Guns smuggled into UK through airports
Discussion
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northame...
An interesting story which highlights:
a) How easy it is to smuggle almost anything if you're smart, brazen and determined enough.
b) How border security in this country may be so obsessed with terrorists and bombs, they're missing other important items which can do just as much harm in the wrong hands.
For those people who still think the majority of gun crime in this country comes about as a result of legally held guns being stolen or converted replicas or re-activations, take note.
An interesting story which highlights:
a) How easy it is to smuggle almost anything if you're smart, brazen and determined enough.
b) How border security in this country may be so obsessed with terrorists and bombs, they're missing other important items which can do just as much harm in the wrong hands.
For those people who still think the majority of gun crime in this country comes about as a result of legally held guns being stolen or converted replicas or re-activations, take note.
Reminds me of the time the chap in front of me at Wick airport was stopped and asked to open his locked metal box he was carrying on. Inside where several hundred rounds of 9mm and an HK MP5 in bits. Poor lad doing the check nearly pooped. It was legitimate, but the lad looked very scared until the owner explained.
Stevenj214 said:
It raises an interesting question though. When do 'bits of a gun' become 'a gun'? If he had spread the individual components over several trips, would it have then been legal?
The question in this case is whether he had any type of license or permit for any of the guns. The story seems to suggest not. It also suggests he did spread components across cases/shipments but UK law is such that any 'major component' (frame, barrel, slide, trigger, etc. etc.) would require an import license so the short answer is no. We could all bring a recoil spring or safety catch into the county but these won't be a lot of use in themselves.
Sorry chaps - re-reading it was bit cryptic. Not SF. Not sure exactly who he will have been employed by (My assumption was plod), but when I asked him later he was there doing annual safety checks on the weapons held on the nuclear site. And yes he was definitely licensed as it was resolved when he pulled out his ID.
993AL said:
When it was legal for UK citizens to own firearms you could take your guns to the airport where, after appropriate checks were done, they were handed to the pilot and returned to you at your destination. Changed days.
Not quite...It's still legal for UK citizens to own firearms. Maybe you mean handguns?
Nothing was ever handed to the pilot. He/she has got enough to do without loading the baggage as well
Guns are supposed to be hand-carried to and from the aircraft and kept secure at all times.
I can't remember one time when my guns have not arrived on the carousel along with all the rest of the luggage. And just to make it even more scary for the rest of the passengers, they would put a big red 'FIREARMS' sticker on the outside of the case
plasticpig said:
Worth noting that Glock pistol frames are made out of polymer. Makes them easier to smuggle I guess.
That's a bit of a myth perpetrated by films and TV dramas. Materials of different densities will show up on airport scanners and x-rays regardless of metallic content and an outline of a gun is an outline of a gun. As for metal detectors, a Glock frame has got enough metal moulded into it for a sensitive metal detector to pick it up. I wouldn't want to try getting a Glock frame through most airport metal detector arches if my freedom depended on it.Rofly Lollers said:
FasterFreddy said:
It's still legal for UK citizens to own firearms. Maybe you mean handguns?
It's still legal for some UK citizens to own handguns. FasterFreddy said:
993AL said:
When it was legal for UK citizens to own firearms you could take your guns to the airport where, after appropriate checks were done, they were handed to the pilot and returned to you at your destination. Changed days.
Not quite...It's still legal for UK citizens to own firearms. Maybe you mean handguns?
Nothing was ever handed to the pilot. He/she has got enough to do without loading the baggage as well
Guns are supposed to be hand-carried to and from the aircraft and kept secure at all times.
I can't remember one time when my guns have not arrived on the carousel along with all the rest of the luggage. And just to make it even more scary for the rest of the passengers, they would put a big red 'FIREARMS' sticker on the outside of the case
So even now your firearms are loaded into the hold? guess its safe unless Bruce Willis is on board
FasterFreddy said:
plasticpig said:
Worth noting that Glock pistol frames are made out of polymer. Makes them easier to smuggle I guess.
That's a bit of a myth perpetrated by films and TV dramas. Materials of different densities will show up on airport scanners and x-rays regardless of metallic content and an outline of a gun is an outline of a gun. As for metal detectors, a Glock frame has got enough metal moulded into it for a sensitive metal detector to pick it up. I wouldn't want to try getting a Glock frame through most airport metal detector arches if my freedom depended on it.
993AL said:
So even now your firearms are loaded into the hold? guess its safe unless Bruce Willis is on board
ErnestM said:
FasterFreddy said:
plasticpig said:
Worth noting that Glock pistol frames are made out of polymer. Makes them easier to smuggle I guess.
That's a bit of a myth perpetrated by films and TV dramas. Materials of different densities will show up on airport scanners and x-rays regardless of metallic content and an outline of a gun is an outline of a gun. As for metal detectors, a Glock frame has got enough metal moulded into it for a sensitive metal detector to pick it up. I wouldn't want to try getting a Glock frame through most airport metal detector arches if my freedom depended on it.
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