560,000 people own a gun in the UK - do you have a gun in your family?

[cakeorwine]

Quite surprised to hear this statistic today - but it's true

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-firearm-and-shotgun-certificates-england-and-wales-april-2020-to-march-2021/statistics-on-firearm-and-shotgun-certificates-england-and-wales-april-2020-to-march-2021

That seemed a lot. I know some large landowners and farmers probably own one - but 560,000? That seems a lot.

Just curious if you have one in your family and what it's used for?

Not me but a friend's DH has one as he is a farmer. He keeps it locked away most of the time but has sadly had to use it once when a loose dog was worrying his sheep and lambs.

My DF has probably well over a dozen. I don't know exactly how many for sure because even family aren't allowed access thanks to the very strict rules in the UK. We're not even supposed to know where he keeps the keys. Firing pins and ammunition etc are all kept separate in various safes bolted to walls behind locked doors. I do know that he has a handgun too. It's not easy to get a handgun license in the UK at all without a very good reason and the gun can take no more than two bullets. He is a Deer stalking certification examiner and has stalking rights on a large estate.

The UK is strict on firearm ownership but there's no reason upstanding citizens willing to jump through legal hoops can't have them. We don't feel our rights are being infringed by demanding driving licenses, car tax, insurance, MOTs and no health conditions that would make us unsafe to drive a vehicle so I can't see why people think guns should be different.

Common in our rural area, kept locked away in gun cupboard with licences etc. Security taken seriously. Pest control, clay and pheasant shoots part of every day life here. Working class and not the upper crust.

Fil has antique hand guns of some description, an air rifle (used for shooting rats who invade the orchard occasionally from the larder window) and a shotgun primarily used for shooting clays.

My aunt has 2 shotguns, a rifle and a stuffed crocodile which was apparently shot by said rifle.

I have a few farming friends who all have shotguns for pest control/clay pigeon shooting.

All have gun safes.

No but I have a friend who shoots and he owns a couple shotguns.

Nope, but I’ve got my dad’s ancient air rifle, not quite sure what to do with it! It’s stored safely, no pellets with it.

Dad used to keep it handy in case of intruders (although it’s so ancient that the intruders may have fallen about laughing….)

We don’t, but I have plenty of shooting and farming friends that do. They’re all very serious about safety and security. One of our friends was burgled in a targeted job, a website selling ammunition had been hacked and their customer database stolen. The thieves were almost certainly after their shotguns, and they turned the house inside out looking - but they didn’t find the gun safe as it was so well hidden.

I have no problem with properly regulated gun ownership, they’re necessary in some lines of work, and shooting is a perfectly acceptable hobby IMO. But the kind of free for all they seem to have going in the USA is insane.

Yes dh does, he's a gamekeeper.

Yep, shotgun under the bed for intruders. It's an old people thing I think.

Its not an old person thing to keep it unsecured under the bed it's just a wanker thing. Guns haave to be secured, so others can't access them, it's part of getting the licence showing you keep them securelt, so if its under the bed unsecured and not in a locked gun cabinet that only they access or similar, please report them. They're being a twat and they will most likely be shot themselves if the intruder wrestled it off them and they clearly shouldn't have it if that's the reason for having it and they're breaking the laws on ownership.

Yes, both DH and I. Pest control and pheasant shoots, rare for me now. Police visit twice a year minimum and check cabinets, licence renewed every five years which involves interview face to face, home check and two references. Plus medical check and Disclosure check.

I know it's relatively small - although as it's mostly adults and if you look at households, maybe there are quite a lot of households that do have a gun.

I can see clay pigeon shooting is popular

We have a shotgun, dh used to clay shoot. Will probably sell it.

By BIL has one.
Lives very rurally, uses it to shoot vermin.
He is originally American, never had a gun in the U.S.

Many rural vets have hand guns as well for dispatching animals.

We don’t right now but DH used to, he used to shoot regularly. But when we last moved we didn’t have the right provision for a license and now we have DD we agreed to never have a gun at home again.
There’s a fair few in the village though, but we are rural.
DH still shoots occasionally.

Dh does, he joins the nearby landowners seasonally for game shooting.
Some are his own and some belonged to his dad and grandfather which don’t actually work but he doesn’t want to get rid of them.
They are kept locked in a safe to which I genuinely don’t know the combination to, nor where the key is kept.

Yeah. Firearms/ shotgun licenses in my family and lots of my friends and extended family. Very common in the semi rural place where I grew up.

Now I live in a city I don't know anybody here with a license.

Also to add - my father was in charge of issuing firearms licenses in our local area. He was very strict and revoked my cousin (his nephews) after an unsatisfactory inspection.

Yes we have guns in the house. My husband shoots pheasants etc in the winter.

My father has several, kept in a locked gun safe of course. He used to shoot competitively. He even made his own bullets.

When I was at university and back home for the holidays, if my parents went away and I was left alone, my father would issue me with one of his guns 'just in case'. We lived in the countryside so if there was an unexpected noise in the middle of the night, it wasn't uncommon for me to go wandering around outside in my dressing gown clutching a gun.

I have an air rifle so wouldn't be on the list, I use it to dispatch the odd rodent caught in humane trap and rabbits who develop a love for my veg patch. I'm rural though and most of my neighbours have shotguns as they work on the land.

I think some guns are necessary and if responsibly handled don't pose a problem. I think the UK has found a decent balance on gun control/ licences overall.

DF had a shotgun, shot himself after a cancer diagnosis.

My dad has a couple of shotguns, he used to go pheasant shooting, now only occasionally or for clay pigeon shooting. Kept in a locked cabinet and handled with the respect they deserve. As kids we were taught to shoot air rifles, again with respect and discipline, and my kids have been/will be too at the right age.

Dh used to, and we have friends with licences, both farming and shooting clays. Rural area.

@Festivalpartygirl I'm so very sorry for your loss.

@Festivalpartygirl Jesus, I’m so sorry.