UK gallery of guns! (courtesy mirror.co.uk)

“A deadly arsenal of weapons described as one of Britain’s biggest ever gun hauls has been seized from a suspected gang hideout,” mirror.co.uk reports. “Assault rifles, sawn off shotguns, an Uzi and a Thompson machine gun were discovered on a raid by Scotland Yard’s anti-gang squad.” So much for a gun-free UK then. “It emerged today that criminals are using a legal loophole [that] allows some weapons to be considered as ‘antiques’ under the law. Detectives say there is evidence that ‘antique’ guns have been used in shootings in London, while police in Birmingham say similar guns have been taken on at least two robberies — one involving injury to a person.” UK antique firearms market legislated out of business in 3, 2, 1 . . . [Click here to see the gallery so that you can name the guns.]

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153 COMMENTS

    • Yeah, the bb guns are probably for holding up rabbits. That Webley would require a little assembly to be classified as ‘deadly’ too.

      • You Gents should remember there are other Nationalities reading this some of them Brit’s like myself!
        Not all of them are Gun Crazy.
        Respect other people’s countries!

        • I wish I could, and I’m sure you’re a perfectly good guy. But the problem is simply this – you get the government you deserve, and if you’re not willing to take whatever steps are necessary to rectify the situation, that goes doubly so for you. So, sorry for your misfortune, but you really need to do something more…..forceful, shall we say, about your police state. Cheers, eh mate?

          Tom

        • Graham Sherrington, No one is disrespecting Brits in general. They are disrespecting the British authority that claims, airguns and firearms with missing pieces, are deadly…

        • Respect must be earned and can be lost. The UK and the rest of the commonwealth are doing poorly on both counts.

        • Especially after you tried to take our guns and impose unreasonable taxes in 1776 and it blew up in your face. Besides, we are not “gun crazy”. We cherish the freedom that we have and the means to defend it. We are free men, not subjects like you are.

        • I don’t disrespect the British, it’s just this article is a reminder our how are two countries are so difference in their view towards guns. Also the disarmament bunch love to point to Britain as an example of their end goals.

        • I too am British, but I am not offended. Britain has gone to shit, and I’m no patriot so I’ll say it: It’s not the country, it’s the assholes leading it.

        • Well, if you think you’re good enough to make the grade, why not apply for a Visa or some other path of immigration to the United States? I’ve been considering that we need some sort of grassroots “Patriot Recruitment Program”. Too many of the other kind – motivated by greed – have been coming in for a long time now.

    • An air rifle that can be made to produce 12 foot lbs (about $100 at WalMart) requires a firearms license over there. It doesn’t matter if the way you use it shows less power, if they can get 12fpe out of it you need the license (sounds like our ATF and NFA items, doesn’t it?).

      • I remember reading that in a magazine. It was the reason 20 is more popular than 22 for air guns. The 22’s can’t be as powerful due to math or something. Or the other way around. I forget.

        • Since kinetic energy – mv^2, I imagine that the larger caliber pellet guns would be more popular. If you decrease the velocity by a factor of 2, you can increase the weight of the projectile by a factor of 4.

          The fact that we even have to discuss this just got me to donate another $10 to the NRA.

    • Do you think a person who lives in a country where honest people rarely ever see a gun is going to know the difference? When the criminal sticks it a person’s face, I suspect it will work just as well.

      • Yeah I can only see 5 actual theoretically functional firearms in that ‘arsenal’. The rest are toys or missing parts to the point of non functionality. They’ve also several photos of the same ‘weapon’ to make the ‘cache’ look bigger.

        And people consider British news to be ‘better quality’…

        • HAH! Even their cheesecake pictures aren’t as good as ours! Not that I’ve compared them, mind you.

    • mixture of legal air weapons, deactivated weapons and section 58 antiques no story here with the exception of some of your bragging over 1776 (Vietnam,Iraq and Afghanistan ?) and ridiculous perceptions about the UK, you guys, you know who you are, need to get out in the world more.

      • I’ll happily brag about the War of 1812 a lttle as well. Just couldn’t get enough of the Americans beating you once eh?

        On a serious note, a once fine country that produced the Enfield rifle, Webley revolver, and Maxim machine gun is reduced to purchasing a license to own a pellet gun. Respect has been lost…

        • I’m sure fine gun craftsmanship is still extant for the rich aristocracy in the “classless society.”

        • Then why aren’t I eating bangers and mash while drinking warm beer in a Pub watching Man U vs. Arsenal while waiting for the government to bless me with the privelige of owning a childs toy?

        • Why do people think we serve warm beer (larger)? I’ve never had a warm larger from a pub; in fact a lot of beers are served extra cold.

        • The US did not win the war of 1812. It won the battle of New Orleans but that was fought after the peace treaty had been signed. The US declared war on Britain, tried to invade what is now Canada and got its ass well and truly kicked. Things went a bit quiet for a couple of years until Napoleon abdicated in 1814 and then thousands of British troops came to the US, invaded Washington and set fire to the Capitol and White House, in revenge for similar acts committed in Canada. The war was a draw, with neither side profiting from it. It ended because with the Napoleonic wars over, the causes of it (trade with France) had gone.

  2. LOL the airguns and what looks like an AR with no buffer tube attached? Please correct me if Im wrong or is it an airgun also? Not like they wont just build some zip guns or go back to using pointy objects.

      • Actually I’m pretty sure that’s an old toy. Given the color of the metal it looks like old pot metal.

    • “air weapons”…. Reason #1002 I’m glad I didn’t spend more time there, or get married while I was…

    • It’s the UK. What do you think they are gonna do. They freaking threw most of the WWII arsenal into the channel. So many collectors would have loved to have those rifles.

      • I do not think it is certain. Many of the guns that are turned in to police are sold to dealers in other countries. I talked to an English gun writer at the shot show, and he said that when England outlawed handguns, most of them went to other European countries…

  7. not familiar with the air rifle or either of the co2 bb guns. I see a couple of colt 1908’s a Radom-64. Have a hard time believing that the tommy is real.

    • It cannot be pointed out too often: King’s adamant support for the IRA and his acceptance of Gerry Adams as merely Sein Fein when it has been amply affirmed that he was also active IRA, demonstrates King’s remarkable hypocrisy. Guns are fine with King, but only so that Catholics can shoot Anglicans. Guns are fine to fight his cause, but not, should it ever be necessary, your cause.

      Disgusting, but typical in the legacy of NY political thinking.

  9. When I see crap like this, I think, maybe we should have let Hitler invade England before we beat the crap out of him.

    Withdraw all troops and let Putin take over Europe. Wait, what? we have to defend ourselves? We don’t know how to use the bloody things!

    It would serve them right. Every once in a while I get tired of my tax dollars going to a nation obsessed with disarming itself while at the same time relying on other nations for its own safety.

      • I lived in England. They could not fight their way out of a paper bag. They’d be too busy complaining someone was breaking the rules. Now the Scots, on the other hand.

        • You have just made a Great Scot happy! The bloody English got beaten by us twice! Speaks for itself. Thank you, there’s not many Scots on this site but the ones that are thank you!

        • A bit of a sweeping statement that don’t you think? I like to think fighting isn’t the answer to everything,but if you go to Liverpool,Manchester and the poorer parts of London you’ll find plenty of people wanting to fight rather than talk. We didn’t rule the globe through our smooth talking.

        • The Scots are too pissed to put up a decent fight. I hope the scots get their independence,so we can put up a boarder and keep them out.

        • pablobrown- We obviously weren’t to pissed to fight when we beat your asses at Bannockburn, Stirling Bridge, Roslin, Glen Trool, Loudon Hill, Boroughmuir, and Nesbit Moor. And those are just the victories off the top of my head.
          And for the record, I’m against Independence.

        • NATO is like an obnoxious cowardly dog; when threatened by an aggressor such as Russia, European NATO leaders tuck their tail and bark loudly while they look around to see if the U.S. is still there to protect them.

  12. Two of those weapons, properly reconditioned, are worth more than the gang is every likely to steal.

  14. The alleged absence of guns on the street in London didn’t seem to stop muslim extremists from running over, and murdering a British soldier, and then nearly decapitating him with a dull knife.

    Naturally, brave Britons, armed with their camera phones took appropriate action by recording the incident.

    • Do you think it would have been different in New Your or DC?
      Go to the English countryside and listen to all the shotguns firing.

      • Maybe true, but if you hear one firing at a burglar or home invader, it will soon be followed by police sirens–coming to pick up the shooter…

  15. It must really suck being British. No guns. Bangers and mash is what passes for food. Soccer instead of actual sports. And what’s up with that colored water they call tea?

    The Brits should just give their country to the Arabs. Oh, wait. I see they beat me to it.

    • And “rashers of bacon”. I’m not sure what those were, but it wasn’t bacon.
      The only good thing I got out of London, was a decent steak knife out of the restaurant inside the “secure” area.
      It came home on the plane with me.

      • British bacon actually has meat on it, unlike the slab of fat that passes for bacon in America.
        British sausages are great.

        • Have to agree with you there–I expect I would like bangers and mash, and my limited experience (ie a visit to an Irish-themed restaurant in New Mexico) is that the “bacon” is pretty good stuff.

      • I can’t believe a yank is having a pop at British food,who the fook eats syrup with meat? You lot are so lazy you can’ be arsed getting up for desert you just pile it all on one plate.

    • No stereotyping! That’s just the English. Up here in Scotland we enjoy haggis, neeps and tatties (haggis, turnips and mash). And by the way, we drink whiskey. We do have decent hunting, even I’ve shot a gun. And a semi-auto at that. (Remington semi-auto shotgun).

    • And that thing that mad dogs and Englishmen do in the sun called “Cricket.” There HAD to be much heavy drinking involved intimately in its invention.

      • I rather sit through a game of cricket than a game of American football (I hate cricket). The only reason the Yanks look down their nose at football (soccer), is because they’re crap at it. I’ll have to admit,you’ve produced the odd good player,Howard,Donovon,Maxmore and McBride all played for my beloved Everton.

        • Soccer,the most popular sport in the world. The Yanks don’t partake as they haven’t a chance of winning anything.

        • Don’t children play Baseball,American football and Basketball in the US? Soccer (football) is played by more men than any other sport,yet according to you it’s a game for kids and women. Football is most lucrative sport in the world don’t you know?

        • what the hell are you going on about pablow? like I said, a sport for the ladies and the kids to keep them busy on a Saturday.

    • I feel for the Americans,their food is so delicious they’re all fooking huge. What food are the Yanks actually famous for? Fried chicken. And your chocolate tastes like shit.

  16. Why is complying with a law always called a “loophole” if you’re still doing something someone doesn’t like?

  17. Stuff like this makes me happy my ancestor left Wales sometime in the 1600s and settled in Virgina.

  18. I’m truly disgusted by the absolute bollocks,some(most) of you idiots out there say,you are lucky to have the 2nd amendment,otherwise,you’d be in the same situation.Wonder how many of you,who’ve commented (I use the word loosley) are members of the NRA,or any other organization that protect your rights.
    Not many I’ll wager.You leave the fight to others.

    • And another thing about you inbred Brits — you don’t speak real English. Bollocks? Don’t you mean bullsh1t?

      • I think, actually, he’s saying we have a lot of absolute balls, which is fine with me.

        Sherrington: Instead of casting aspersions, why not be specific as to which comment content you think is wrong-headed or inaccurate.

        I can say I think a totality of law in Britain that forbids defensive weapons while doing very little to tame the Yobs on the high streets has a glaring defect. I know that middle and upper middle Brits often agree with my conclusion. Needless to say the fellows at Hereford agree.

      • Ralph ! Im not British but correct me now if i am wrong but is your nation not more than ooh thats right 250 some years while great britain is from long before christ and they battlede the Roman legions they are the reason your Language is not spanish or french so show some F***ing RESPECT. best regards a Dane.

        • …or…the celtic brits were completely disarmed by the Romans. Therefore when the Romans withdrew from Britain the Angles and Saxons (for practical purposes Danes and North Germans) were able to enslave the the Brits, which is why our language in America is Anglish (English) not a celtic dialect. Your point was?

        • So “M.”, the Limeys have had all this time and they still can’t get it right.

          That’s probably got something to do with why they were kicked out of the colonies.

        • M, you’re wrong.

          The term Great Britain was first used during the reign of King James I of England (James VI of Scotland) in 1603, to refer to the separate kingdoms of England and Scotland. on the same landmass, that were ruled over by the same monarch. Despite having the same monarch, both kingdoms kept their own parliaments.

          United Kingdom (The uniting of kingdoms)

          The ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’ was formed in 1707 by the Act of Union that created a single kingdom with a single Parliament. (Scotland has always retained its own legal system)

          A hundred years later the Act of Union of 1801 joined Ireland to ‘Great Britain’ and the name “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” was first used. (Since 1921 only Northern Ireland has been part of the United Kingdom and so the name changed).

          So, technically the “United Stats of America”, as a nation state and established in the 1700, has been around longer than “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and whomever they attempt to conquer.”

        • Ropingdown- The picts from Scotland were never beaten by the Romans. Get your goddamn facts right.

    • John,

      I cannot speak for everyone here, but I for one, and I am sure most, if not nearly every pro gunner who comments on this site, has donated funds, some like myself significant amounts, to the NRA and other various local and national gun rights organizations. In addition we take the time to write and call our representatives to express our displeasure and outrage with the efforts of the anti gun lobby and politicians to restrict and infringe our constitutionally protected rights at every governmental level. We insist that they support our constitutionally protected rights from the illogical assaults by the extremist anti gun lobbyists. It is no small effort on anyone’s part to fight the inroads that have been made to extinguish our rights and ultimately attempt to confiscate our firearms.

      So, I ask you, if you believe in the natural right of personal self defense for yourself and that of your loved ones, and that same right for all your fellow countrymen, with firearms when needed, what have you and your mates been doing to reestablish and secure those rights?

      I would hope to hear more than silence.

      • I live outside of the United States, and have been away for years, But after all that hullabaloo from obama’s band of retards after Sandy Hook, I have joined the NRA and contribute financially to several other gun rights groups in the United States. You stand as a beacon, with your Constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms, and as such, if you fall, so shall we all. Anyone who desires to take away a free person’s means to defend himself and his loved ones is my enemy wherever he might be. We stand against a common enemy without borders.

    • We aren’t lucky to have the 2nd Amendment. Our founders recognized the need for protection against an overreaching government, and Americans have fought like hell since then to retain that protection…in fact we fought you twice to keep it. The 2nd Amendment’s continued existence is a concerted effort to retain our freedom. The lack of a similar protection in the UK simply shows a lack of effort on your part to remain free.

      • Probably because America is comprised of free citizens and the UK/England is comprised of “subjects,” i.e., people who are property of the monarchy. That’s the fundamental difference between the two countries.

  21. Yeah the main reason I don’t donate to the NRA is simply because I’m back in school and working on a second degree

  22. Funny how in these picture galleries of police confiscations how they show some of the items multiple times to inflate the sense that they actually have a big haul.

    • Like the Police in America don’t exaggerate things. I remember hearing about an amnesty where they showed machine guns, These were shown to “represent” what was handed in which was actually and old broken shotgun.

  23. Seems to me that the criminals in the UK will use any kind of gun just to commit a felony. If anybody tells me how gun free UK is, I’ll just tell them about this story.

  24. I may not be a current NRA member but I have been in the past. Also I have sent funds to support pro 2A causes. From 12/2012-4/2013 I wrote multiple letters to my state legislators and those of multiple other states.

  25. Congrats Brits! You have squelched the insurrection. Now just please let my son stay at home when you get attacked again…

    • Turned up a few years late in WW1 and WW11, Did not help when we were attacked by Irish terrorists (help the terrorists though). Now Obama says he is neutral in Britain’s dispute with Argentina over The Falklands. Which country has been Helping America lately?

    • Are you stupid? When was the last time the UK were attacked? Did the US come to the aid of the UK when Argentina invaded the Falklands? No, in fact, Reagan wanted Maggie to hand over the Island to international peacekeepers. If your son goes to war it will be down to the US sticking her nose into something that doesn’t concerns them,like Vietnam. The US may not have had their arses kicked if the Brits had joined in. Royal Britannia

  26. These stories follow a set pattern, much like the stages of grief. First, we eagerly discern the number and make of firearms. Then, we compare them to our own collections. Some disparaging remarks are made about the police state in question, causing some of its residents take offense. After some argument, gun grab story dies with the reminder that heavy prison time for a closet full of broken antique and toy guns is exactly the nightmare we are fighting against.

  27. Gas CO2 BB guns, air guns, deactivated guns and airsoft most likely…none of which are illegal in the UK if used correctly.

    However wave any of these in a bank tellers face or a street and expect a visit from the old bill.

  28. To think, once one of the greatest empires the world has known. Now, OMG!!!!! An air rifle!!!!!

  29. Lets just say that if the brits looked in my safe I would make headlines for weeks and everything I have is completely legal here is the US.

  30. Tokarev TT-33, Walther P88, Walther PPK, Crossman 1337, 2 Baby Brownings, Makarov PM/PMM, Thompson SMG, Uzi SMG. Can anyone tell me what the revolver without a triggerguard is?

    • I’m not seeing either a Tok or a Mak in there, do see one that kind of looks like my P-64, and a Russian PPK knock-off

      • You’re right, I thought the top right pistol with the leather holster was a Tok at first glance, but the grip’s all wrong for one. Maybe the PPK knock-off was the Polish version?

  31. Hey now, the Brits have plenty of guns… All in the hands of Her Majesty’s soldiers, pointed directly at their heads. Idiots! 😛

  32. What do you call a Brit that took the best things about Britain, moved and started a new country?

    An American.

  33. when did Britain become California?

    classifying BB guns as “deadly weapons” in an “arsenal” is a trick the cops use when posting photos of raids all the time. Often using airsoft weapons and even including replicas of fictional Hollywood pieces like the pistol from the sci-fi movie Robocop (the original)

    they also nabbed some old guy for a “cache of high explosives” of under 4 pounds of black powder. Guy was a muzzleloading enthusiast and hunted a lot. But that’s all the cops could find so they needed to justify their actions somehow 🙁

    Britain gonna start busting people for possession of charcoal with intent to rebel soon?

  34. Well, what emerge is either:

    1) Gun ban is working? Or;
    2) UK police doesn’t go after criminals but after bully boys?

    In Italy as I think is in the rest of the world the great part of guns used for criminal activities are from illegal import so disarming citizens does’t affect the number of guns used by organized crimes.

  36. Eh, upon closer inspection it’s probably a Browning 19xx something or other. But he also had a pretty nice looking PPK, the jerk.

  37. Now enough of this beating up the UK and/or criticizing the USA. The common ground here is that we detest the UK gun laws (and hate the way things are starting to go State side) and we want the freedom to use our weapons for sport or other reasonable uses.
    I left the UK mainly due to Tony Bliar (Blair) and the war in Iraq but I also left because of the way the country was going. I have always liked weapons and like shooting so the UK is effectively off my radar. I have moved to France and within reason it offers 90% of what I would be able to do in the USA. Pistols, semi-autos etc with the advantage of silencers not being subject to stricter rules.
    So let’s not bash each other up. At this time we shooting types need to band together and fight hard against the misinformed media, crazy social networks and starry-eyed politicians. That’s why I’m a life time member of the NRA – and I’m not even American nor do I live in the USA.
    Fight hard and get organised folks or soon they will have it all their own way. The big danger for the US is the UN – watch them carefully.

      • Never keen in any country interfering in another’s affaire. Having worked in many countries in West Africa they are welcome to them. France likes to flex it’s ex-colonial muscles that’s it. Now the Chinese invade in a different way – they buy up everything.

  39. I also live in the UK.
    And I also don’t take exception to any statements about our gun laws.
    (Oh, one of our new parties: UKIP is promising to repeal the handgun ban if elected)
    Ironically there are parts of the UK where you can obtain a handgun legally.
    One of these is Northern Ireland. A place which has seen one or two firearm related deaths over the years.
    I know it’s still legal over there as I shot a CZ 75 and a HK .45 there a few years back. I’m still smiling, by the way.
    The reason they have different gun laws over there is due to “the responsible actions of the gun owners”. (I assume that means the ones without balaclavas).
    The article which led to this thread is one which also appeared on the BBC News website. Sometimes you can comment on these articles,and your comments appear on the thread but this one you couldn’t comment. Pity. I was going to tell them a was a bit silly.
    It was obvious that a lot of these “lethal weapons” weren’t.
    But you weren’t allowed to say that. And presumably these weapons were the pick of the bunch.
    It was a PR exercise. And not a very good one.

  40. English guy here. This is an example of poor sensationalist journalism you expect from these tabloid ‘newspapers’ regarding guns. Anyway from the pictures NONE of these are classed as antique or obsolete calibre (firearms which do not require a license), are air weapons anyway (perfectly legal) or deacs (again perfectly legal without a firearms certificate). This has nothing to do with legislation, it’s probably because they’d been used for robberies, etc. Sadly our media knows next to nothing about guns or firearms legislation.

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