I, as many of us try to be, am a law abiding citizen. Yes, I do speed when driving, but only cause I like to, and to get to my destination a bit quicker. I don't do 100mph+ speeds, just 70 odd in a 60 for example. But this is the only exception, and I've not been caught yet!! I suppose someof the songs, films and TV shows I've gained via streaming on the net, that I've later saved on my computer could be classed as illegal downloads, but when I watch them, they get saved onto my computer anyway....... its like giving it to me for free!!! When it comes to illegally downloading stuff, it should be the people posting the stuff up that need to be targeted, not the people obtaining it. But thats something I have no control over.
On the whole though, I don't do anything illegal, nor have I attempted to do anything of that nature. I've never taken drugs, Shoplifted/pickpocketed, assaulted anyone (yet, there is a list!) or caused criminal damage knowingly. This clean record came as a great help when I got a job working for the home office....... ironically, watching people convicted of the above offences and more! It helps even now, with my current employers refusing to allow people with criminal records to work for them. And because I've been a good boy, in the eyes of the law, I'm more employable and and can obtain greater perks. Having a clean record makes my registration on a Database to buy BB guns look good and should give me a good chance to obtain a firearms licence to buy air rifles, seeming as the government deem all airsoft guns that fire over 1 joule of energy, an air rifle.
As mentioned previously, I have taken up this airsofting malark, and just made a large purchase of guns. this was made possible by my registration onto a database thats cross-referenced with all suppliers. But, there are some people that are still selling cheap and nasty, spring action pistols, like what you'd get from a seaside resort fun shop. Now, since the 1st October 2007, all BB guns are classed as Realistic Imitation Firearms (RIF), and MUST be sold by licenced suppliers, and all RIF's must be used on a private site thats registered for that purpose. So imagine my horror when I heard that a group of kids with said cheap and nasty guns, are running around a large, public woodland near the centre of Norwich!
Filmed at Mousehold Heath, near HMP Norwich (of all places), and posted on Youtube, this footage contained the group, doing what my and my friends do, but in a public area for all to see. More shockingly, the police didn't respond to the incident, which would have led to the deployment of the Police Astra (the one car, driven by, I think, the only Armed officers (so 4) Norfolk have!!) and would have caused a major incident. The local paper caught wind of this and made it a big story. As an airsofter, this incident is bad. My new found sport is already viewed with suspicion and various anti-gun nuts want it banned cause they feel it promotes a gun culture and glamorises the use of a gun!! No, we try to play soldier and act accordingly, not portray it with semi-naked girls and talking about them, and being in a gang and taking a rival gang out with them........ we leave that to rap music!!
But, this is the thing, the government have tried so hard to ban guns, or gun-looking things (although British police did shoot a guy with a table leg under his arm......... I don't often see tables with legs that look like AK47s yet!!), but the gun problem in this country is still high, and the deaths to such crimes are still happening. They also don't seem to be able to stop the flow of illegal firearms into the country, but have come down hard on the import of RIF's cause they look like guns!! The government nearly killed the sport because the original rules for the VCRA (Violent Crimes Reduction Act, brought in on October 1st as a knee-jerk reaction to high-profile deaths on Britain's streets), but thanks to a bit of lobbying, those plans were laxed......... but they could come down harder again, if more incidents like on Mousehold Heath continue to make headlines.
The incident is illegal, even if those kids didn't know it or not. and could have left a great number of people in the UK, very angry and without a weekend activity that they/we all love to participate in. Yes, I know if I wanted to run around with guns and shoot people, I should have joined the Army, but thats not the point (Military forces use similar methods like airsofting as a training tool!!). this is a hobby, a sport (cause if darts and fishing is a sport, then so is this) that well over half a million people in the UK enjoy. And to have it taken away by stupid, foolish kids with no sense of public safety, and no thought for their own safety cause of armed police officers, is wrong. Its like having all football, pro games or a kickabout in the park, taken away cause of the hooligan crisis in the 80's.
So, after another rant, what am I going on about!! Well, think before you act would be the obvious one. Basically because your actions may cause unforeseen consequences that could affect others unfairly. but thats too easy. Instead: Don't take a fucking BB gun to a public park and think you can have a mock gun battle, without being really shot at by police!!!!
Have Fun...... and lets hope the rain goes away.
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