"We want your guns ... All of em"
"When guns are outlawed", goes the old proverb, "only outlaws will
have them". We all know what it means and it could not better describe the
situation we have in England in 2002. Only the criminals and police now have
access to the Hand-gun, even if some of these "criminals" are otherwise law
abiding people who have the sense not to be unarmed, they are still "classed"
as a "criminal".
Back in 1987 when the British Government decided to ban semi-automatic
rifles, behind the usual smoke-screen of "Law and Order", I did "my bit"
writing letters to MP’s and the press trying to inject a degree of
commonsense into the proceedings. To little effect, as was expected, the
guns were prohibited. For good measure, shotguns were placed under even
more draconian control even though they didn’t feature in the crime which
was used as an excuse to take the rifles out of the hands of thousands
of law abiding people. The ban achieved nothing. The illegal ownership of
firearms increased along with the crime rate. The Government knew they had
to be seen to be "Doing Something". They did. They trampled upon the rights
of an innocent minority who’s only "crime" was to own a particular type of
rifle, a rifle no more "Dangerous" than any other firearm, if used in a
criminal or irresponsible manner. The semi-automatic rifle is now extinct
in England, a victim of hysteria and political expediency. It will never
return. Our criminals, however, have ready access to an array of weaponry
from MAC10’s to semi-automatic pistols and the armed paramilitary wing of
our "Unarmed Police Force" bristle with prohibited machine-guns and
semi-automatic hand-guns! Law abiding citizens, the very people who should
have the firearms, for the most part, do not. Due to the draconian controls we
are brainwashed into believing make our society safer.
As anyone else with a genuine interest in a particular subject, my
interest in firearms and "Gun Control" issues remained constant, and when
the need arose, I continued to fight my own personal campaign against the
anti-firearms lobby.
THE MEDIA MOTIVATED MOB
Then came 1996. The most disastrous year in the history of firearms
ownership. The anti-gun lobby received the most wonderful gift they could
have ever imagined. A lunatic, armed with a pistol, committed a particularly
grave crime. In usual British fashion, some gun owners succumbed to the
dreaded "gun owner guilt complex" while others gave a good impression of
the ostrich and hoped the "problem" would go away. It didn’t. Public
concerns, while understandable, were fanned into an hysteria which even
by British standards, was a staggering example of the blind leading the
blind.
A TIME FOR ACTION
Seeing that another perfect opportunity to disarm another innocent
minority was at hand, the Government, backed to the hilt by the hidden
agendas of the police and media, succeeded in prohibiting the legal
ownership of privately owned hand-guns. Through a law based wholly on
hysteria and knee-jerk reactions and without a shred of evidence that
a law banning all legally held pistols would have the slightest effect
on gun crime, one of the greatest injustices inflicted on a law abiding
section of British society came into effect. With the stroke of a pen,
one of the most fundamental rights of a free people, to keep and bear
arms, ceased to exist. Many thousands of law-abiding people lost, at the
very least, a life-long hobby or sport. Others lost their jobs and
livelihoods. In human terms the costs of the ban cannot be fully calculated.
In financial terms, it cost the British taxpayer many millions of pounds as
the Government reluctantly engaged in a hand-gun "Buy Back" scheme. What
did it achieve? Nothing! Since the ban, crime rates have soared and gun
related crime is at an all time high. It is often reported in the media
that we are more likely to be a victim of a violent attack in our own
inner city areas than in the often reported areas in the United States
with its supposedly high crime rates and, incidentally, a more liberal
and enlightened attitude towards firearms ownership.
When the 1996 Hand-gun hysteria started, I knew it was only a matter of
time before the pistol joined its friends in the extinct cabinet. After
all, it was just too good an opportunity for the "gun grabbers" to pass up.
The British gun owner took little notice of the truth in the old proverb
"If we don’t hang together we will all hang separately". And hand-gun owners
did hang, while the rifle and shotgun owners gave little in the way of
"supporting fire". When it comes time for the shotgun and rifle owners to
hang, I wonder who will support them?
I decided it was time for action. Words and reason were an insufficient
weapon against lies and misinformation. I had to illuminate the true
motivations behind the anti-gun lobby and show the futility of attempting
to control who may own a gun and who may not. I decided the best way of
dispelling the cosy myths expounded by the gun grabbers was to write a
book! A controversial book, something that would rock the flimsy
foundations of the anti-gun ideology.
HOMEMADE FIREPOWER
An academic book, full of facts and statistics perhaps? Well such a book
is great and can offer useful ammunition to fire at the enemy, but facts and
figures can be taken out of context by the opposition to prove or disprove a
particular point. Beside, such a book may be viewed as a boring read by anyone
without a keen interest in the subject and the reader may even be in danger of
"Nodding off" after a chapter or two. Hardly the result desired by its albeit
learned author! What I wanted was instant impact, something that would shock
the anti-gun mindset into something resembling human logic and consciousness!
But what. Due to my long interest in firearm’s design, the answer to my quest
hit me like a brick. I had it, a ‘Homemade Sub-Machine Gun Book’! Think about
it. If the average person can build their own machine gun, with all its
inherent firepower, from "off the shelf" materials, wouldn’t all anti-gun
legislation suddenly be seen for what it really is, the transparent sham of
"Crime Control" behind which the gun grabbers try to hide? I went to work.
My requirements for building the machine gun were two-fold. It must combine
both simplicity of design and material availability as a means of achieving
simplicity of manufacturer. I had three machine gun designs to chose from.
The first being no more than a fully automatic "zip gun" which didn’t have
all the characteristics normally associated with what is commonly perceived
as classic machine good looks. It was, however, a laughably simple design.
The other was in .45 a.c.p calibre and although a nice and simple design, I
wanted a 9 mm. It’s the most popular machine gun round in existence and,
as a result, ammunition availability is very good. I opted for the 9 mm.
Designing and constructing the machine gun took about six months, fitting
it in as best I could between various other endeavours. The main problem
being designing such a weapon around available materials and products, while
at the same time ensuring a reasonable degree of durability and strength.
Eventually, out of an array of innocent-looking hardware products, a fully
functioning automatic firearm emerged like a Phoenix from the Anti-gun smelting
pot! Following extensive test firing (this being the most enjoyable part),
I proceeded to compile the manuscript, drawings and photographs with one
thought in mind. The finished book must be written in a format which the
average individual would understand and offer an improvised machine gun
design simple enough for any would-be homegunsmith to put into practice,
if he so desired.
Upon its completion, the machine gun was reasonably light and compact.
All items used in construction were standard hardware products which would
not arouse suspicions when purchased or left "lying around". It would fire
a commercially available cartridge and could be clandestinely manufactured
without the need for expensive machine-tools. I felt the finished product
fulfilled all the requirements I had originally laid out. More importantly,
at least as far as I was concerned, it succeeded in giving the British
anti-gun lobby something to think about, which was the whole motivation
behind the project in the first place. The irony of the whole story though
is this: it was those responsible for the hand-gun ban whom I have to thank
for ‘Expedient Homemade Firearms’. If it were not for the anti-gun lobby,
neither the book or this web site would exist!
Strange how things turn out sometimes!
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