An English Guns Story (Interview)
Jim's in-the-wall-safe, home built, 2 views
By George Devinny. March 2, 2026
After an initial introduction, I carried out a phone interview with Expat English gun owner Jim Harrison, to hear his story about past firearm experiences in the UK and how he has embraced our 2A in the U.S.A. I wanted to compare and contrast gun ownership in the UK with our U.S. situation. We may have our own problems here of course but the UK 'gun control' is beyond draconian.
I will share a transcript with you.
G: Jim, thank you for allowing me to ask you some questions and probe a bit. Let's start with matters concerning your shooting history - your introduction to firearms back in the UK and what you were eventually forced to give up etc.
J: Well, not actual firearms of course but initially I had numerous air weapons in my teens - pistol and rifle. These certainly gave a useful introduction with regard to safety, trigger control and general accuracy control. Between ages of 15 thru 18 I was an army cadet (sort of ROTC) and became part of the squad shooting team, beginning with precision .22 target shooting at 25 yards. Then progressed to joining the fullbore team, which involved competing at Bisley Camp using a Lee Enfield Mk lV in .303 with Parker Hale peep sights. This was at 200 and 500 yards, which was satisfyingly challenging. After this, not much shooting other than air weapons for about ten years.
G: Did you want to follow up though with rifle shooting?
J: To a degree yes, but I was in the stage of life involving college and also marriage etc, so shooting went pretty much on the back burner despite no loss of interest.
G: What was your next foray into firearms?
J: So, when I was twenty-eight, I got interested in shot gun shooting and bought a Spanish side-by-side 12G, using that mainly for occasional game shooting - note, I had to obtain a "Shotgun Certicate" just to make that purchase! That status lasted about another ten years when after a major move I was introduced to a local indoor small bore club, initially using range weapons, such as Anshutz rifles and Ruger pistols, after which I bought my own guns.
G: So, what was involved in achieving that and what did you get?
J: Aquisition of personal firearms involved obtaining a "Firearms Certificate" from the regional Police HQ - filling in forms, stating ''good reason" (range practice - ('self-defense' doesn't cut it)), listing weapons wanted for purchase and payment of a fee. Note here, there was no Second Amendment - it was all down to 'privilege' and even ammo purchases had to be recorded on the certificate!! I managed to find an excellent used BSA Martini action .22LR rifle and a Ruger MK l pistol, both of which served well for a few years with good competitive results.
G: Did your firearm's history progress any further from there?
J: Yes indeed. I got started on center fire following one of the small bore club members showing me his S&W M27 revolver, which he told me he used at another range, which was some distance away out in ''the sticks''. He made an introduction for me and I joined that club and began a lengthy aquisition of numerous guns over many years. I won't bother to describe all that I finished up with but suffice to say, at one point I had 24 hand guns and a few long arms.... having caught the 'collection bug' although pretty much everything got shot here and there, including some near antique classics.
G: How did you finish up with so many?
J: Some came from a local dealer but also many came thru a club member who had a dealer license - all that I wanted to get did however all have to be added to my Firearms Certicate by several 'variances', but beyond that the buying was simply a case of parting with money! Was I an addict? Probably, and did spend rather too much - (it's just an investment honey!.)
G: How did you manage with ammunition for everything?
J: Well, to make this 'addiction' affordable I built up over time some Lee reloading equipment and added numerous die calibers, primarily for pistol calibers, plus casting my own lead pistol bullets for economy. After a shoot (I and others) would dig thru the berm and retrieve spent bullets for the lead - later to be melted down and cast for new. This allowed to me to do a lot of competiton shooting fairly affordably - a typical weekend shoot consumed about 300 rounds of 38 Special at least plus usually some 9mm.
G: While I think of it, were you able to concealed carry a gun?
J: Hah - no way. Totally illegal and added to that, storage laws got tightened up such that (in theory!) everything had to locked up at all times except if on a range trip. I actually hand built a large in-the-wall safe - probably got a picture somewhere (see header picture).! It might be noted that anyone defending themselves in the UK is likely to be prosecuted - not the perpetrator.
G: You mentioned to me about things eventually going sour with guns in the UK but no specific details. Can you expand on this?
J: Sure. Well, the cracks began to appear in 1987, when an idiot called Michael Ryan went 'postal'. From a report synopsis "The Hungerford massacre was a spree shooting in Wiltshire and Berkshire, United Kingdom, which occurred on 19 August 1987 when 27-year-old Michael Ryan shot and killed sixteen people, including an unarmed police officer and his own mother, before killing himself. No firm motive for the killings has been established. " This does not mention that he used a semi-auto AK-47, and rumour had it was the cops that took him out!
G: Were there after effects of that on firearm possession I assume?
J: Because the crime was committed with a semi-auto rifle, a ban was implemented to totally ban any and all semi's, which for me meant I had to lose my Mini-14 and a 9mm Stirling carbine. Remember, ''they'' knew exactly what I had and where I lived etc - registration sucks eh! Had to turn them in eventually and accept partial financial recompense. The only up side, if any, was that when my dealer friend had sent them off to a proof house for deactivication - they eventually came back to him and thence to me at no cost - and I was then able to sell them both as wall hangers for useful money!
G: That certainly was a painful experience but what about your other numerous guns?
J: After this things seemed to calm down such that I still had all my handguns, bolt rifles, lever rifle, a couple of shotguns and some black powder pieces. Pistol shooting continued regularly plus other occasional competitions and range visits to shoot everything! Needless to say, and more so since the Ryan murders, the anti-gun paranoid ''Joe Public'' was still behaving in the usual way and calling for a ban on all guns in public possession.... the government was almost perched like a vulture waiting for the ideal excuse to try just that.
G: I remember you saying that you had to lose all your handguns. How did that come about? 1996 I think you said.
J: Yes - painfull story. Here's a basic report on the Hamilton murders which were the ultimate death knell. The report synopsis said: "The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton killed 16 pupils and one teacher and injured 15 others before killing himself. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in British history." This lunatic used a .44 mag Ruger Redhawk I seem to recall and what was really hard to swallow was that there had been many warning signs regarding his mental state- enough to have probably enabled the cops to rescind his certificate. Needless to say, the school had no way to resist the attack.
G: I presume all that meant a further law change?
J: I seem to remember that the then Home Secretary Douglas Heard took immediate action - the excuse that had been long awaited of course. The end result made it mandatory to turn in any and all handguns by some date in September '96, after which I daresay prison could have been in the offing (as I said earlier, I only 'enjoyed' a mere registered 'privilege'). I still painfully remember only too well, loading the car with a trunk full of 24 handguns and unloading them at the police department. Over time, and slowly after much paper work, my claims for compensation began to trickle in and actually payment was surprisingly almost reasonable in the end, but hardly what was wanted compared with the awful loss of my collection.
G: I feel for you for sure. After all that what did you have left, if anything?
J: Let's see - a Mauser K-98 bolt rifle in .308 Win, a .22LR Mauser Oberndorfe bolt rifle, an Enfield .303 bolt Jungle carbine and a couple of shotguns. Pretty much had me cleared out!
G: Now you are here of course, but what's the story that got you into the U.S. and how you rekindled your enjoyment of firearms?
J: Long story George but I'll try and be fairly brief as we've been talking a long time already.
G: No problem Jim - just give us an outline.
J: Suffice to say, I had contact over email with a U.S. lady in 2000 (I had been divorced from a first marriage) and everything gelled such that I made a visit in March 2000, which included seeing my son who was already over here. Everything worked out such that we married later that year. I started application for citizenship and eventually after just regular visits made my final move over in October of 2001 to settle. I did manage to import my few remaining guns referred to before and after a year or so aquired a green card.... and then began to carry full time, just a 'snubby' back then. By 2005 I achieved my citizenship and over the years since managed to rebuild my gun collection to a reasonable degree.
G: That sounds quite a success story. Have you done any training and do you shoot regularly for practice?
J: Well I used to make regular range time but age has taken its toll and so, much less these days. I did several years back take an NRA course to qualify for instructor and range officer etc, which was well worth the time and I did quite a lot of instruction to help out folks new to firearms, which was very rewarding.
G: So, here we are well into 2025. Where do you see things going looking ahead and comparing with the past several years?
J: Have to say there is quite some optimism compared with even a couple of years ago - with our new administration settled in it appears as though we may stand a better chance of seeing things like National reciprocity and Permitless carry etc, although we have to remember how many states are severely anti 2A and will resist anything remotely positive. The battle will probably continue with semi-auto rifles (I prefer the term 'self-loader'), so carelessly called ''assault'' weapons, that are continuously put under threat. By the way, I wish maybe the ATF could loose the "F" and just deal with alcohol and tobacco - let FBI look after firearms with respect to crime usage - leave us good guys the hell alone!
G: There has seemed to be a disasterous trend, particularly in some states, where a rightful defender uses a firearm in last resort only to be left out to dry, with the bad guy seemingly being lauded and barely even prosecuted. What are your views on self defense in general?
J: Well, first of all I consider that defense of the self is an innate right although personally I would rather deal with a situation through avoidance if possible or perhaps judicious use of pepper spray, but ultimately of course, use of lethal force may be the only option in order to survive. I pray to never have to go that route. Note my earlier comment re UK self defense - dont try it if you don't want to be prosecuted.
G: I have to agree with you on that Jim. What about gun laws and local restrictions etc - how do these figure in your assessment of the status quo these days?
J: Without droning on a lot more George, let's just say that we have way too many gun laws and the old adage "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws have guns" is still painfully valid. While we also remember "shall not be infringed" - all those against legal gun possession, despite complaining about "gun violence", just never seem to inspect the equation which shows clearly that no amount of banning will or can ever halt criminal use, and I mean ever. Some have expressed the opinion that even with all legal guns banned, there are enough in criminal hands alone to start a small war. Oh and gotta mention, the farce of "Gun-free Zones" hmmm - such typical attempts to supposedly prevent crime with firearms and yet, it is obvious that crooks will never obey such restrictions - in fact possibly quite the opposite. I'll stop there George, before we need another hour or two (laughs).
G: Well Jim - we've certainly covered some ground and it's good that at least you have been able to sort of recover from your UK experience and now enjoy your Second Amendment rights despite all those who wish to see it abolished. We continue our battles. Thank you for being so kind as to indulge my interview.
J: You're welcome George, thank you, and I am like many hoping for more improvements yet. There have been a number of encouraging signs but it does seem even now there are many things 'up-in-the-air' and as yet undecided or finalized -- typically NFA, "assault'' weapons and magazines -- not to mention many of the worst states still trying to do everything possible to infringe on our rights.
