Browning on Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away...

Thought I'd start a more lighthearted thread as this programme does make me chuckle sometimes, but did anyone see the episode where a guy let McCracken and Victor in, they went up to his loft where they found a gun safe with two Brownings in? Bloke went nuts cos they found the keys to it in the kitchen and he started saying he was gonna have them arrested or whatever for taking guns, etc.

Now, I've not been at this game long, but my initial thought was, shouuuuuldn't he have had the keys in a safer place than lying around on the kitchen worktop?! Personally, if I was the high court fella, when he started losing his rag I'd have said that one stipulation of having a gun licence is having the guns in a safe with the keys in a place that no single other person knows about, not even a wife or partner, so how does he feel about that info being passed on to the police and their respective firearms officer to investigate?

Or am I wrong and was the householder quite within his rights to be legally pissy about them getting their mitts on his shotguns after randomly picking up some keys??

Feel free to comment on any other idiots they've seen on this show!

Wonder if the blokes who took his guns (?) had SGCs? 

Would they need one just to handle if they're backed by the high court? Fair point though. 

Guess your watching a re-run of a re-run of a re-run ad infinitum...

I saw one where they found a “scary gun” and called firearms officer who came and identified it as an air rifle. A more steady approach..

The supposed stipulation about gun safes and hiding the keys etc. is from Home Office guidance. As with some other stuff, we go along with with it to keep the police happy rather than because it's a statutory legal requirement.

Having said that though the guy must be a real muppet to leave the keys where they could be easily found and I'm also pretty sure that unless at one of them had an SGC, both the bailiffs (and the owner) were breaking the law by taking them away. Otherwise I would think the only legal way to seize guns would require the presence of either the police or an RFD.

Westward said:

The supposed stipulation about gun safes and hiding the keys etc. is from Home Office guidance. As with some other stuff, we go along with with it to keep the police happy rather than because it's a statutory legal requirement.

Click to expand...

Seems to me to be a staggering usurpation of authority by the police.  Are they so fearsome that no one objects?

There are many different bailiffs, all with differing powers of entry and seizure. 

If you are asked to open the safe, you should, as it costs less than having a locksmith get in it.

The goods are actually seized as they are recorded, and can be taken away by an RFD later.

Most big bailiff companies will have this covered.

If the bailiffs are coming, then make sure you have sold your guns to one of your friends and they are no longer on your certificate. They can’t take what you don’t own! 

On the other hand.......just pay your debts and you will never have to question their powers! 

Yeah, but have you seen some of the chancers on that show?!

Obviously all of these TV things are edited to provide “ entertainment “ .  However I’ve got family member who works in the County Court sometimes on “customer services” . She tells me that despite these things being on the telly , every day there are indignant people at the counter who can’t believe that bailiffs have arrived at their homes , for such trivial matters as not paying the PCP on the luxury motor car that they signed up for over 48 months ...  of course non of them received the judgement in the post , and it was all a mistake . 

Exactly. Chancers! Mate's son in law did their job and said similar. Always someone else's fault they forgot to pay for their top end Merc on their McDonald's new employee wage.

This raises a few interesting points.

It is a condition of being granted a SGC that your shotguns are held in a suitable secure cabinet to prevent access by unauthorised persons, and the only people who can have access to that cabinet must hold a SGC themselves, be a FEO  or similarly qualified and registered person.  That should stop the bailiffs opening the cabinet themselves if they are not SGC holders - but it should not stop them asking the SGC holding householder to open the cabinet to allow a visual inspection of the contents.

Similarly, if the bailiffs are not SGC holders then they should not be removing items themselves but arranging for a colleague who does hold SGC to attend or request the attendance of a Police firearms unit (they'll be chuffed about that, I'm sure).

Finally +1 to above - the idiot should also take steps to prevent the keys being found by unauthorised persons, another condition of being granted a SGC; wonder if the local FEO was watching...