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Licensing Hunting Tools

We do spend some time discussing firearms and shotguns as hunting tools with many of us split over the registration aspect of it. In the UK we have to be approved by the state and they do not see prepping as a viable requirement for any of these. Luckily it is easy enough to get a shotgun if you have no recvord but getting a firearm is much more difficult with cause required. Pistols being reserved for those in power.

My view on this requirement is simple. I want to have as many options as possible and thus I have snares, traps, crossbows, air rifles, shotguns, and a FAC rifle. I want to expand that even further and acquire some bows and arrows as well as upgrading my FAC. For information, in the UK, any air rifle over 12ft/lb needs a FAC. That is not a joke either and 5 years is waiting there for many folks who have old air rifles in their lofts.

Consider that after an event the more sophisticated tools such as air rifles, shotguns and FAC rifles will soon run out of ammunition and these will be difficult to replace. Eventually even the tools themselves will fail and we will not have the tools available to repair them. Because of this I would be looking at having plenty of stores for these to ensure that they lasted as long as possible but more importantly I would be looking at reserving them for situations that they were best suited for. More bang for your buck as they say. This gives me several options when it comes time for hunting as having a wide variety of tools allows you to do that where if you did not have them you would have fewer options. Plus it gives you more chance of collecting food whilst you learn to hunt with bows. A steep learning curve if you have only bows.

The argument against getting a licensed solution is that you are on a list and the Stasi will be around collecting the firearms when any sort of civil disturbance takes place. The state will not want anyone armed to be able to resist their clampdown. That may very well be true although my view is if they do I would then be no worse off than if I don’t have one at all. On the other hand my belief is that if there is an event they may not be interested or there may be no chance for them to round them up and thus we will retain our tools.

It also helps the more people registered as firearms holders, it is already over a million people and it would take them some time to confiscate them all. They would need to send a group and be in armoured convoy. Can you see them having the time in the run up to an event? What about when one has started? There are already No Go areas in the UK this wouldn’t help.

It is one or the other. There is risk either way but I do not see that risk being on a list that the state holds. I would be on it anyway. I’m of the opinion that the benefits outweigh the risks and am advising everyone to acquire a SGC at the very least and a FAC where you can.

It will be too late after an event.

18 comments to Licensing Hunting Tools

  • Northern Raider

    Its a real pity that no one appears to have kept any of the articles written by folks like Duncan Campbell on UK war laws and emergency powers etc that were publish in mags like New Statesman and New Scientist etc are available. The authorities do keep lists for various nefarious reasons and have well rehearsed plans to impliment them, and those list were brought into the computer era as well.

    I refer you to the headlines in todays Observer about the POLICE using LISTS to prevent politically active people in the construction industry get jobs. I respect your viewpoint on this issue but respectfully disagree. Whilst we really would benefit from more liberal gun laws and our preps are enhanced with access to fire arms, I think that is offset by the greater risk of state intrusion.

  • Skean Dhude

    NR,

    Those documents are available and I have no doubt there are lists out there that Plod will use.

    However, my opinion, is that most of the events we are looking at will not result in activation of the lists or ineffectual activation and thus the risk is worth it.

    Your opinion that the risk is not worth it is as valid as mine. We just have weighed values up differently and thus come to different conclusions. Others will adjust the scales with their views and come to their own conclusions.

  • mike

    You assume they will wait till AFTER shtf to come and get your guns.
    Government have prior knowledge of imposing Marshal law etc..
    It’ll be all pre planned and arranged days, weeks, months BEFORE any event.
    But on the plus side maybe that’d be a key point to look for of impending shtf when they take the guns.

  • mike

    When you assume you make an ASS of U and ME as they say….

  • Skean Dhude

    Mike,

    Any event that triggers something like this will likely be public and many of us will have bugged out with all our tools.

    As I said before, they may take them most likely due to new legislation because most people in the UK nowadays are wimps where the thought of guns makes them all light headed. Nothing you can do about that.

    And we have no option but to assume. We do it all the time.
    We assume there will be an event
    we assume we will survive the transition
    we assume that we can handle life after an event
    we assume that bow will not be legislated against
    we assume that plod is not going to come to every house and search it

    we assume many things every day and every time we make decisions. Very few things we do are based entirely on facts. However, we should identify the assumptions, validate them and make sure that we cater for them as much as we can.

    It doesn’t change my risk calculations.

  • Northern Raider

    Prepping is like life, its all a calculated risk 🙂

  • mike

    No a go at anyone, and your right of course we do assume much in our life and preps.
    And as you pointed out in previous posts, overlap of tools is preferable to just relying on just one.
    BUT if all you have is one take care of it, carry spares etc.

  • Northern Raider

    Isnt this forum bloody marvelous, we can have heated debate on contentious issues without dissing each other or have some moderator throw a sulk. Christ your guys all have my utmost respect.
    SD your a Tw** for not setting this forum up 5 years ago:)

  • Skean Dhude

    When it doesn’t get personal then nobody sees the need to get heated and can be involved in reasonable discussions. Then people listen and if the facts are there can even change their view. Changing a strongly held view is traumatic. I know.

    Nothing feels worse than that feeling you get at that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

  • PEACE

    You can only get a gun if your a register land owner right?

    • Skean Dhude

      Peace,

      No.

      You need no permissions for a Shotgun. If asked say you will be going with a friend clay pigeon shooting. You need one person who knows you and will sign that you are OK from an approved group, same as a driving license now. 4 pictures and £50

      For a FAC you need permission from a land owner to shoot on his land. It isn’t as easy as it sounds because now it is all hasle for them from Plod. But if you now someone who has land it is OK. You also need two people to sign that they know you are that you are OK. Again from an approved group. Another 4 pictures and £50.

      They love their stealth taxes.

  • Paul

    Scatter guns and small bore vermin are ok but when it all totally turns to rubbish, they aren’t going to be the only things on the loose so perhaps there should be somewhere to discuss modern military and security service weapons, their effectiveness, weaknesses and maintainance.
    After all I’m betting the count of preppers with full bore handgun and SMG experience isn’t going to be high let alone active service knowledge of the SA80 and it’s varients.

  • Skean Dhude

    Paul,

    There are sites out there that do that. I want to move away from this aspect for the folowing reasons;
    1) Most people are aware of the risk with humans after an event.
    2) I want to deemphasise that aspect for prepping.
    3) Most of us can’t get those weapons anyway.

    I want to concentrate on what we can get for self sufficiency and prepping use and not move into the acquisition of illegal items.

  • Paul

    OK, point taken.
    Acquisition of illegal items was never my intention BUT I was always taught to use “what you find”.
    Scavenger 101 states: Knowledge is king when you need to use or fix what you find.

    Self defence and hunting are not taboo subjects to me especially after seeing a pack of feral dogs rip apart a sheep. Sort of focuses your thinking a bit seeing that.
    I kept thinking about my 4 year old daughter long into that night.

    Harsh language and strong morals just don’t work on pack animals (of any species).

  • Tommy

    Has anyone thought about dogs for defence. I deal with them through my work and they scare the living s*$t out of me.
    Good for guarding, company, and keeping people like me away.
    Can be expensive for food but worth it overall.

  • Skean Dhude

    Paul,

    I’m actually in agreement with you about you needing weapons but our mickey mouse society frowns on people defending themselves. We just need to be aware, offer advice and point people in the right direction which I think we are.

    Tommy,

    Dogs are on the list for prepping. Utility animals. Like everything else there are pluses and minuses.

  • Paul

    Hi Tommy.
    I also worked with dogs. They are indeed a good thing in self defence especially if they are trained properly. Problem is they are one shot devices. Their greatest value is therefore as a visible and audible deterrent.

    Consider a “peacetime” home invasion.
    Nothing says go away more effectively than a snarling, barking, lunging fur coat razor blade especially if it weighs in round 30-40 kgs. (Typ GSD).
    A dog not being on show is pyscologically more of a worry to an assailant than actually seeing it.
    Add a load of signage and you’ve drastically reduced the chance of attack in the first place.

    It all changes in time of crisis though.

    Being totally negative, it’s damn hard to teach a dog not to “alarm up” when it hears things so you just may have raised a person or a group’s interest in your refuge. Bang goes covert.

    If it’s just a breakdown in society, desperate folk have nought to lose so expect them to be armed. Sticks, stones, even guns, it doesn’t matter. The dog goes in and at best gets injured. You may win the round but your dog is injured and what would be the chances that you’ll find a vet?
    Now you have to choose, try and patch your dog up or put it down.

    What is it’s a CBRN event? Dog goes in, it bites or even just gets close, it’s now infected or contaminated. Your options aren’t even limited now they may be totally non existant. The dog may have to go before it contaminates you. In this case, a dog is a liability.

    Now the pack of feral dogs. one against many. What do you calculate the odds? What if they were rabid or CBRN contaminated? You loose as does your dog.

    My dogs are well trained and I’m sort of confident that they will defend the family but like any one shot device, I’ll be holding them back to the very last.

  • Ysbryd

    Agreed, my dogs are a better deterent then they would be as a physical defense, I have trained them to be silent on command but that relies on me being on top of the situation.
    As far as firearms are concerned you are entitled to own them if you have reasonable cause to do so and are able to store them securely. Defense is not a reasonable cause but competative marksmanship, hunting and pest control are legitimate reasons to own an appropriate firearm. You do not need to be a land owner but if you intend to apply for a firearm certificate for the purpose of hunting you will need to prove that you have somewhere safe to shoot that has your target species, appropriate to the caliber of your chosen firearm.(there is an additional information sheet available to download along with your licence application form where you can list shooting beats)