What does a gun mean in British media?
Posted by mvslice@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 144 comments
Example: Sherlock (2010)- John Watson owns a semi-automtic handgun in London. I'm pretty sure most Americans did not even question why a veteran owns a gun, because I didn't when I first watched it. Upon rewatching the show, all I could think was how that gun is definitely not legal in London, and wondering how the hell he even got it?
The meaning of the gun changed dramatically for me. It tells me that he's far more dangerous than he lets on, and he is as morally gray (grey) character as Sherlock.
Watson's gun seems unrealistic to me now, to the point I see it as a borderline plot hole. I can see the logic in an older character, like Wilfred on Doctor Who, owning a Webley revolver. I'd assume they just never surrendered it after the 1997 ban, and is why they're always hidden.
teedeeguantru@reddit
In the original Conan Doyle stories it was unremarkable that Watson would have his old Army revolver.
WillBots@reddit
People in the UK can own guns, it's not illegal as long as you apply for a licence and are able to pass the background checks. People just don't.
Arnoave@reddit
A friend of mine's dad was an equine vet and had a very large handgun, I think a desert eagle or something, so like a .45 or .50 calibre specifically for putting down horses. It was fully licensed and legal for him to have, but there were all kinds of restrictions on how he was supposed to store and transport it. I don't know the exact legal niceties but as I understand it, because horses can't be put down quickly with drugs, a large calibre bullet to the head is still considered the most humane way and a handgun is preferred over a long gun because it's more controllable at close range or something.
mvslice@reddit (OP)
Is this him?
Arnoave@reddit
Haha, I don't think Bullet-Tooth's gun was licensed!
Now that I think back, it can't have been a Desert Eagle because when my mate showed me it ("hey, wanna see something cool?" Proceeds to furtively retrieve the gun from the safe) it was definitely a revolver and not a pistol.
mvslice@reddit (OP)
A Desert Eagle would explode a horses head and hit whatever was on the other side.
Arnoave@reddit
I mean, the horse would die quick though, right?
mvslice@reddit (OP)
It would have definitely killed your friend's childhood.
Arnoave@reddit
Yeah he definitely made him watch at least one ~~execution~~ euthanization. I was also present at another one where we were both told to stay in the car but we heard the bang
mvslice@reddit (OP)
A Desert Eagle would make it an execution.
presterjohn7171@reddit
An ex military doctor with a few connections could have got away with owning a revolver at home probably up until about 1996 and the Dunblane massacre. After that I presume it would require a connection with Mi6 or 5. I suppose Mycroft Holmes could have arranged something though.
mvslice@reddit (OP)
It's in the first episode. Watson has Browning Hi-Power, which at the time was the service pistol of the British army, in his drawer.
Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit
Yes, you're meant to be shocked by it.
I have never seen a handgun in the UK in my entire life. That includes working at a barracks and a brief spell as a cadet. I have encountered assault rifles (only in the hands of armed services on duty) and shotguns (farmers at work). I don't think I have ever been present during live fire.
There are a very few legal ways to own private firearms in the UK, but none of them involves concealed carry. It's slightly less concerning when Sherlock shoots up the flat out of boredom, because (1) he is at home and (2) we aren't supposed to think he's normal.
insomnimax_99@reddit
You can legally own a handgun and carry it concealed in Northern Ireland in exceptional circumstances, if the police determine that there is a genuine risk to your life.
https://www.psni.police.uk/sites/default/files/2023-11/Personal%20Protection%20Weapons%2028%20March%202023.pdf
jabby_jakeman@reddit
It seems incredible to me now thinking about it that even with the end of ‘the troubles’ that the police in Northern Ireland still carry firearms. I remember my uncle (who was in the RUC) showing me his pistol when he came round to my grannies house at lunchtime one day. I was only about 6 or 7 at the time and this was mid 70’s. Seems like a different world now, but maybe it isn’t.
FormalHeron2798@reddit
Indeed sadly the odd shooting of police officers still happens, such as in Omagh just a couple of years ago, or booby trapped car bombs like happened to an officer in high-field and that was in the 2010’s
jabby_jakeman@reddit
I’m from Omagh. I know what you mean.
DameKumquat@reddit
Given how many police in central London are now armed (admittedly I work in Westminster, but all the ones round Downing St and Parliament have big rifles), NI is less of a stand-out nowadays.
FormalHeron2798@reddit
Indeed i think for most NI viewers watson having a hand gun didn’t even give a second thought, like of course he has one
adeo54331@reddit
You can legally carry a handgun anywhere in the U.K., you just need a section 5
LordLuciferVI@reddit
This is rubbish. Section 5 firearms are prohibited weapons that you are absolutely not allowed to legally own
https://www.jdspicer.co.uk/site/blog/crime-fraud/section-5-firearm-offences-a-guide#:~:text=Under%20Section%205%20of%20the%20Firearms%20Act%2C%20the%20following%20weapons,%2C%20burst%2Dfire%20weapons).
FitSolution2882@reddit
You need written permission from the Home Secretary - so you absolutely can if you have that. The same way those mercenaries are allowed to carry automatic weapons on British ships going through certain waters.
LordLuciferVI@reddit
Section 5 includes burst fire weapons or any firearm that emits two or more projectiles with one pull of the trigger, is not for mainland uk civilian use, so no you can’t just get written permission from the Home Secretary.
Under very limited circumstances you can own a handgun in the uk, it will appear on a section 1 firearms certificate alongside rifles and such but with added special conditions.
FitSolution2882@reddit
Yet again, you're wrong.
"Normal" handguns ARE included in the section 5 legislation (as are tasers and bloody GMPGs- not that it matters).
So yes, technically, you CAN own a section 5 weapon - with written permission from the Home Secretary.
adeo54331@reddit
You are correct mate, the way our law works if it was “illegal” the cops couldn’t carry them.
I have intricate knowledge of how it works… and have shot dozens of handguns in the uk. But it’s Reddit and everyone needs an “akkkktualllllly” 😂
heilhortler420@reddit
PSNI are also the only territorial force to arm all officers for obvious reasons
All other fully armed forces like the MOD police or Civil Nuclear Constabulary are considered special police
adeo54331@reddit
City of London
heilhortler420@reddit
City police arent regularly armed
adeo54331@reddit
I stand corrected, I thought they were.
heilhortler420@reddit
Its understanable with all the shit they have to guard
adeo54331@reddit
That must be it, I always see armed ones I suppose, or maybe don’t notice the others ? Will keep an eye next time I am in town
heilhortler420@reddit
You probably already know this but check the hats
City police have red & white checkerboard instead of black & white
Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit
Good correction. I'll edit.
Amanensia@reddit
No live fire as a cadet? My (state) school had a rifle range and armoury and I was shooting rifles at 14.
Cooprossco@reddit
He said handgun
FormalHeron2798@reddit
Tbf a air pistol is still a handgun, they never said the calibre
fail_happy@reddit
I think this shows the huge cultural difference between UK/US
Amanensia@reddit
I’m UK.
fail_happy@reddit
I assumed American because you referred to state, apologies!
Tay74@reddit
A state school is the opposite of a private school, a school ran by the state
Perite@reddit
I’m only being annoying, but don’t you love that public and private schools are sort of the same thing in the UK, and state schools are what everyone else would think public schools are
Ginger_Tea@reddit
I had to re read because it was written (state) school.
Thinking a school in the states and a thing in the UK are two different things. Then I thought "state school?" and the brackets made sense, but still felt needless.
cbawiththismalarky@reddit
Yep my school had a range as well
ImBonRurgundy@reddit
No handguns. He said he had seen rifles.
This matches my experience as a cadet, plenty of rifle firing, and my dad owned two shotguns for game hunting (pheasants) but I have never seen a real handgun, only airsoft replicas
scorpiomover@reddit
Plenty in gun shops.
redrighthand_@reddit
This just reminded me of the time at a CCF camp we were allowed to sneak off to shoot handguns providing we didn’t tell anyone. Doubt that would happen now.
theslowrunningexpert@reddit
That’s so much bullshit you could spread it across a farm
redrighthand_@reddit
If you’re after a response, I have a little interest in explaining something that happened 18 or so years ago
theslowrunningexpert@reddit
You don’t have to respond mate, I’m just calling out the bullshit. I’ve heard some dits over the years but CCF cadets cutting around with handguns on their own is shit gen
redrighthand_@reddit
Never did I saw it was ‘on their own’.
Have a fantastic evening.
Rudybus@reddit
Me too, I was an air cadet and fired thousands of rounds - i actually managed the squadron's armoury at 16! Also got to handle a semi automatic handgun on a visit to a military base.
ToriaLyons@reddit
I shot a handgun at Pony Club camp in the early '90s. The range was in a farmer's shed.
mr_mlk@reddit
There are the same number of legal ways to own private firearms in London as the rest of the UK (except NI, which has a bonus method).
For most people this means join a club, pass probation. There are clubs in and around London, including ones that shoot the small number of UK legal handguns.
1901pies@reddit
And,. presumably, farmers' mums at work.
ThinkingKettle4@reddit
While Dad's out selling apples (and raspberries)?
Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit
mems
YsoL8@reddit
Only places I've ever seen any kind of gun are armed police at airports, and I think the tube. Still remembered being shocked by it the first time.
ecapapollag@reddit
I saw a handgun as a kid (I was maybe 7), out on a shelf. Told my mum and I never went back to that house again, she made sure of that! In retrospect, it was strange that my friend's dad, living in Hampstead, was responsible for me seeing a gun, rather than one of the many dodgy families living on my council estate in Hackney.
90210fred@reddit
Twice in UK pubs - don't ask, but rest assured the individuals were lifted by some nice men in blue.
I'm also aware that generations of my family before me had 'service revolvers' left over - in one case, officially.
I think the original plot line of service revolver is very realistic - contemporaneous gun laws were v lax
Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit
Contemporaneous: to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Martin Freeman?
The tv Watson is returning from Afghanistan in ~2009.
90210fred@reddit
ACD but you have to take some liberties when updating
scorpiomover@reddit
It’s fiction.
In fiction, people can be right next to an explosion and not get hit by shrapnel. NOT.
mvslice@reddit (OP)
This is the most literal application of Chekhov's Gun
Lego-105@reddit
I’ve known people with service members firearms. There’s more than you’d think. It’s not unrealistic to own one in those circumstances. But you’d never see it, it is a lot more unrealistic for anyone to carry it or take it out because you wouldn’t get very far with it, especially in London.
mvslice@reddit (OP)
Would a civilian (non-active) realistically be able to obtain a handgun in London, regardless of legality? I doubt they were able to walk off with their service pistols.
Black market guns are obviously a thing, but they require connections and a lot of money. Even then, the guns are generally older and of low quality.
Lego-105@reddit
Yes, you can fairly easily obtain a gun. There’s a lot of gangs in London with guns. If you wanted to find a gun, it’s dangerous, but it isn’t hard. I’ve known people personally from bad areas, not London particularly, that had guns.
You can’t just walk off with a service pistol, but people have kept them. Doesn’t mean you’re allowed to or that it isn’t controlled, but people do do it.
mvslice@reddit (OP)
Most of the guns I've seen confiscated in the UK are older small frame revolvers, and those guns are often linked to multiple suspects in multiple homicides. This would suggest to me that getting a gun is not easy, and is definitely not cheap.
Armed police use modern assault rifles and body armour, so why "God forbid?"
kingoflames@reddit
Idk about ex forces, but it really isn't that easy for an average Joe to get a gun in London. Yes, some gangs have them, but usually they want to keep them for themselves. And if you're looking to buy, they're not just going to sell them to anyone. It's not Tesco lmao. No gang is going to sell a gun to a guy like Watson, that scenario would just be screaming this guy is with the police and trying to get me arrested
Lego-105@reddit
I’m not saying it’s simple, but it’s not black and white either. Just as much as they’re not looking to sell, you could do it fairly easily at the right price. It would just depend how he went about it. But I wasn’t saying a guy like Watson would do that anyway. I was treating them as separate questions.
Any_Weird_8686@reddit
If he wasn't ex-army, it would probably break my immersion... but he is. Without actually checking the laws, it seems and seemed plausible to me, given his army background.
DameKumquat@reddit
It's blatantly illegal, but not 100% surprising that he has acquired a gun from when on military service and managed to avoid handing it in when he left the army.
I can't remember how often he shoots it in Sherlock, but acquiring more ammo would be a problem. Though if it's a standard-issue UK Army weapon, he probably knows a mate who could stock him up, on the understanding he isn't going round murdering people.
KlownKar@reddit
My favourite use of a gun in Sherlock is when they need to call the police in a hurry so, Sherlock walks out of the front door and fires a couple of shots in the air and walks back in saying "That should do it!"
I've often wondered what American viewers make of that. As Brits we tend to believe that random gunshots in an American city, whilst obviously attracting attention, isn't necessarily going to bring the police running. I wonder if that's true, or if it's just an assumption we make after watching too many American films/shows?
DameKumquat@reddit
I imagine being on the posh side of town makes a difference just like in the UK. Shooting on Baker St - response. Same noise on the Brixton Road - people dropping to the ground but no response (from experience - one was actually my car, other probably was shots but I wasn't going to investigate!)
cookj1232@reddit
Depends on what gun. A rifle or a shotgun isn’t uncommon and lawful. A handgun means they’re a well connected criminal.
fearlessfoo49@reddit
Or a reasonably well-off enthusiast. Although extremely rare and difficult to obtain, one can still own certain handguns in the UK providing they are “of historical importance”. It’s a very niche law though and if I remember correctly you have to store the pistol at a range, not your house.
StrawberryIll9842@reddit
You can have any antique firearms without a licence, including pistols. Antique meaning made before a certain date ( 1913 springs to mind but not sure) or in an obsolete calibre like 5mm pinfire.
Definitely don't bring them to ranges though the range wardens get very excited about that sort of thing.
Black powder pistols you do need to have on FAC and do have rules like you said
fearlessfoo49@reddit
It’s not limited to black powder or antique firearms. You can have a Glock 17 providing you have the right certificate slot and can prove its historical significance.
hhfugrr3@reddit
It doesn't mean that at all, you can get a firearms certificate that allows you to own a handgun. I have a Walther PPQ .22 semi auto pistol and a .357 revolver. In England, the handguns have to have shrouds that look like moderators on the end of the barrel and a bit of metal sticking out the end so you can't pop them in your coat pocket. In NI you can get just normal handguns though.
AlexG55@reddit
What I actually found more unlikely was one of the early Jodie Whitaker episodes of Doctor Who (the one with the big spiders) where an American businessman has armed bodyguards in the UK and the Doctor's companion Yaz, who is supposed to be a police officer, doesn't see anything wrong with this.
AlexG55@reddit
What I actually found more unlikely was one of the early Jodie Whitaker episodes of Doctor Who (the one with the big spiders) where an American businessman has armed bodyguards in the UK and the Doctor's companion Yaz, who is supposed to be a police officer, doesn't see anything wrong with this.
themrjakey10@reddit
Vernon Dursley owning a gun in the Harry Potter series, is it fair to call that unrealistic?
AlexG55@reddit
There's a difference.
Vernon Dursley IIRC has a shotgun. It's not that hard to get a shotgun certificate in the UK (you just need to persuade the police that you're of good character/not mentally unstable and have a safe place to store it). It would be completely realistic for someone with Vernon's personality and social position (social-climbing reasonably-wealthy businessman who fancies himself as landed gentry) to have a shotgun to use for either clay pigeons or pheasant/grouse if he's blagged an invitation to a shoot.
(It may be called a rifle at one point in the books- it's harder to get a firearms certificate for a rifle, but not that much harder.)
On the other hand, if he buys one at very short notice, that's probably unrealistic unless he's either willing and able to do it illegally (and I don't see him having the right sort of connections) or friends with a Chief Constable who can fast-track his application for a certificate.
Watson, however, has a pistol. That's very illegal in modern Britain- he would have been able to carry one on duty in the army, but he's committing a crime with a mandatory minimum 5-year sentence by owning it.
(Though in a similar case where a soldier illegally brought back a gun, he only got a 2-year suspended sentence because of exceptional circumstances)
L9GTX@reddit
It stuck out to me as well. Can only speculate, but I suspect they were trying to just breeze past it (it is, of course, taken straight from the Doyle Watson who carries his service revolver - and the same explanation for how he got it seems pretty strongly implied here) rather than expecting people to pick up on and draw conclusions about Watson from how seriously illegal it was.
You get the odd other weird moment as well - one of the early episodes talks about how it's supposedly difficult for Chinese people to get an "exit visa", as though them leaving the country was a rare privilege.
Mcby@reddit
On the first part I disagree, as a British viewer. The comment here is right imo:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1lzt38t/comment/n345g1c/
It's meant to portray him as a dangerous individual specifically because it's a handgun: rifles might be used by the military, or in rare cases the police, and shotguns by farmers, but handguns are usually only seen in the hands of criminals in popular media. In this case he's ex-military, but even then obtaining ammunition would not be easy – I wouldn't say most viewers thought it through that much but him owning a handgun at all, and certainly one that's more than a trophy piece, is meant to surprise and, to a degree, shock.
Exact_Setting9562@reddit
It must have been covered in the opening episode but he's ex military and returning from fighting in Afghanistan. Didn't he get wounded there ?
It's not unheard of for soldiers to bring captured weapons back - but I've only ever heard of it through court cases where they've been found out and prosecuted.
I think it's just handy for the plot.
I seem to recall that the original stories have Watson with a revolver. Guns seem to have been more common back then - at least in literature. I don't think the average person would.
MrMonkeyman79@reddit
A gun means they own a gun. That could mean they're connected with organised crime, it could be to show they're into countryside pursuits which includes shooting (usually short hand for quite rich too, but sometimes simply a farmer) or it could mean, like Watson, they're ex military, trained to use firearms and have a license.
Guns aren't banned in the UK, we just have fairly strict controls as to who can get a license and what sort of guns they can own.
behemuffin@reddit
Handguns with a barrel of less than 30cm (except for muzzle loaders and airguns) are banned outright in the UK since 1997. A member of the general public cannot legally own these type of guns and there is no licence available.
strangesam1977@reddit
Handguns sub 30/60 are not banned outright but are much harder to obtain for civilians in the mainland UK
They may be possessed as either:
7.1 (historical, kept at home can’t be shot)
7.3 (historical, kept at designated site, may be shot)
for humane dispatch (vets, hunters) generally limited to 2 shots by pinning the magazine or welding up chambers in a revolver. Derringer style pistols are quite common too.
And as mentioned, muzzle loading pistols or air pistols (sub 6ftlb).
Organisations, for example security companies, firearms dealers and manufacturers, museums, can obtain sec5 authority from the Home Secretary and possess and use sec5 firearms subject to their licence.
Ragnarsdad1@reddit
Section 7.1 allows members of the public to own handguns for collection purposes. Section 7.3 allows the public to own and use handguns and specified target ranges.
You also have section 58 which allows the opublic to own handguns of obselete calibre. The calibre list is updated as people were buying the guns and then making their own ammunition ilegally.
behemuffin@reddit
Yes, but-
Section 7 refers to firearms of 'historic interest', specifically ones manufactured before January 1st 1919. Any gun owned by Conan Doyle's Watson would fall under Section 7. Martin Freeman's, not so much.
Members of the Olympic squad are not the general public.
Ragnarsdad1@reddit
No, Section 7.1 refers firearms manufacturerd before 1919.
Section 7.3 applies to any firearms of historical importance.
There is a bloke at my local designated site with a collection of pistols that have been used in british army trials with everything up to an including glock and sig pistols (Martin freeman's sig 226 would be a prime example). post ww2 pistols are harder to justify but if you can explain the historical importance then you can get pretty much anything you want.
a good example is a collection of enfield revolvers. These would span section 58 obselete calibre, section 7.1 pre 1919 (not falling into obselete or readily available categorys, and section 7.3 post 1919 readily available calibre pistols that are part of a collection.
The details are all in the guide to firearms licensing law.
You can also have a look on some of the dealer websites, highwood classic arms does a good line in browning hi power pistols as well as ww2 walther pistols all under section 7.3
the bigger issue isn't the licensing aspect, it is the cash you need.
bopeepsheep@reddit
They are banned but do sometimes still show up in odd places. Gun clubs sometimes get enquiries from opportunist 'collectors', which are duly passed on to authorities, and I know of at least two post-97 "we were clearing Grandad's attic" finds in the last decade or so.
DirtyBeastie@reddit
GB, not the UK, as the law doesn't apply in NI. And, while it is very difficult, Section 5 licences do exist, but they're processed by the Home Office, not your local police force.
behemuffin@reddit
Fair point re GB/UK - being English I often fail to properly apply the distinction.
Section 5 licences (as far as I'm aware) aren't issued to the general public, which is what I meant, although I'll admit I wasn't clear on that.
DirtyBeastie@reddit
Yes, they're not issued for personal use in GB, but they can be for professional use.
Cheasepriest@reddit
Exactly, guns certainly aren’t banned, and you can own a 338 lp or even 50bmg rifle if you want so long as it’s not semiautomatic, but hand guns are a big no no. Unless it’s something like a webley or Ross in an obsolete calibre, then no license needed, as you can’t buy the rounds easily anyway.
richard0cs@reddit
It is not unknown for soldiers to bring guns home, not something service-issued but something found or taken in a war zone. Not legal, but it happens, and yes it would feed into Watson being morally grey. Given their inability to buy ammunition, most such guns probably sit in a drawer somewhere as trophies. Ultimately if they are never used, legal consequences are unlikely.
Of course Sherlock Holmes was originally written in a time period when the UK had essentially zero gun regulation and a middle class gentleman like a doctor could simply walk into a shop and buy one. I think that's part of of it, and something i had in mind when watching it.
DTH2001@reddit
What I find depressing is that in the original books Watson was a veteran of the, then current, war in Afghanistan. In the BBC series Watson is a veteran of the, then current, war in Afghanistan
YsoL8@reddit
Afghanistan - where empire go to die
Their tourist board should run with it
buttwarm@reddit
Kipling's poem Arithmetic on the Frontier gives you and idea of how depressingly similar both wars were.
mvslice@reddit (OP)
Thank you for this answer! I did not even think about the ammunition issue, even though I live in one of the few states that actually requires a license to buy ammunition.
cgknight1@reddit
depends on the gun type? people are surprised that I grew in a council house but we had shotguns (and my brother still does).
DirtyBeautifulLove@reddit
I grew up on a S London council estate, I've got an SGC and had an FAC for years. My dad (who was literally a bin man) had an SGC too.
Bashwhufc@reddit
Please elaborate on your acronyms? I have no idea what they mean
Sea-Anxiety-9273@reddit
S - South SGC - Shotgun Certificate (means you can buy shotguns) FAC - Firearms Certificate (means you can buy certain other firearms in a case by case basis)
Bashwhufc@reddit
Thank you!
iamdecal@reddit
South London
Shot Gun Certificate
Fire Arms Certificate
MaizeGlittering6163@reddit
Shotgun Certificate and Firearms Certificate I presume.
cgknight1@reddit
My brother is a bin man.
Tramorak@reddit
I lived in suburban London and had shotguns for a couple of years. Had to move them on when the house I moved to didn't have the required storage or adaptable space.
Superspark76@reddit
It is possible to get a licence for a handgun in UK and you can bet a carry licence if you have a valid reason for it.
We have gun control licencing, it doesn't mean we don't have guns.
TWOITC@reddit
Guns are not as illegal in the UK as most people think.
handguns are banned but semi automatic rifles are legal.
Want a UZI or an AK47, legal in the UK
I wouldn't rate your chances of getting a licence to own one as high, though.
https://www.businessinsider.com/guns-you-can-legally-buy-in-the-uk-2016-4#you-can-even-get-an-uzi-in-22lr-8
ashyjay@reddit
Not quite. handguns can be legal providing they have a fixed stock and a barrel of a certain length. Semi-auto rifles are only allowed if they are chambered in .22LR anything larger is illegal or has to be bolt action or straight pull. Shotguns can be semi-auto if you have a FAC.
One thing that does throw Americans off is that moderators(suppressors) are fully legal and encouraged without requiring a separate application.
vishbar@reddit
They do actually require a separate slot on an FAC at the moment. But they’re changing this soon!
Aggravating_Ad5632@reddit
Only for powder burners or FAC air rifles.
Yep! 🙂
vishbar@reddit
True! Air rifle mods don’t need anything.
funkmachine7@reddit
Semi auto shotguns are legal on a shotgun ticket but there limited in capacity.
FAC shotguns get a unlimited capacity, short overall length, different ammo ect.
Numbers929@reddit
While yes you can technically get a semi automatic rifle in the UK, it’s pretty important to specify that it’s rimfire only and not centerfire ammunition. The only rimfire ammunition you will commonly find is .22lr and that’s about it. Rimfire rounds just can’t handle the higher loads that a centerfire round can and they’re much more prone to failures. The only two real uses for .22lr is cheap target shooting and hunting rabbits, birds, squirrels, etc.
Could you kill someone with it? Yeah, still a bullet but it’s the firearm equivalent of a butter knife to a cleaver. So any UZI, AK47 or AR15 in the UK is basically just a little target shooting rifle wrapped up in a prettier package.
DirtyBeastie@reddit
Handguns aren't banned, they're Section 5, which greatly reduces the legitimate reasons for having one, but it doesn't outright ban them.
Knackermen have handguns, for instance. You can also pistol shoot at various Home Office approved clubs.
Also, these laws only apply to GB, not NI, which doesn't have the same restrictions.
audigex@reddit
In the 1880s (when Sherlock Holmes was first based), guns were more common
I just assumed that the modern recreation kept it to be more consistent with the original stories, but yes it would be highly unusual in modern Britain
worldworn@reddit
From what I can remember, the gun was his service weapon. I guessed he just didn't return it.
For the audience it was a reminder of his background, and a bit of a mcguffin to make the show more dangerous and deal with armed villains.
Crichtenasaurus@reddit
You remember correctly and it’s actually a lift from the original stories where it was a revolver and perfectly normal
Ginger_Tea@reddit
Normal at the time of writing, but out of place in modern London.
Crichtenasaurus@reddit
Yes maybe a few years before Dunblane and Hungerford.
Kayanne1990@reddit
Yeah. Owning a gun instantly makes someone more dangerous, more skilled, and if they're a hero, taken more seriously. Normal people don't have guns. Only criminals and super skilled people have a gun. In a soup opera, a character getting a gun is a signal that they are VERY bad news because why would anyone want or need a gun if they didn't plan on murdering someone. Realism in guns isn't really bothered about. It's more just a character prop. No-one cares about realism too much.
NinjafoxVCB@reddit
All you need to do is look up how many weapons the british army and even police have lost over the years. Not including the option of converting blank firing etc guns.
It is also possible to get a section 5 firearms license and to convert the pistol back (change the extended barrel and remove the added stock). Not saying it's common or easy but it's certainly possible for it to happen hence every now and then criminals will use them.
it_is_good82@reddit
Being caught with illegal firearm is one the easiest and surest ways of being sent down for a long time in the UK.
And given that neither the police nor security guards (typically) carry them, there's no reason for criminals to either - unless they are afraid of other 'crazy' criminals.
spaceshipcommander@reddit
A "gun" isn't really how we would describe a legal firearm.
In England we would describe a legally held shotgun as a "shotgun" and a rifle as a "rifle", "full bore / centrefire" or "rimfire".
The reason being is probably because that's how they are licensed. We are granted an individual licence for each type of firearm we wish to own. To obtain a licence to begin with requires a certain amount of knowledge. Telling me you've got a gun tells me you haven't got a clue what you're talking about. Telling me you've got a rimfire that you use for pest control is the more common way of saying it.
Same would go for being pulled over by police. I wouldn't just say, "I've got a gun." I'd probably say something like, "I have a rifle and two shotguns in the boot officer. I can show you my certificate if you require."
thegreyman1986@reddit
Well Watson’s gun is supposed to be a Browning Hi-Power if I remember correctly, which was designated L9A1 in the armed forces at the time of his service, however the one in the show was a Sig P226… considering he was an RAMC Doctor and would have been issued that model of sidearm at the time, it says he served in Afghanistan before he was shot so my assumption is that someone smuggled his sidearm out of Afghanistan for him (perhaps claiming it was lost during the firefight that lead to his injury) and that’s how he came to possess and keep it.
Remember in a later episode at a wedding his friend and former superior in the Army also had a handgun that he was going to shoot himself with so perhaps he was the one who smuggled it out for John or had some connections
Did_OJ_Simpson_do_it@reddit
Haven't seen it. Is it set in the 19th century like the original Sherlock Holmes books? If so, it was legal to own a gun without a certificate back then.
Anguskerfluffle@reddit
No. Modern.
prustage@reddit
It just indicates that he was in the military. Doctor Watson fought in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, which took place between 1878 and 1880. He was wounded (he is supposed to walk with a slight limp) and it was quite usual for ex-servicemen to keep their service revolver in Victorian times.
MattySingo37@reddit
When Conan Doyle was writing, officers had to purchase their own equipment, including swords and pistols.
blurdyblurb@reddit
In the modern version he served in Afghanistan
Puzzleheaded_Art_465@reddit
The show he is talking about is an adaptation of the books set in modern times the 2010s
Ruadhan2300@reddit
Not so usual in the modern-day setting of Sherlock, with Benedict Cumberbatch.
beingthehunt@reddit
There are some things that we accept in tv and film because it makes for a better story even though it's unrealistic. People who get hit on the back of the head go unconscious for a few minutes/hours with no permanent brain damage, cars always explode when they go over a cliff and ex-military personnel keep their gun when then leave.
klc81@reddit
Guns aren't unheard oif, they're just not as ubiquitous as they are in the US.
Hang out in the right(wrong) pub and someone will try to sell you one.
AdPale1469@reddit
It means that you are watching a work of fiction.
In the news it means somebody got pew pew'ed and somebody is going to prison for it.
What does it mean in America?
just another 2sday?
OldLondon@reddit
I’m so confused what you’re asking.. it’s either a gun for go shooty bang bang, or it’s a metaphor, mostly the first but depends on whatever you’re watching
Mr_Bumcrest@reddit
It's a fantasy.
chewmypaws@reddit
You know it's a fictional show?
Independent-Fun-3741@reddit
Your dick
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