Exactly. The time and precision needed to make such a decorative replica even somewhat safe to use, would be overwhelming. Even more importantly, someone with the knowledge of how to pull off such a thing would probably find it much easier to make his own STEN submachine gun receiver instead.
In the end, criminals aren't going to do such a thing, since they're usually lazy, and lack the know-how, to pull off such a feat. They'd rather buy real, unlawful, firearms from the black market, or steal them.
True, but we're not talking about decorative replicas anymore. That's what I thought at first, too. Nor are we talking about "cap guns" either.
From
www.timesonline.co.uk/
REPLICA handguns that are being converted so British criminal gangs can use them to maim and kill can be bought in Germany without a permit.
Guns of the type said to be fuelling gang culture in the UK are available in high street stores and family-run arms dealerships for as little as £80.
Outlawed in the UK, they are sold over the counter in Germany as blank firers, CS gas guns and alarm pistols. They are then smuggled into Britain and converted into lethal weapons.
Greater Manchester police say almost half the illegal guns they seize are converted replicas.
Inquiries by The Sunday Times last week found that the weapons on sale in German shops include exact replicas of popular Smith & Wesson, Luger and Glock models. They are designed for self-defence or sport.
Nobody said they were safe, but they already have all of the components of a functional firearm. Couple that with what Tez said:
That's the ones! the firing pins will be removed and a small 'plug' of metal put somewhere (depending on who's doing it) in the barrel.It's supposed to be immovable but I'm guessing any of you wiould be able to remove it easily and probably someone unfamiliar with guns would be able to after a bit of thought!
How could you remove the firing pin unless it started with one? Same with the plug. I've never seen a "american" replica that didn't have the plug cast as part of the gun itself. These plugs were added later.
What was the term Tez used? "Reactivated" I think. That makes me think that they were active guns at one time, then deactivated, then sold and "reactivated".
I mean what does a knock-off .38 go for at a pawn shop? $100, $150? What about a .22 pistol? I don't know what calibers they're using over there, but in the land of knives, a .22 would be king.
The Manchester police say Cuno Melcher models from Germany and Russian Baikals bought in Lithuania are two sources of gun crime in the city. Most can be converted by drilling through a partial obstruction in the barrel and installing a new cylinder.
One victim of a converted weapon was Jay Patel from Roch-dale, Lancashire, who nearly died in October 2005 when his post office and convenience store was targeted by armed robbers. He was shot by a flare gun converted to fire real ammunition. The bullet hit the right side of his head before lodging itself in the ceiling. “It smelt of firecrackers and I fell back thinking I was hurt. It’s only because the gun was not 100% accurate that I’m here today,” he said.
And it's wouldn't be the kids/thugs who are doing the modifiying.
Guns of the type said to be fuelling gang culture in the UK are available in high street stores and family-run arms dealerships for as little as £80.
Sounds like these guys have a sort of gunsmithing shops. They probably don't care if they're safe, they just make them semi-functional, and sell them to desperate criminals.
Like Tez said, if these teenagers learned about guns through the media, they don't know enough about guns to know the difference between a safe gun and a dangerous gun. If the barrel is made of metal, they probably assume it's strong enough.
Here, we have enough education about KB's, and catastrophic failures to know not to mess around with areas under pressure. But they're desperate enough to use flare guns! That's the kind of situation a black market arms dealer would love to be in. Sell cheap knock-offs to hungry, uneducated teenagers. It's not like they can take these guns to the range and test them out. The first time they put a live round through one, is probably when they're aiming at their enemy.
Remember that ridiculous article about the .22 shell that got left on the street? That just proved how unfamiliar the whole gun concept is over there. It's easy to take advantage of that ignorance when people are obsessed with the romantic image of the gun.
I find it interesting, that some people give criminals all of the credit in the world, claiming that they could do such a thing, yet they don't believe that law-abiding people have the capability to carry lawfully owned firearms...
And that is a very good point. People will always over-exaggerate their fears when imagining something they don't know about. I guess it goes back to the lure of the "dark side", apparently stupid people can be successful criminals, while it takes a genius, or superhero to be a good guy.
-couldn't hit the ground if you were aiming at it-, etc, but I digress.) Now that's a scary thought.
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