From The BBC:
‘Dissident bullets explode’ in west Belfast house fire
Dissident republicans left guns and live ammunition on a hot boiler, and the bullets “exploded” in the heat, endangering residents and firefighters, a senior police officer has said.
Police and firefighters were called to a house fire in Rodney Drive, west Belfast, on Wednesday and discovered a “substantial” haul of weapons.
They included two AK-47s; two sawn-off shot guns; a high-powered rifle with a silencer and three pipe bombs.
I deep down truly believe that there are caches of guns hiding all over the UK.
Clearly some more motivated Irish have stockpiled them away.
I have a feeling that there were a lot of older Brits, the ones who fought in the Great War or grew up hearing about it and fought in WWII who knew that Europe is and has always been a powder keg and just didn’t turn their guns in.
How many STEN guns or Webleys, war trophy Lugers, granddad’s old shotgun or rifle from the farm days, or God knows what else are hidden up old chimneys, buried in yards, under a pile of old coal in the basement, or hidden under loose boards in a floor?
The number must be staggering.
I think there are a lot of younger Brits, maybe not from the upper classes or bigger cities, that have been raised like so many middle Americans, to value the freedoms that their grandparents fought for. Granddad told them where the old rifle was hidden before he died.
If and when all shit breaks loose in the UK we are going to find out if I am right.
Its said in Australia they collected only about 20 percent of the guns.
In the UK I wouldnt be surprised if there are a bunch hidden away if they have any smarts there is. England is a powder keg with the nanny gubmint ferriners moving in and taking over whole areas crime goin nuts. Wont be long the fuse gets lit.
Short story- kinda illustrates the uk mind- my aunt n uncle have an antiques shop. A client bought an old 4 poster bed. They took it apart and arranged to have a truck pick it up. The truck driver shows up, paperwork say THREE pieces, there were FOUR pieces so he flat out refused to take it! Makes ya think dont it
It’s probably mostly WWII and earlier weaponry squirreled away across the sceptered isle. But I’m willing to bet more than one Tommy Atkins returned from Afghanistan or Iraq with more than forty laundry in his duffle.
And anyone who thinks the gangs smuggling in slaves and drugs aren’t bringing guns as well is delusional.
In fairness, Northern Ireland doesn’t have the same gun laws Great Britain has. Handguns are still legal in NI. And self protection is still a reason to own firearms in NI, whereas in GB you need permission from the Home Office to have a firearm for protection or even a handgun.
Basically, Parliament almost always applies laws to Great Britain only. The semi auto rifle ban of 1988 did apply to NI because at that time Belfast had their parliament suspended due to The Troubles.
Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands have friendly gun laws and they are part of the U.K.
Just don’t look too closely in old Mr. Webley’s barn!
“What do you mean – for *this* one?”
Hot Fuzz. Great scene.
But will they know how to use them and take care of them?
Point. Click.
It’s not a very complicated device.
I used to read an email list about muzzleloading guns. One of the subscribers was a gent from the UK. He regularly purchased old muzzleloaders (think Brown Bess) that someone had found in the attic, walls and even in the thatch roof of old houses that were being renovated. Got squirreled away for future “troubles” that never reached the triggered stage.
On “Time Team” they did an excavation of a AAA emplacement from the Blitz. Nearby was a basement with dozens of phone lines running into it — and neither the basement nor the lines appeared in any public records. Their best guess was that it was intended to coordinate resistance after a German invasion, and was deliberately not documented.
Want to bet there are some equally undocumented caches of ammunition and small arms?