Tacfoley, that's a very good summation of conditions in the majority of the UK. I held a British Firearm's License for a few years. I was authorized three handguns; a .22, a .38/.357 and a 9mm. My choices were a Colt Match Target Woodsman, a S&W 586 and a commercial CZ-75 with a deep, rich blue finish. This was before the CZ-75 could legally be imported for sale into the US. I later traded the Colt in for an Erma ESP-85. All three handguns are still in my possession. I also, of course, had a shotgun permit.
To illustrate how differently the British viewed certain things, they expected a gun to be invisable to the public. I bought the Colt in London's Elephant & Castle station district. I put it in my briefcase and took the tube back to the train station where I caught the next train to Ipswich and then drove home.
Silencers (suppressors) are completely legal.
For reloaders, or home loaders as it was called there, the trick was to keep your assembled ammunition equal to or below your authorized limit. Have all the components you wished and as long as they were not assembled into a round, you were legal. I loaded for .38/.357, 9mm and two shotgun gauges. As I shot competitively for the Suffolk County Pistol Team, I reloaded and shot a lot.
It was an experience of a lifetime and I met many outstanding individuals while there, including past Olympic competitors and those with an excellent chance of making the next team.
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