for the Government to impose a ban on a recognised shooting discipline without the requirement for any evidence and regardless of whether a ban would enhance public safety.
This would undoubtedly lead to further prohibitions on shooting sports without any evidence base for need or efficacy in reducing risk to the public as the Government seeks to promote a perception of a hard stance on violent crime by limiting the legitimate activities of law abiding sports men and women.
Target shooters are already a marginalised group with few resources to argue against such politically driven prohibitions that lack any evidence base.
In order to have any chance of successfully having the Bill amended, politicians need to be persuaded that it lacks any of the evidence base that is required, that it is disproportionate and that it would not enhance public safety, to do this we must engage the politicians, in the first instance your MP.
I have attached a proforma letter you could send by email and modify as you see appropriate.
Please do so immediately, even if you have already done so before, as the second reading is on this Wednesday.
Could I ask that you forward this email to the secretaries of any shooting club or syndicate that you are a member of and ask them to distribute to all club members, all shooting sports are at risk if this Bill is passed.
Please also pass to anyone else you can think may be of assistance,
Your local MP’s contact details can be found at:
https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/
The Bill and purported evidence base can be found at:
https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2017-19/offensiveweapons.html
Please let me know how you get on,
Many thanks,
Mark Curtis
DRAFT LETTER TO SEND BELOW
[FONT="]Dear [/FONT][FONT="]RE: “Offensive Weapons Bill” due for Second Reading Wednesday 27[SUP]th[/SUP] June 2018[/FONT]
[FONT="]I write urgently to ask you to respond to the above Bill, due for its second reading.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Within this Bill is stated intent to ban the civilian possession of “any rifle from which a shot, bullet or other missile, with kinetic energy of more than 13,600 joules at the muzzle of the weapon, can be discharged”. [/FONT][FONT="]This proposed prohibition will bring to an end the long established sport of .50 calibre rifle target shooting in the UK, a sport in which the UK participates and excels in annually in the World Championships held in the USA.[/FONT]
[FONT="]This part of the proposed legislation is deeply flawed for the following reason:[/FONT]
- The UK already has amongst the most robust firearms laws in the world.
- The proposed prohibition has been put forward without any evidence base that the current civilian ownership of such target rifles presents any enhanced risk to the public.
- No evidence is presented that the prohibition of such target rifles will enhance public safety, a fact now openly acknowledged by the Home Office.
- Such legally held target rifles have never been used in criminal activity and are distantly unsuited given their size, cumbersome nature and difficulty of use.
- Such unsuitable nature is supported by the fact that the sole one stolen in the UK was found to have been abandoned by the criminal element that had stolen it, rather than used for a criminal activity. To use such rifles requires considerable experience, training and skill.
- To use such rifles in an “anti-material” role requires the use of specialist ammunition already prohibited for civilian ownership by current legislation.
- Furthermore, current legislation already requires Chief Officers of police who grant firearms certificates to ensure “the applicant can be permitted to have the firearm or ammunition in his possession without danger to the public safety …” This precludes those from legitimately acquiring such rifle who would be unsuitable to do so.
- The data collected during the recent consultation on Offensive weapons has been ignored by the Government.
A special thanks to Chris Stephenson for all the above .[/FONT]
, I had many a good day out with it flashing and sending wild tracer at old tanks 
A waste of money Yes but hay ho it was mine to waste 
I agree there is ammo out there like flash AP and bla bla out there to obtain ? but if its the ammo that has them wishing to ban a firearm that has never been used to kill someone on mainland uk 
So why not then just ban the sale by dealers of such ammo or bullets ?
but its on the cards to go . I have sent a copy to my MP the known as the RH useless git ! even with all the little folks jumping up and down and procrastinating it will be done ? Sorry to say this but our views just mean Jack in the big house and the wigs get paid a lot of dosh not take our views into account ?after all what do we know 
it , it gets votes
