Brace yourself

[jwpzx9r]

The way I see it is that what happened had nothing at all to do with the licencing system but everything to do with the individual who committed the act. It does not matter how water tight people may think a licensing system is at the end of the day if an individual flips then these things will happen.

I have brought this point to the attention of this forum before but reiterate. I have had shotguns and firearms here in France and never seen or been questioned by the police about the firearms I have nor has my house been inspected for security reasons. To be able to buy a shotgun here requires that you are a member of a shooting organisation and that every year you have a medical examination that proves you are a person who is medically sound to participate in the sport. Now clearly if you have had a criminal record then something is in place to stop you obtaining a firearm but along with that when I go to see the doctor he checks my blood pressure, heart and lungs he does not ask me at all about my state of mind. I only see my doctor once in a year usually because I have good health... in short he does not know me therefore how could he judge my state of mind. In short the medical examination is to prove you are fit enough to partake in the sport not that you are sound of mind. I do not think that France has been immune from shooting incidents but my take on it is that when things like this happen the individual who committed the act is the subject for study not the licencing system. To end my contribution I do not actually have a license for my shotgun at all. I have an annual license to use a shotgun in organised sporting clay shooting events, I cannot use it for any other purpose or anywhere that is not a registered shooting ground, and the prefecture know I am the keeper of a shotgun.

I know my situation is different but it does show how very different two countries can be with regards to firearms but would add that I don't think, although I am not certain, that firearms crime is any different here than it is in the UK.

 

[Luke_(NL)]

Speaking personally, I had lessons for three of four months prior to even thinking about applying for a SGC. In fact I think I’d been shooting almost a year before I bought my first shotgun. 
 

The way things work here in NL, there are only two ways towards gun ownership for private citizens. One is a ‘sporting permit’ the other a ‘hunting licence’. The sporting permit requires a mandatory >1 yr period of being a full member of a shooting club with most clubs wielding a 6 month probation period and the board would have to sign off on you being able to handle any gun safely before its purchase. It’s then a tiered system with only .22 and 12G (non-semi) allowed in one’s first year, with different calibres and options unfolding after two and three years. 

The hunting license can only be obtained after following a ten month course that deals with both theoretical aspects and the practical aspects of hunting, including the (safe) use of guns and shooting proficiency. The exams are strict and not everyone passes all in one go. As such, no-one can go out and get a gun legally if they haven’t put in a year or more of mostly supervised shooting.

The systems has its faults and cock-ups (see my previous post in this thread) but it makes sense to me that you need to at least show intended purpose and means of and for use, as well as a semblance of training. 

The papers here are picking up the incident to elaborate on the dangers of internet-extremists that refer to themselves as involuntarily celibate, more than they are alleging dangers of gun ownership (although enough is implied, as shooting sports have poor PR here). Next question on the heaps of paperwork here may well become: When have you last had some?