Friday, March 06, 2015

WTF is wrong with the UK?

Ok, I'd like someone to explain something to me.

I was on a website looking at movie props. I'll admit that most of the actual production stuff is way out of my price range but, hey, I like to look.

So I see an awesome gun that was used on Firefly and immediately geeked out...but when I looked at the page I saw the following:

"The violent crime reduction bill means that this particular prop can only be sold to customers who reside outside the UK. Generally speaking, it is illegal for a resident of the UK to buy this item."

What the fuck, England? Not only is it illegal for me to own an air rifle that you can buy in any American Walmart (marked 'for ages 10 and up) ....it's now literally illegal for me to own a rubber gun?

What am I going to do? Point it at someone and shout 'bang' loudly? It's literally a completely harmless object. It's not a gun. It doesn't shoot. It's a rubber or resin cast used in a movie

But of course, it looks real, so people could still use it to commit crimes!

Call me an idiot here, but I'd much rather get robbed by someone holding a fake gun than someone holding a real knife. Or, to put it another way, if someone walks up to me on the street and demands my wallet, chances are, I'm going to shit my pants and give it to them. I don't care what they have in their hands. I don't know if the guy has a knife, a gun or is just a hopped up drug addict with enough crack in their system to render them completely incapable of feeling pain. It's not worth the risk

My point is, if someone's going to commit a crime, their weapon of choice is pretty much irrelevant.

How about something a bit more practical. Instead of banning replicas, why not just say if you use a replica gun  to commit a crime, you'll be punished as if you used a real weapon? Punish the people committing the crime, not law abiding citizens.

This is where some twat points out that if the police see you with a replica gun during a crime they're going to call an armed response unit and shoot you.

My answer? Fucking good. If you're the type of arsehole that tries to rob a bank of mug someone on the street, I'm not going to miss you. Better you get shot by the police than me pay to keep you in prison for the next few years.

But what if a cop sees you just carrying your replica and shoots you?

Well, for one, I have an ounce of common sense. I'm not going to carry a replica firearm and brandish it in public. Secondly, if a cop can't tell the difference between a violent criminal and a guy outside a comic convention dressed as a stormtrooper...that cop's killing someone by mistake at some point anyway.

I wouldn't mind so much if it was even a ban on replicas of actual real guns....If I want a replica of Han Solo's blaster from Star Wars, I can't own that either unless it's painted a bright garish colour...which when you're going for authenticity kinda destroys the whole point of owning it. Sure you can have a movie prop replica...as long as it looks fuck all like the actual movie prop.

...and what's the deal with the bright colors? If you want an airsoft gun in the UK, it can't be an accurate colour...you can't even just have a bright orange tip on the barrel either. It has to be painted so at least 60% of it is a bright, primary colour like bright green or orange.

Once again, it's not like someone could disguise a real gun in five seconds with a can of spray paint.

It's ridiculous.

In my kitchen I have a large selection of knives. In my wardrobe I have my recurve bow which I could quite easily kill someone with. I can walk into any sporting goods or DIY store and buy a baseball bat, an axe, a chainsaw...any number of things I could actually murder someone with.

But, fuck that, let's make sure I can't buy a totally inert, rubber gun that's no danger to anyone.

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