Walking in to a hotel with visible firearm - acceptable?

[Nimrod1960]

Legal and common sensical two different things.
I would not have my firearm ( rifle or shot gun ) out of a sleeve in a vehicle so the situation would not arise.
I understand the circumstances and location might make such a practice more of the usual, but does walking about with a rifle on full display not have a hint of “hey look at me” about it.

 

[cjm1066]

Legal and common sensical two different things.
I would not have my firearm ( rifle or shot gun ) out of a sleeve in a vehicle so the situation would not arise.
I understand the circumstances and location might make such a practice more of the usual, but does walking about with a rifle on full display not have a hint of “hey look at me” about it.

When dressed in common or tweeds?

 

[Zauber]

Lots of interesting responses here, thanks for sharing your views everyone!

There are a few comments from people from out-with the UK. I understand attitudes towards guns are different in e.g. Sweden and the US, my original question was aimed within the context of the UK specifically.

There are also a lot of replies mentioning how normal this would have been in the past! Quite cool to hear stories of people taking public buses with guns or leaving them lying against the wall in a pub. I think it’s clear to all of us that times have changed since then!

Lastly, just to clarify two points: at no point did I mention illegality. Secondly, I am Scottish and from a remote and rural area surrounded by large estates and have been exposed to guns my entire life - this was the first time I have seen someone carry one in to a busy public place openly like this.

 

[lochty]

Having worked in Braemar for a number of years, and frequented said establishment before it went up market, there is certainly a more relaxed attitude to firearms there. However, would I have done that if I was returning guests to the hotel? No, if only not to give concern to any members of the public. But that's just my decision.

 

[Rusty knife]

Seem’s a little silly to me for any effort it would take to cover it while going through public spaces could save alot of hassle you just don’t know who’s there and how they’ll react. For instance some joker films you puts in on internet all of a sudden your a gun toting nutter and you’ve got the firearms officer wanting to speak to you about it. Not a great look is it

 

[Dave_45]

Absolutely legal and acceptable
There is no requirement to cover a firearm when transporting it in public and the more people that see this and become normalised to it the better .


Nothing illegal and totally acceptable

It may well be but it totally lacks common sense and a bit of thought for others.

Costs nothing to slip your rifle into a bag to carry it from your car to accommodation.

 

[Scarpa]

If my rifle was sopping wet I'd want to avoid sticking it in my padded slip, but for quick cover ups or weather protection I really rate the Ogden's quick slips, pulls on and off in seconds and dries very quickly. For myself, I always used to put my shotgun into a slip when I popped into the bar for a pint post cricket ground rabbit shooting. This was in rural North Wales.

 

[Zauber]

Seem’s a little silly to me for any effort it would take to cover it while going through public spaces could save alot of hassle you just don’t know who’s there and how they’ll react. For instance some joker films you puts in on internet all of a sudden your a gun toting nutter and you’ve got the firearms officer wanting to speak to you about it. Not a great look is it

That was my line of thought too… all it takes is one person to feel “endangered” and a call to the police and you have a world of hassle, potentially even gun confiscation.

Should it be this way? NO!

Is it sadly a realistic outcome that could possibly happen in this day and age? Probably yes.

 

[VSS]

If it's done to show off, then no, it's not acceptable in my eyes.
But if done in a totally matter of fact way I think it's a good thing and more people should do it.
Firearms ownership needs to be normalised in this country.

 

[Ronin]

I saw a piece in a content creators channel about a game keeper who had an uncovered weapon in their vehicle when visiting a supermarket

A fellow shopper noticed the weapon and called the cops

The gamekeeper lost their weapons and had a lengthy legal battle to get them back

A sobering reminder that whilst carrying weapons openly may be normal for some in some areas

It isn’t normal elsewhere

Personally I’d keep anything in a bag or at the very least a purpose built action - scope and mod cover I have

Walking into a hotel with a rifle on your shoulder just makes you look a knob who doesn’t care what others may think

 

[spanj]

If it's done to show off, then no, it's not acceptable in my eyes.
But if done in a totally matter of fact way I think it's a good thing and more people should do it.
Firearms ownership needs to be normalised in this country.

I agree but theres a whole generation below us who are scared of daylight

 

[countrryboy]

That was my line of thought too… all it takes is one person to feel “endangered” and a call to the police and you have a world of hassle, potentially even gun confiscation.

Should it be this way? NO!

Is it sadly a realistic outcome that could possibly happen in this day and age? Probably yes.

But could that same person not feel equally endangered by a gun in a slip??
Sadly a sign off the times nowadays.

Really the law could do with a shake up, u could be stalking /shooting in a 100% safe and legal fashion.
But it only takes 1 person to 'feel' threatened or endangered and u could be committing an offence.
Ands lets face it more and more folk are just itching to 'feel' threatrned nowadays

Lets face it u see a gun in a gun slip is hardly disguising wots inside it.

Not something i would do,as i normally put guns in a slip for travelling, just for their protection more than anything else.

I think the only requirement in law is for gun to be unloaded.
Being covered is never mentioned in any laws

I mind as a teenager tieing my shotgun ( in a slip) to the cross frame/bar off push bike to go ferreting.
And quite often after a good day would walk bike back to town with braces of rabbits hanging over that and leave it outside the bakers to get some pies on way home.
Never rhought anything off it
Only 35+ yrs ago and seems completely different age.

The hotel at bottom end of town was perfectly normal for guns to leave the shotguns in the coat rack right at front door.
Absolutely no security and quite a few locals non shooters would drink there too, was a big drinking/lick in type pub.

 

[Malxwal]

...

Walking into a hotel with a rifle on your shoulder just makes you look a knob who doesn’t care what others may think

Vis a vie my earlier comment about clientel there..

 

[Tulloch]

So as far as I know ,

If the "guns" are being moved from a private car park that the hotel owns to the hotel then it is to the discretion of the hotel owner/manager to whether those guns rifles etc need to be in their slip or not. If walking down the middle of a street with the rifle out of its slip and over your should that is a big NO and from what I gather is illegal.

You have to understand though it would be down to the individual officer to whether those displaying the firearms are "Causing Alarm" and in someways impeding public travel by this action, with no highways act in Scotland it comes down to two things "causing alarm" to the public and " reckless indangerment".

In some places, like Braemar or Ballater, it might be common place for firearms to be seen but that would also mean that they had travelled in the vehicle with an open firearm, so again possibly a different infraction and again down to individual officers. For instance here in the Highlands it is not uncommon, outwith Inverness, to see people moving their guns without slips to their vehicles or away from their vehicles to the house or hotel etc. When in Rome and all that.

Different laws in Scotland than there is below the border even though the same guidelines from the Home Office on some situations.

But in the end the fact that it caused you alarm you would have the right to report it. What action would be taken, who knows?

 

[ejg]

Team Luxembourg very civilised moving into the monastery in France PRS Worlds.

Team Namibia only had transport boxes and went without to the daily shooting event. Rifle propped up against the wall at breakfast in the Monastary. Nobody minded. Very friendly bunch.

edi

 

[Apthorpe]

If something is legal, there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing it. It's bizarre to find people finding reasons to disapprove of it.

Incidentally, there is nothing wring with travelling an a car with an uncovered gun.

 

[Stalker62]

Had a friend who played the pipes...


When travelling the country and staying in hotels, he used to carry them in a rifle case to avoid alarming the clientele...

 

[sako751sg]

So as far as I know ,

If the "guns" are being moved from a private car park that the hotel owns to the hotel then it is to the discretion of the hotel owner/manager to whether those guns rifles etc need to be in their slip or not. If walking down the middle of a street with the rifle out of its slip and over your should that is a big NO and from what I gather is illegal.

You have to understand though it would be down to the individual officer to whether those displaying the firearms are "Causing Alarm" and in someways impeding public travel by this action, with no highways act in Scotland it comes down to two things "causing alarm" to the public and " reckless indangerment".

In some places, like Braemar or Ballater, it might be common place for firearms to be seen but that would also mean that they had travelled in the vehicle with an open firearm, so again possibly a different infraction and again down to individual officers. For instance here in the Highlands it is not uncommon, outwith Inverness, to see people moving their guns without slips to their vehicles or away from their vehicles to the house or hotel etc. When in Rome and all that.

Different laws in Scotland than there is below the border even though the same guidelines from the Home Office on some situations.

But in the end the fact that it caused you alarm you would have the right to report it. What action would be taken, who knows?

What possible infraction could they have made?
This isn't another one of your "written permission is a legal requirement in Scotland" moments is it?

 

[Tulloch]

Well you obviously didn't see the boy who got his guns taken from him on Fieldsports Britain for having them in the back seat of his car in Tesco. I have no idea what infraction that would be or I would have mentioned it wouldn't I.

And written permission for shooting deer is required but rarely followed, but hey Nature Scot will soon require every stalker in Scotland to have DSC and be on fit a competent register as a legal requirement so there's that lol

 

[Tulloch]

What possible infraction could they have made?
This isn't another one of your "written permission is a legal requirement in Scotland" moments is it?

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