UK gun owner loses licenses because of internet presence - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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#15163727
In 2016, UK shooter and popular YouTube gun channel personality Callum Long-Collins told the BBC, "Being British and a firearms owner, it almost feels illegal to have any sort of opinion on using guns for self-defense." The comments appear to have been proved correct. According to an April 23 article in The Times titled, "Gun licences stripped from shooting activist over YouTube comments," Long-Collins told the publication that he lost an appeal to have his firearms licenses reinstated with the primary reason being the content of his YouTube page, EnglishShooting.

According to a 2018 report from PJMedia, Long-Collins' firearms licenses were revoked in 2016 following a reportedly false assault allegation that was later dropped. However, after coming to the attention of the state, UK authorities began looking into Long-Collins’s social media presence.

Long-Collins’s primary offense appears to have been his advocacy for the right to armed self-defense. Back in 2015, following the attacks at the Bataclan theater in Paris, France, Long-Collins posted a video to his YouTube page about the event. In it, Long-Collins reportedly contemplated that the French should be able to exercise their Right-to-Carry a handgun for self-defense in order to prevent such terrorist violence.

US gun right supporters must pay close attention to the ongoing denigration of rights in the UK and other countries and redouble our efforts to ensure Americans never face these abuses of power.

In an attempt to preserve his ability to own firearms, Long-Collins announced in June 2018 that he would no longer post videos to his YouTube Channel. In a farewell video, Long-Collins explained that after the initial incident, "police then looked at previous videos that I had made in previous views that I had voiced on the channel and they felt that that wasn’t in keeping with that of a licensed firearms owner within the UK." Collins went on to state, "Over the past two years I've made significant efforts to change the direction of the channel change the videos and to change my own beliefs in views around fire firearms and firearm ownership, unfortunately, I've failed to bring the channel and the videos to the standard that the police feel is adequate."

Long-Collins also stated that, "due to repeated comments from other people on the videos [the licensing authorities] felt that the channel was a forum of extremism."

In early 2019, Long-Collins began posting new videos to EnglishShooting. In an April 3, 2019 video Long-Collins explained to viewers that he no longer has a shotgun or firearm certificate.


Summary of my Interview with The Times, EnglishShooting, April 9, 2009

He told the paper, "The main issue was a video that I made around the Paris attacks where I advocated the French to be able to use handguns for self-defence because of the frequency of attacks that were happening at the time."

The UK government does not recognize its citizens' right to keep guns. In the UK, prospective firearms licensees are required to provide "good reason" for owning a firearm. In most parts of the UK, self-defense is not considered sufficient reason to own a firearm, and the police are given wide discretion in determining whether a person has met the licensing criteria.


Seems obvious freedom of speech, and certainly the right to bear arms, does not really exist in the UK.
I think there was very good reason Americans insisted on the First and Second Amendments in the US Constitution after America broke away from England.
Civil liberties have been getting chipped away in the UK.
(Additional thread about that here: "Man Jailed for Refusing to Give Police Password to Personal Computer Files"
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=177389&hilit=information )

This also goes to show that the attack on gun rights is not just about an attack on guns, but goes hand in hand with the use those weapons in self-defense.
It's apparent that the local UK authorities in this situation disagreed with the concept of self-defense being a right, did not like those views being expressed and viewed them as dangerous, and so took away the legal permission of this gun owner from being able to use his guns.
#15164394
What can I say... that guy's a bit stupid.

Does he genuinely think posting his view frankly would not attract unwanted attention and, correspondingly, his loss of licence?

While I am not 100% agreeing with the UK government's decision, I understand that they do not have many means to know one's eligibility to hold arms, and internet commenting behaviour would be one of the few sources available, especially when spying is not an option.

Some commenting is best left with the people who do not have the means to carry out the said comments.

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