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Alec Baldwin

There’s a black and white photo of my younger brother with the shotgun over one arm, holding up a dead rabbit by its ears. He’s got a stern expression on his face, but the effect is somewhat ruined by the fact that he’s wearing carpet slippers.
The rabbit? He’d only nipped out for a bunch of carrots.
 
Tony, are you an armourer? I thought you were avoinics/airframes?

In the RAF I was airframes. With BAe in Saudi I was hydraulics/pneumatics, and at Wattisham I’m everything except avionics/electrics. So, airframe, engines, fuel systems, armament etc.

It’s a refreshing change, and quite a challenge. Helicopters are completely different to fixed wing, and the Apache is my first. After nearly 13 years I’m still learning, every day.
 
Apaches, they periodically fly around us on manoeuvres (if that's the correct term for aircraft) I find them both incredible and deeply menacing in equal measures, they are bloody huge and look like they escaped from the bowels of the earth. I don't get the same feeling with a Spitfire flypast.
Heaven knows how it would feel to hear one approaching knowing its after you, bloody terrifying.

Any chance you could pick me up a dozen rounds Tony ? I feel a new project coming on.
 
Seems the armourer was recently err fired from a previous film set after an accident. Didn't learn any lesson. Hope he goes to jail.
 
In the RAF I was airframes. With BAe in Saudi I was hydraulics/pneumatics, and at Wattisham I’m everything except avionics/electrics. So, airframe, engines, fuel systems, armament etc.

It’s a refreshing change, and quite a challenge. Helicopters are completely different to fixed wing, and the Apache is my first. After nearly 13 years I’m still learning, every day.
It keeps you young - well, that's the theory anyway.
 
^ reasons not to routinely arm the U.K. police.

This won't happen anyway. The assessments needed to maintain F/arms authority would preclude a large number of employees. And quite rightly so. When you apply to be a cop in the UK, its not a pre-requisite to go thru F/arms psychological assessments.

Read this thread with interest. I was an AFO from 1991 to 2000. My instructors were all ex army instructors that had left there, joined the police, been spotted as F/arms instructors and seconded accordingly. Safety drills were essential, and anyone not complying with that to any degree got their ticket taken off them.

My OCD kicks in well with firearms and safety drills. It makes sense. We also did lots of training on 'other weapons', as part of my job was to go to local stations and clear handed in weapons. I saw some amazing stuff handed in , including so very good condition webley .45 cal pistols. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webley_Revolver

The rounds handed in with those - frightening.

My initial hand gun was the S&W model 10. I preferred the Sig and Glock SLP's - less recoil. I qualified ok tho. Carbine was the H&H 53 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_&_Koch_HK33

I was very good with the carbine, and also quite physically fit at the time - so ended up dog protection officer. This involved going with the handler and dog wherever they went, sometimes for 5 or more miles on a track, at a jog, with all the kit on. Bit sweaty.

The stress drills we were asked to do were hard, but again very necessary. The overarching theme always was is the firearm safe.

Fast forward to going to America. I went several times with my FIL, as he had a concealed carry licence with his job. The Florida state qual for carrying a sidearm was ridiculously simple IMV. It involved target shooting, but with no time limits - well that's what was explained to me at the range I was at. I said to my FIL 'do you think a suspect is going to wait for you to unholster, load, aim, aquire sight picture, and then shoot in 10-15 seconds?

So I set up some pressure drills for him, which then attracted attn from several locals, who were very interested.

I've fired blank loaded pistols. Varying consequences, that depended upon a lot of things. I don't know what happened in this case, and as usual will wait until the coroners inquest is publicised. Too many assumptions.

But the only assumptive observation I would have is that I would have hoped any person being handed a firearm would have the capacity to check it's 'state'. I would trust no-one to tell me the 'state' of readiness of any such weapon, and would 'make it safe' myself.
 
@Andrew C!

Agreed, and interesting.

I just hope that with the U.K. racing to the bottom, crime doesn’t rise leading to a desperate copy of the USA’s poor standards of armed policing and awful human rights.
 
My OCD kicks in well with firearms and safety drills. It makes sense. We also did lots of training on 'other weapons', as part of my job was to go to local stations and clear handed in weapons. I saw some amazing stuff handed in , including so very good condition webley .45 cal pistols. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webley_Revolver

The rounds handed in with those - frightening.

My Dad had to do that when he cleared out my late Uncles garage 20 odd years ago, he was very surprised to find a mint condition Webley service revolver with ammunition.

It was particularly surprising as my Uncle was a GPO engineer and extremely "correct" about rules and regulations, however he was seconded to DWS during the war and spent some time at the embassies in Helsinki and Moscow - he never spoke about it but he did receive an unexpected (for an engineer at his level) OBE when he reached retirement age.
 
GPO General Post Office, now BT Britsh Telecom.

DWS Diplomatic Wireless Service, ran secret diplomatic communications to embassies abroad.

OBE Order of the British Empire, meaningless trinket given to long serving civil servants and military officers.
 
Would be good to know what some of these abbreviations mean, would add a bit more context to the post.

Apologies.

SLP - self loading pistol. Up to 15 rounds held in a magazine that is slotted into the handle. Opposite to a revolver.
AFO - authorised firearms officer. Authorised to carry and use certain firearms in line with the national guidance and policy.

FIL - father in law:rolleyes:
 
^ reasons not to routinely arm the U.K. police.

For sure, being from, brought up and living in NI I saw a lot of RUC officers abuse their authority due to being armed, alot of bully boy tactics involved.
There was a new sergeant posted in my hometown when I was about 14(1986) he introduced himself by walking down the main street, sleeves rolled up, bullet proof vest on and brandishing a large 'machine gun', I don't know what make or model but it didn't look like a rifle, all the kids took the piss ,from both sides of the community, and called him Rambo. The guy was a total dick.
 


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