Man finds shotgun, hands it to police, gets jailed for five years

Absolutely, the guy should have called the police, or at least mentioned what he was bringing in. But well-meaning stupidity isn't worth a five year sentence.
 
I would take that gun I found and kill those baddies who stole my TV a year ago!! actually in some neighborhoods in Chicago, it is advised to own one of those. lol.
 
Question: At what point exactly did he actually have possession? Is it a Schroedinger's cat thing, so long as he does not open the bag he is OK. At that point he is in possession of a bag, as soon as he opens it and knows what is in it he has committed the offence as he is then in possession of the weapon? So to know what he is in possession of automatically makes him guilty - human rights act here we come!
 
That's why (afaik) we currently have an amnesty for owners of illegal weapons (as long as you hand it over to the police voluntarily). Because you have to keep in mind just how easy it is to find a gun "by accident". Be it old WW2 weapons hidden inside of a barn or just "forgotten" hunting guns by grandparents which were reported lost
 
You guys know where I stand, which should give gravity to my words when I say... WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK!

I think I've said enough.
 
Cobol74 said:
Question: At what point exactly did he actually have possession? Is it a Schroedinger's cat thing, so long as he does not open the bag he is OK. At that point he is in possession of a bag, as soon as he opens it and knows what is in it he has committed the offence as he is then in possession of the weapon? So to know what he is in possession of automatically makes him guilty - human rights act here we come!
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Interesting way to look at it. Also, the article said he found it in his own backyard, so even if the he called up police saying "hey, you know, funny thing, I just accidentally found a shotgun in my backyard, come pick it up." Wouldn't that be classified as "being in possession" of the weapon anyway?
 
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pepitko said:
Wouldn't that be classified as "being in possession" of the weapon anyway?
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Doubtful; why would he call the police to take something he owned away?
 
Re-fucking-tarded. Honestly, encouraging people to bring these weapons to the police should be the priority, not arresting them because they worded their phone call badly.
 
Dogbert said:
Doubtful; why would he call the police to take something he owned away?
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This is the nub of the matter. He was deemed in possession, due to the fact that he had hold of it. The law normally has mens rea - criminal mind/intent. However, because this and so many laws have been rammed through without thinking, this law has strict liability. He brought it in, he has possession, the law says possession is illegal, he has broken the law.

Kind of like the proposed ban on religious hate speech, which would have banned "The Passion of the Christ" and "Schindlers List".
 
Dogbert said:
While that's true, I'd be properly pissed off if I were a cop, and someone just strolled into my station with a gun and plopped it down on a table.

Let me just reiterate that this all could have been avoided had he just said that he found a gun somewhere when he called the police station he was taking it to.
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It happens here all the time, actually. People find firearms when going through belongs of relatives, in old storage boxes, that kind of thing, and don't know what to do with them. Many just take them by the police station and drop them off instead of trying to sell them.

In Richmond I got rid of one of my pistols and had a bunch of leftover ammo. I just walked over to the police station and asked if they could please dispose of it for me. I then handed the desk clerk a bag of ammunition and went on my way. No questions, no ID, just "Hey, this stuff can be dangerous, can you take it?"

The guy could have handled it better. He could have dialed 999 or called the station's non-emergency line as soon as he discovered it was a firearm. Still, at that point he had brought it inside his home so he still might have gotten charged.

The problem here is a lack of personal responsibility. The UK seems so worried that people will make the wrong choice that they have tried to legislate away any choice at all. What they are saying with this law is that anyone who touches a firearm intends to commit a crime.
Touching a firearm is a crime
You intended to touch it, therefore you intended to commit a crime.

People already have little personal accountability or sense of responsibility, they go through life expecting others (companies, governments, the police) to keep them from harm and protect them from themselves. Most warning labels are so idiotic that it makes my brain bleed, but they are there because someone was dumb enough to use a hairdryer in the shower. Here you have a guy who has taken personal responsibility for making his neighborhood safer (yes, I know it was in his garden, but you never know when someone will come back for the gun), and he's prosecuted as a criminal. He's even a soldier! The state trained him how to handle firearms for fuck's sake!
 
Interestingly enough, had he just listened to Eddie Eagle, all of this could have been avoided. :lol:
 
"tell an adult"

He's a friggin' soldier! How much more "adult" can you get?
 
Well... the first two, anyway.

"Tell an adult" might fall into "Tell the police when you're on the phone with them", though.
 
Blind_Io said:
"tell an adult"

He's a friggin' soldier! How much more "adult" can you get?
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Those "soldiers" that I see everyday are not even close to being adults. :p
(^joke)

Anyway, don't you guys in Britain have anything called the spirit of the law or something like that?
Here if an individual is charged for breaking a law in a way the lawmakers didn't mean, charges can be dropped.
 
Elvis313 said:
That's why (afaik) we currently have an amnesty for owners of illegal weapons (as long as you hand it over to the police voluntarily). Because you have to keep in mind just how easy it is to find a gun "by accident". Be it old WW2 weapons hidden inside of a barn or just "forgotten" hunting guns by grandparents which were reported lost
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I imagine a few of those still show up even to this day in peoples basements etc
 
I don't care if he did it stupidly. We all make mistakes, and putting the guy in jail for that is just moronic.
 
Suedschleife said:
So you leave it lying there if you don't have a mobile phone on you?
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No, the article states that he took the case into his home before he opened it realising it was a weapon.

He should have phoned the cops after he opened in inside his house.
 
Yes, he should. But he didn't, and he did something really rather silly.

Stupid? Criminally stupid? God no. Prison? Hell no.
 
Somehow I don't think that would have made any difference. He picked up the gun and brought it inside. Even if he did call the police at that time they would have arrived to find him with the firearm in his home. Hell, it sounds like if he opened it in the garden and called then he might still go to jail because it's on his property.

I'm not crediting the UK Criminal Justice system with an overabundance of brains at this point.
 
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