Intruders shoot dead homeowner in St Ives.

[DurianIceCream]

oyster said:

You say I don't understand yet you keep using phrases such as 'I doubt you would get your guns back' and now 'it is unlikely you would get your guns back'.

Which suggests you know no more than I do.

Do you have a firearms certificate? Do you have a shotgun certificate? Do you belong to a club where there are large numbers of FAC or SGC holders? Has a police firearms officer visited your house and explained to you the obligations of having a firearms certificate and owning firearms? Has a police firearms officer explained to you, by way of example, what will happen to your firearms if any allegation is made against you? Have you read the Home Office guidance for firearm owners relating to use of firearms? Have you read the Home Office guidance to police licencing departments for issuing firearm or shotgun certificates? Do you currently own a firearm which used to belong to a now former certificate holder, who had their firearm siezed by the police, even though they had not committed any criminal offence and were not charged with anything?

To use a word I have used before, I 'doubt' you have any of the above.

[Halb]

DurianIceCream said:

If you use a legally held gun to defend yourself if you are in fear of your life, one of the first things that will happen when the police arrive is that all your guns plus all the guns belonging to anyone else in the house will be seized. Your shotgun/firearms certificate will be revoked. I doubt you will ever get them back. This is even when you are not prosecuted.

How come?

[DurianIceCream]

Halb said:

How come?

The police do not like people using guns for self-defence. Self-defence is not a valid reason for owning a gun, so it could only be used for self-defence if you happened to have it handy. Because of safe storage requirements, it is also very unlikely that you would be placed in a situation where you would be under threat and also have time to get a firearm or shotgun to use for self defence.

Oyster above is never going to get the 100% guarantee that gun owners won't get their guns back if they do use them for self-defence, because using a gun for self-defence in the UK is so rare that it almost never happens. But given the documented incidents for which people do have their guns siezed by the police in the UK, including the former owner of a shotgun I now have at home, I can be confident in saying: "if you use your guns for self-defence, they will be seized and you will not be getting them back"

[Halb]

Thank you for a thorough answer.
Does this hold for Northern Ireland as well? In NI self-defence seems to be an OK reason for gun ownership.

[DurianIceCream]

Firearms laws in NI are different. You can still get handguns for example. I don't know the answer to your question. I suspect the police would be a lot more firearm friendly.