UK Airsoft collector thrown in jail for 16 years

[Mr. Scratch]

Can someone from the UK please explain to a benighted American what the hell is going on here? I doubt even rapists and some murderers get sentances as long as this guy. In spite of the harsh bias of the writing, nowhere does it say that any of the guns were live, or dispute the guy's claim that they were all replicas. It looks like he was essentially thrown in jail for being an enthusiast of toy guns and a military collector, and made to sound as if he were crazy for doing so.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ft-jailed.html

And please guys, don't let this be a gun control argument; I'm just wondering why this sort of thing is happening and if this is an issue that collectors in the UK have to face regularly.

[John Macrini]

Yeah this definitely doesn't add up. the story says they're replicas but suggest most were active yet it says also that he kept under his bed a pistol an uzi and ammunition?

I dont get it either....

[rajko84]

They look to me like real guns not reproductions

[Mr. Scratch]

They look to me like real guns not reproductions

some Airsoft guns can be so realistic that they can hardly be distinguished from the real thing. I've got reasonably extensive experience with guns, and once held a M24 sniper rifle that I initially thought was the real deal until the owner told me it was a toy. One check to the bore size confirmed this, but it had the same heft, material and construction that I'd expect from a real gun.

And then there is this: "But investigations revealed Evans was a collector who bought many of the weapons on eBay and had no intention to use them for crime. "

I know from experience that it is rather unlikely that he bought a live gun on eBay. Even gun parts are hard to buy, and that is within the US where it is perfectly legal to sell and ship gun parts around the country. But you can buy airsoft guns all day long if you please.

The fact that this article is so poorly written and biased that it is hard to tell innuendo from fact doesn't help much. It seems to make a greater point of smearing the suspect than it does to make the case against him.

[Aktivisti]

My guess - older style deacts bought from eGun that didn't comply with current UK regs.

[Rikster]

Its in the "Daily Mail"...........................discard, nothing in that rag is remotely true

[Hans Zeug]

Daily Mail= toilet paper.

Just read a few of the articles about this bloke,it dos'nt say in any of the articles if the guns were live or deacts which are perfectly legal to own in GB. It seems he has previous,he was banned from keeping or being involved in firearms and convicted in 2005 for possessing an automatic weopen. So he has only himself to blame but still it seems to be quite a harsh sentance when people are getting much less of a sentance for actualy killing someone.

[Patrick Dempsey]

The fact that this article is so poorly written and biased that it is hard to tell innuendo from fact doesn't help much. It seems to make a greater point of smearing the suspect than it does to make the case against him.

And there you have it.

I have tried to find out further details on this, but all i get is the same dreadful article syndicated around the world...that report is so full of vague language as to be useless.

'Old spec' deacts (which means working actions, removable magazines, and an element of being able to strip the weapon down should you wish) are perfectly legal to own, like 'New Spec' (a solid lump of welded metal basically), in fact i have far less hoops to jump through to buy a deactivated real weapon than a replica weapon.

it is very, very, difficult to explain to a gun owning nation/audience, and i appreciate quite bizarre.

There is reference to ammunition in the article, and if that was live, that would explain the book being thrown at him.

If you want a few hours of headscratching, 'google' Violent Crime Reduction Act .

[Bob Hritz]

Apparantly, the British public do not want firearms. A representative Parliment follows the will of the people, doesn't it?.

Bob Hritz

[Patrick Dempsey]

Whilst not wishing to bring this into the realms of a political debate, it is entirely true that 'the man/woman in the street' in the United Kingdom has no time for, or wish to own, live firearms.

A WAF (UK) audience will naturally create a slightly skewed impression however due to the very nature of what is collected on here.

[Bob Hritz]

Whilst not wishing to bring this into the realms of a political debate, it is entirely true that 'the man/woman in the street' in the United Kingdom has no time for, or wish to own, live firearms.

A WAF (UK) audience will naturally create a slightly skewed impression however due to the very nature of what is collected on here.

I also believe this is the case. If that is the will of the people, than firearms should remain prohibited. Should the will of the people change, the laws will be adjusted. Such is the nature of a representative government.

Bob Hritz

[Richie B]

He would not have got 16 years for possession of airsoft "guns" which are restricted (not banned) under the Violent Crime Reduction Act.

He got his time in one of Her Majesty's hotels for possession of prohibited weapons including an Uzi and a Kalashnikov together with a quantity of live ammuntion.

The Daily Mail article is a fine example of the normal standard of journalism it habitually produces.

[Gimpy117]

is it possible he got a stiffer sentence for owning many of these restricted airsoft guns? Some Judges really like to enforce gun laws..even here in the US. Look at Plaxico Buriss he shot himself and got time for it.

but also, it sounds like some were live...so thats probably why.

[Hans Zeug]

Will of the government.

I also believe this is the case. If that is the will of the people, than firearms should remain prohibited. Should the will of the people change, the laws will be adjusted. Such is the nature of a representative government.

Bob Hritz

I don't think its so much the will of the people its what the Government and papers throw at the them,the only time we have any say in matters is at election time when they want your vote and promise you the earth. After that they genarally do what they like and of late quite a few of them have shown to be crooks.Bet they never thought they end up doing a stretch!

[Aktivisti]

'Old spec' deacts (which means working actions, removable magazines, and an element of being able to strip the weapon down should you wish) are perfectly legal to own, like 'New Spec' (a solid lump of welded metal basically), in fact i have far less hoops to jump through to buy a deactivated real weapon than a replica weapon.

'Old spec' UK deacts are surely legal to own and trade, but even without any deeper knowledge of UK laws, I'm rather sure that it would be today highly illegal for a private person to import say 1990s Finnish or Austrian 'old spec' deact to UK. That is, without first making it 'UK new spec' and having it then certified by a UK proof house.