The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I was always under the impression that, providing there was not a complaint, "they" could not just turn up for a security visit, they need to make an appointment. That said I have never seen it in writing!

I think it's been fairly well established that in this case there were reasonable concerns re. comments made online and potential security issues.

In my eyes, that's "reasonable cause" for a security visit.

Oops, that would explain it then

buck52 wrote:I was always under the impression that, providing there was not a complaint, "they" could not just turn up for a security visit, they need to make an appointment. That said I have never seen it in writing!

Try Western Australia on for size then - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-10/p ... section=wa

A spike in gun thefts from rural properties has prompted a West Australian police crackdown on the storage of firearms by licensed owners.

During the two-week blitz, officers visited 400 properties, seizing more than 150 illegally stored guns.

Police had earlier warned 16,500 gun owners in the Great Southern they would be facing random checks on their firearms storage facilities.

The crackdown has been so successful police now want to roll it out state-wide.

IIRC, you could get done if you stored the rifle and bolt together...however as there was a run on gun cabinets it seems security was somewhat lacking for a few owners!

breacher wrote:Discretion is the best policy. Which is why I never have and never will use twitter or facebook or any other social media.

Like forums?...

SevenSixTwo wrote:

breacher wrote:Discretion is the best policy. Which is why I never have and never will use twitter or facebook or any other social media.

Like forums?...

I dont think the two can be compared.

Its one thing to contribute to a forum dedicated to your sport or hobby, be it shooting or a particular car or whatever and quite another to join a forum where the object seems to be a voluntary giving up of ones privacy. Not to mention the "look at me, look at me" aspect of social media.

Forums such as this are a source of info and knowledge. I dont come here to socialise or make new friends. Just glean knowledge and enter the odd debate.

If i want to keep in touch with old friends i do it face to face.

breacher wrote:

SevenSixTwo wrote:

breacher wrote:Discretion is the best policy. Which is why I never have and never will use twitter or facebook or any other social media.

Like forums?...

I dont think the two can be compared.

Its one thing to contribute to a forum dedicated to your sport or hobby, be it shooting or a particular car or whatever and quite another to join a forum where the object seems to be a voluntary giving up of ones privacy. Not to mention the "look at me, look at me" aspect of social media.

Forums such as this are a source of info and knowledge. I dont come here to socialise or make new friends. Just glean knowledge and enter the odd debate.

If i want to keep in touch with old friends i do it face to face.

A lot of us on here has made new forum friends since FB started. We have been out shooting together, joined the same club, met up at Bisley, have the odd cup of tea/something stronger together and of course discuss the world situation, either face to face or use the PM system or email/phone.

FB is definitely a source of info and knowledge. One can post as anonymously as one likes as long as it is done decently.

Don't even get me started on the egocentric/childlike nature of faceshite and the like, it may be a good way to spread a message however with all the negatives that come with it I am pretty sure there is a better way to educate the antis.

christel wrote:Don't even get me started on the egocentric/childlike nature of faceshite and the like, it may be a good way to spread a message however with all the negatives that come with it I am pretty sure there is a better way to educate the antis.

Nope - to educate the masses you first have to go where they are. And, for better for worse, the antis are all on Facebook and Twitter.

There's a handful of us fighting the good fight on Twitter. Less so on Facebook, although in fairness that's because Facebook deliberately filters out anything other than inane s*** like cat videos from people's news feeds.

Thread Necromancer-In-Chief here. Who's just lost more than 15 minutes he'll never get back.

But the issues discussed here are still, I'm sure, topical, my real name is not George Romero.

SevenSixTwo wrote:^ This. In spades.

Stop hiding.

It's not a question of "hiding".

It is a question of "need to know".

I don't know what info the OP has posted here that helps identify him, but I do know that people, as a whole, simply do not understand what "public domain" means, or results in. I once got bounced off a forum, and seriously vilified, for posting the name and address of another member when I was trying to precisely make that very point. The info I posted was 100% public domain, and was 100% found by a few clicks and obvious searches based on information which they had voluntarily posted in the forum, and voluntarily put into the public domain in connection with their business.

But howls of outrage, accusations of invasions of privacy etc, from a whole load of people who could not, or would not, think.

Rough Analogy - a user here called numpty_lr says that he is an RFD, and his business is called Blagger Firearms.

Numpty_lr has said here that he lives in Twatshire.

There is a trade organisation for RFDs which allows members to advertise themselves so that potential customers can find them.

That organisation has a search facility, so I go to it, look for RFDs in Twatshire, and hey, presto, I have numpty-lr's real name and address.

And I post that here to illustrate that numpty_lr has voluntarily told the entire world who he is and where he lives.

I don't use social media - I've never understood why I should show people photos of what I had for dinner last night, and I've never understood why anybody should care what Justin Bieber (other pop stars are available) thinks about anything other than his music.


I never, ever, give anybody information which they do not need. Yes, I've knowingly broken that rule here, cos at heart I'm a friendly chap with a sharp line in sarcasm, a love of dreadful puns, and a good position on the political spectrum. But if I want to ask a tent maker if their poles are made of ally or carbon fibre, I am very firm that they do not need my real name, they do not need my address and they do not need my phone number. All they need is the email address I give them when I ask the question.

How many people here would be happy, when they tried to go into a shop to look around, if someone on the door said "you can't come in unless you tell us who you are, and give us your name, address and phone number"? How many people here happily "register for an account" online when all they want to do is to find out a price? How many do ditto for a one-off purchase where they aren't asking for credit? How many users of iPlayer have given the BBC their real name, their real address, their real gender, their real DOB?

"Need to know", chums, need-to-know.

As for the idea that the people who rocked up at the OP's house might not have been real policemen.

Really?

Are there not, basically, only a few classes of burglars here?

1. Smackheads who just want something then can easily carry and easily flog. They are not going to turn up mob handed with fake uniforms and fake patrol cars.
2. Professional burglars who have reason to believe you might have significant goodies worth a serious effort to acquire. They are going to want to fly under the radar and not turn up in fake police uniforms and cars.
3. Ditto who just kick your doors in and point shotguns with seriously illegally short barrels at you. They have no need to bother with fake uniforms and cars.
4. Criminals/terrorists who want to acquire the guns and ammo. They are not going to go to the trouble of turning up with fake uniforms and cars and leave without "siezing" the guns and ammo.