Thread: Could we do more

Originally Posted by chindit

Yes I knew the serial number thing would get the hackles up. But if the weapon is recovered the serial number if still there links that gun to that theft and back to you. If your car gets nicked you don't say it was a red Ferrari with 2 big fluffy dice hanging from the mirror. I never said data base, I said do you know your numbers so they can be passed onto police if you loose a rifle.

Not so much getting hackles up :-) but it's a genuine question.

I'm an endorsed license holder, so my gear is already registered with the Police. On a database too. But if the guns turn up as a result of a burglary, the Police would already know they were stolen, because I told them ? I'm just perplexed at how Police knowing every single firearms serial number will actually help, when there is already a (claimed) large number of illegally held firearms.

Lax security of gun owners - "don't give a shit I'll do what I like and keep the gun under the bed" or bare minimum security because they don't want to spend the money, and a very low clearance rate of solving burglary, are the 2 biggest problems that face us at the moment. Followed by a judiciary who seem to view firearms offences on the lower end of the scale. And rounded off with opportunist politicians who love to grandstand and get their name in the news for another 24 hours.

As already mentioned, the current Police/AO situation is woefully under resourced, so adding more work and duties to them without a significant budget/people increase won't fix this magical problem of firearms being in the hands of those who legally shouldn't have them.