Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

“[A]ll We Need You to Do is Give us the Gun”: U.K. Launches National Firearm Surrender Campaign

Monday, May 23, 2022

“[A]ll We Need You to Do is Give us the Gun”: U.K. Launches National Firearm Surrender Campaign

On March 12, a two-week campaign was launched in the United Kingdom to encourage subjects of Her Majesty the Queen to surrender firearms, ammunition, weapons, and any other object even vaguely reminiscent of a gun to local police stations.

An official with the National Police Chief’s Council assured citizens that they will receive amnesty for any otherwise illegal possession or transport involved in their participation. "We don't need to know your name, we don't need to know how you came into possession of it,” Deputy Chief Constable Helen McMillan said, “all we need you to do is give us the gun."

“Oy, just give us the gun, it’s for your own good” is a story that Britons have been hearing from their government since at least 1997. That year, the nation launched a national firearms “buyback” campaign to supplement a two-year legislative crackdown on private firearm ownership that eventually resulted in the banning of handguns. This policy “success” has frequently been lauded by gun control advocates, with Barack Obama being one of its most outspoken admirers here in the United States.

But with common firearms banned or severely restricted in Great Britain for over 25 years, what is left to be surrendered at this point?

Police officials told the media that there may be such things as family heirlooms, old service revolvers from World War II, unregistered shotguns that predate the country’s 1988 Firearms Act, blank guns or starter pistols purchased in other European countries, and antiques chambered in obsolete calibers.

How such things as the decorative horse pistols hanging over the mantel endanger public safety was not explained.

But it is very telling of the gun control mindset that -- given the free hand it has in places like the U.K. – it will eventually target objects merely for suggesting the idea of a firearm, rather than for actually being dangerous, attractive to criminals, or likely to be misused (or used at all).

That bespeaks an ideology based more on symbolism, superstition, aesthetics, bureaucracy, and the urge to control others than on a sincere, rational, and empirical concern for safety or crime control.

Indeed, recent years have seen the U.K. descend into a rather hysterical and undignified obsession with the supposed weaponization of common objects. These include not just flatware and cutlery, but such benign objects as scissors, plyers, files, and even a bicycle wheel.

It’s rather sad to see a once proud country reduced to sending police officers on scavenger hunts at public housing projects for what appear to be the cast-off contents of junk drawers. It’s even sadder that these “operations” are termed “weapons sweeps,” when they more resemble litter patrol.

American gun owners who might be tempted to accept “reasonable” incursions on their rights should take note, however. There is no more iron-clad rule of gun control than “one thing leads to another.” And even when the guns are mostly gone, the mania to control will remain undiminished. 

TRENDING NOW
U.S. Senate Adds Pro-Gun Tax Relief Language Back into Reconciliation Bill

News  

Saturday, June 28, 2025

U.S. Senate Adds Pro-Gun Tax Relief Language Back into Reconciliation Bill

Overnight, the U.S. Senate added pro-gun tax relief language back into the Reconciliation bill after the Senate Parliamentarian struck out an earlier provision.  While this new provision is not as expansive as the language we advocated for which ...

U.S. Senate Forced to Remove Pro-Gun Language from Reconciliation Bill

News  

Friday, June 27, 2025

U.S. Senate Forced to Remove Pro-Gun Language from Reconciliation Bill

Today, the U.S. Senate was forced to remove the pro-gun language that had been previously included in the Reconciliation Bill currently making its way through the chamber. We explained in a previous article that this language would, ...

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

News  

Second Amendment  

Thursday, May 22, 2025

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

In a single sentence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit added to the high-profile and consequential national conversation on firearm suppressors.

Armed Churchgoers Prevent Mass Attack as State Lawmakers Plot More Gun Control

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Armed Churchgoers Prevent Mass Attack as State Lawmakers Plot More Gun Control

Just over an hour away from the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan – even as lawmakers worked feverishly to pass various gun control measures, including expansion of “gun free” zones – a chilling reminder unfolded of the ...

Urge the U.S. Senate to Pass the One Big Beautiful Bill – Contact Your U.S. Senators Today!

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Urge the U.S. Senate to Pass the One Big Beautiful Bill – Contact Your U.S. Senators Today!

The U.S. Senate has cleared a number of procedural hurdles and is preparing to vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill. This vote will likely come within the next day. The One Big Beautiful Bill includes ...

Canada’s Big Ugly Gun Grab: An Update

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Canada’s Big Ugly Gun Grab: An Update

Canada’s Liberal government is pressing on with its harebrained gun ban and confiscation program for “assault style weapons,” but, true to form and precedents, it has been far from smooth sailing.

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Recently, House Bill 193 (H193) was reported favorably out of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee, with amendments.

News  

Second Amendment  

Friday, June 27, 2025

Joint Statement from Pro-Gun Groups on the Senate Reconciliation Bill

On behalf of millions of NRA members and gun owners, we stand united in calling on Congress to uphold Americans' Second Amendment rights and zero out the NFA's excise tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms.

Argentina President Milei Continues to Make Improvements to Country’s Gun Laws

News  

Monday, June 30, 2025

Argentina President Milei Continues to Make Improvements to Country’s Gun Laws

We’ve reported before about Argentina President Javier Milei expanding access to firearms for law-abiding Argentinians.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.