Violent Crime and Disorder Bill

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Hoffman Grink

Violent Crime and Disorder Bill

Post by Hoffman Grink »

Some one has just passed me this bit of advice regarding my intended campaign against this.
IT makes a lot of sense and I urge you all to follow the advice.
Also please repost this as many places as you can where people who are affected can see it and take action.

There is frankly no way to stop this Bill, but we don’t need to, all we need is some reasonable amendments to it. The only way that will happen is if you physically go and see your MPs. Make an appointment and go and see them. Get everyone you know to go and see them.



This is the sixth prohibition I’ve come up against in the past 17 years and moaning at your MP about how much this will cost you and how bloody stupid it is, is the only thing that will work. One visit to an MP is worth a 100 protesters in London.



At committee stage I know for a fact some decent amendments are going to be proposed, so with a bit of luck some of them might make it on to the floor of the House. They won’t pass unless your MP has a personal reason to vote for them. If you don’t know who your MP is, have a look at: http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/
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Post by Gunter »

this is from Chris Pozzi's forum:

To all re-enactors on the forum, and hopefully those not...

This is the first major call we've had to put out to you since our opening and it's at a time when all of us must act in order to ensure the future of our hobby. I'm sure by now you know what I am talking about - the Violent Crime Reduction (VCR) bill being pushed through Parliament at the moment that effectively signals the end of re-enactment as we know it.

It states that no more replica or imitation weapons will, legally, be obtainable within this country or through import. It's still a shady area as to whether replica encompasses deacts however most police forces and MPs would suggest it does. Even if it doesn't, what's stopping them from amending the bill AFTER it has been passed to include the words "deactivated weapons"?

So it's time to act. At the War and Peace show there will be a petition at the ARC Clubmobile, as it will undoubtedly be the most popular re-enactor haunt over duration of the show. (There is a planned meeting for all of us forum goers on the Thursday evening, see forum for details). You can't miss the Clubmobile - big American WWII style "chuck" wagon, for want of a better term, dishing out free tea, coffee and donuts just to us re-enactors.

Other groups are running their own petitions too. The only way we will get the government to listen is by hitting them with paperwork. One petition of 5000 signatures will get reviewed, no one is doubting that. But once it's thrown away it will be forgotten. However 100 petitions of any size and over the course of a few months will keep it current in their memory and show we will not let it rest which is precisely what they want us to do!

If you want to help, here's what you can do.

1. Lobby your MP - write to him/her, make an appointment and get your questions across. He or she can then go to the Commons armed with these and get our points across. If you don't know who your MP is go here: http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/

2. Sign the petitions. Make yourself heard, don't be limited to one. If you caught the programme on TV a few months ago about petitions to 10 Downing Street you will know many were found simply thrown out into the rubbish - if we just send 1 and hope for the best this is a likely possibility!

3. Stick together. Show them we are united on the issue and that WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS. It's not our fault this bill is being enforced. The Home Office and Special Branch will almost definitely check the signatories of our petitions through their database, especially with a bill like this, so they will quickly realise it is not us who should be punished.

It might be advisable for re-enactors or members involved with petitions who have criminal records to refrain from becoming (too) involved in this process in case the government uses this/these members background(s) to rubbish/undermine the petition process. Andy Colborn of the SBG will be getting his members to sign a petition and contact their local M.P.’s but he’s stating that *any* (SBG) member who has a criminal record, past or present, should not sign anything or get involved in the matter at all as it will/may only damage the situation further as anyone with a particular type of criminal record (I.e. Violence, fire arms offences, drugs related or serious crime) should not be associated with any type of weaponry/firearm. Apparently when petitions of this nature are submitted Special Branch will almost certainly check the background of the main instigators if not all of the signatures. And as the SBG has a number of Police Officers in their group they should know what they’re talking about.

If you have any questions there are many on-going discussions on the forum at the moment and you can contact me directly, what I don't know I will be able to find out and/or point you in the right direction for more info.

Many thanks, and please do something.

Chris Pozzi
http://www.wwiireenacting.co.uk
Formerly of GD Recon.
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Post by Gunter »

And also from a friend:

I know this is on forums all over but I thought I'd post here.

At Beltring I intend to have a petition on our display. I will have lots of sheets and you are invited along with the public to sign.

If we do nothing (which we are very good at) then we WILL lose our rights to own and obtain/sell.swap and collect replica, deactivated and blank firing weapons. Items which I know from years of observation, we use correctly and within the law. Items which are no more dangerous than a hammer, a firework or a garden spade. Items which our community has owned for over 25 years without serious incident.

I urge you to send this message to all you know and to ask for their support. The petition will be available all day and everyday from the Saturday preceding Beltring until the Sunday Afternoon of Beltring. I will also be seeking Rex's permission to organise a meeting one evening to discuss this and to try to formulate a plan of action for further legal protest.

Let's all get together on this one and at least TRY to make a difference






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paul Dalby
C.O.
Axis Forces Re-enactment Association
2Kp 60 Pz Gr Rgt. 1 Kp Pz Rgt 116. 228 PzJg Abt.
Formerly of GD Recon.
Hoffman Grink

Post by Hoffman Grink »

The first one is aimed directly at me after my conviciton this year for hte ABH that happened at Betlring
Chris Pozzi is playing a stupid game with our hobby.
Why is he trying to scaremonger and dilute our efforts?

This tosh about SB scrutiny - If that were so no one would be able to sign anything....... I don't know where he gets off naming the SBG.... Absolutely disgraceful and undermining honest, open efforts. I urge you to pay no attention to this stupid ploy - He has sat back and collected other people's initiatives then pitched in with one of his own - How does he deem the Clubmobile to be a focal point? Because HE says so??????

Let's stay focussed on the issue - We need to obtain exemptions to the Bill. Exemptions based on informed debate and consultation. From matue and sensible people.

Cheers Lyndon.
PD
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emma.b
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Post by emma.b »

Theres always gonna be some ****wit trying to screw it up.

I agree with you PD, why should he decide where we go and what to do. Its up to ALL the reenacting community to stand together, with the same aims and objectives and also to contact MPs and state our case.

Emma.

Please lets make a united stand against this.
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Reinhard
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Post by Reinhard »

bit too polite a name for him there dear i use a few worse
whats needed here is a united front and stupid point scoring by some jumped up scrote will do none of us any favours
i urge ALL of you to get in contact with your local mp and state your case, what we need are excemptions for weapons that are used for historical display and re-enactment purposes.
most of us are more careful with our de-acts than we need to be and the only time they are out in public it is in a strictly controlled enviroment.
if we do not act and do something constructive about this it could be the death of our hobby
think long and hard about this , i for one am not about to let this happen without at least trying to do something
Rich
Coming Soon..........
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Irwin
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Post by Irwin »

Apparently when petitions of this nature are submitted Special Branch will almost certainly check the background of the main instigators if not all of the signatures
I know he is scare mongering there, but actually the government really is that paranoid and go to great lengths to keep an eye on "agitators". For example, during the road protest movement, which after all was a pretty "nice" and "middle england" type of protest (involving things like tree hugging, camping, and singing campfire songs -- silly but not the stuff that revolutions are made of!), MI5 paid private eyes £150 for each name they managed to place to a photograph. The police sent out photographers at these protests and anyone who was present was photographed, and I imagine a lot of by now nice respectable city stock brokers are on an MI5 watch list!

It wouldn't surprise me if we haven't all ourselves been put up on a list as we are de facto members of a quasi-military society, and one with little swastikas on our hats to boot! You know, and I know, that it isn't a breeding ground for political agitators or malcontents; but our government is paranoid and seeing us all in uniform with guns probably sets their alarm bells ringing.

For that reason I do not think we can be vociferous in our opposition to the act, unless we do it from an airsoft, or military vehicle or some other parallel viewpoint. The less the state notices about us the better!

Neither can we engage in the sort of direct action that has been used by the hunting alliance or fathers for justice for obvious reasons.

I would imagine the best way forward is to QUICKLY organise an alliance of gun collectors, airsoft, paintball, toy gun dealers, whoever else and start making an assault on the bill. The media would be a good start, as I have yet to actually see one news story on the bill on TV. The bill is going through more or less unchallenged in the media.

Just my $0.02.
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Reinhard
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Post by Reinhard »

its not a case of not being too vociferous its about sticking up for what is right.
as i said we are one of the few groups of people with a legitimate reason for owning de-acts and replicas , and for this reason we should stand up and be counted.
i for one don't give 2 ***** wether the home office , special branch or whoever knows who i am , where i live or what i do , i do them all because i want to and i believe PASSIONATELY in what i do.
i have already written to my local mp and have signed every petition because if we sit back and either do nothing or hope that someone else does it for us just because we re-enact second world war germans , make no mistake here this WILL be the end of our hobby as we know it.

Rich
Coming Soon..........
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Post by Gunter »

We have to remain focused on this. It we go off individually then we will loose any argument the Government will through at us. But if we can all unite together and put on a united front we may get them them to add concessions to the bill. We have to remember that it's not just WW2 re-enactors that will be affected but all re-enactors that use blank firing, replica and de-act firearms. Then they'll nail all the sword using societies!
Formerly of GD Recon.
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352nd
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Post by 352nd »

Hello there

Just thought i'd let you know what i know about the VCR bill. De-acts are now not part of the bill and are not going to be banned. Plug firing replicas could also not be banned, due to film companies and television companies complaining. Blank firers i'm uncertain about. non-firing replicas and airsoft seem likely to be banned. This comes for creditable sources and numourous sources.

just thought i'd let you know
Martin
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