This is a few months old but couldn't believe it when I ran across it. Just when you think things can't get any more stupid, something like this happens -- http://www.nieuwsuitamsterdam.nl/English/2006/06041001.htm.
Gun Bust in Amsterdam
- Thread starter KyJim
- Start date
Blackwater OPS
New member
Guess what, there is law before congress that would make the same thing illegal here.
WeedWacker
New member
I usppose it's all about kids and violence. 
Bunch of bull. I grew up pretending to shoot friends with wooden guns I MADE (actually took a lathe and everything to pieces of wood and put them together. Made a pretty decent looking MAC 10 once and a tommy gun) and look how I turned out.
Actually I suppose that is based on point of view and the anti-gun/hunters would say I am one of the greatest examples of why kids shouldn't be shown guns let alone toy ones.
I suppose paintball is on that list of no-no's as well
But it is all in the good merasure of protecting us from ourselves right?
Bunch of bull. I grew up pretending to shoot friends with wooden guns I MADE (actually took a lathe and everything to pieces of wood and put them together. Made a pretty decent looking MAC 10 once and a tommy gun) and look how I turned out.Actually I suppose that is based on point of view and the anti-gun/hunters would say I am one of the greatest examples of why kids shouldn't be shown guns let alone toy ones.
I suppose paintball is on that list of no-no's as well
But it is all in the good merasure of protecting us from ourselves right?
FAL-schutter
New member
WeedWacker said: I usppose it's all about kids and violence.
No, it's about the police being able to easily distinguish real guns from fake ones. It's about a cop not killing, say, some mentally handicapped guy with a water pistol becaus the cop it as a real weapon, and about cops not getting killed with real weapons because they hesitated, thinking "what if it's just a water pistol?"
Under Dutch law, toy guns are supposed to have orange muzzle plugs; these don't. Hence the bust.
No, it's about the police being able to easily distinguish real guns from fake ones. It's about a cop not killing, say, some mentally handicapped guy with a water pistol becaus the cop it as a real weapon, and about cops not getting killed with real weapons because they hesitated, thinking "what if it's just a water pistol?"
Under Dutch law, toy guns are supposed to have orange muzzle plugs; these don't. Hence the bust.
22-rimfire
New member
"Under Dutch law, toy guns are supposed to have orange muzzle plugs; these don't. Hence the bust."
hmmm. Must have been pre-ban toys. No grandfathering?
hmmm. Must have been pre-ban toys. No grandfathering?
BerettaCougar
New member
Amazing, Toy guns have orange tips and real guns do not!
Whenever my brother and I got toy guns as kids, mom always said.. "DONT TAKE THEM THINGS OUT FRONT"
It's shocking what a little good parenting will do.
Whenever my brother and I got toy guns as kids, mom always said.. "DONT TAKE THEM THINGS OUT FRONT"
It's shocking what a little good parenting will do.
gunslinger555
New member
hmm all this in a country that legalised weed.
FAL-schutter
New member
Quoth rhino: So what if Dutch criminals paint the ends of their real guns orange?
Note I said "muzzle plugs"; the muzzle has to be visibly blocked.
Quoth 22-rimfire: Must have been pre-ban toys. No grandfathering?
Not a chance, on both counts. The law requiring toy weapons to be obviously toys has been in place for at least 30 years, and the Dutch don't do grandfathering when they tighten weapons laws; instead, there's an "amnesty period" during which containers appear in police stations where you can dump illegal hardware (including stuff which was previously illegal), no questions asked.
Quoth BerettaCougar: Whenever my brother and I got toy guns as kids, mom always said.. "DONT TAKE THEM THINGS OUT FRONT"
Yeah, well, welcome to the Netherlands; sixteen million people packed into a piece of land half the size of Washington state. In the major cities, one residence in three (at most) has a backyard, and those are the size of postage stamps. If you're a kid in a large Dutch city (as I once was) you go to the local park to play, just because there isn't anywhere else.
Quoth gunslinger555: hmm all this in a country that legalised weed.
A common misconception. Cannabis is actually still illegal in the Netherlands, because of some international treaty which forbids the signatories to legalize any drugs. The government has, however, in effect classed cannabis as such a low priority as not to be worth bothering with.
It's worth noting a few things about the Netherlands. Despite having a population of 16 million, there are something like a hundred homicides a year. Most of these are drug traffickers rubbing out the competition. At the lowest level, you'll have a couple of street corner dealers trying to pop each other. More often, it's one syndicate (say, the Russian mob) rubbing out members of a rival syndicate (say, a Chinese triad); the shooters are usually Yugoslav free-lancers, and they're generally professional enough to carry out the hit where there's little chance of taxpayers being hit by stray rounds (like at highway rest areas at 3 AM). With reference to rhino's earlier comment, the smart criminals know better than to shoot at cops; cop-killers are sufficiently rare to begin with that the police can afford to mount a major effort against anyone who does kill a cop, and in a country as small as the Netherlands, there's not many places to hide.
Overall, Dutch gun laws are not significantly stricter than those of Massachusetts, by the way. It is possible to privately own firearms, but you have to be a member of a shooting club (i.e. a range) and/or hold a hunting permit as a prerequisite to getting a firearms permit, you have to register your firearms, and you can only transport them in a locked case between your residence, your range and any area where you're licensed to hunt. But if you have a permit, you can keep weapons in your residence, and use them for home defense. I might add, though, that in the major cities, police response time to a 112 call on a possibly violent crime is well under five minutes, in my experience.
Note I said "muzzle plugs"; the muzzle has to be visibly blocked.
Quoth 22-rimfire: Must have been pre-ban toys. No grandfathering?
Not a chance, on both counts. The law requiring toy weapons to be obviously toys has been in place for at least 30 years, and the Dutch don't do grandfathering when they tighten weapons laws; instead, there's an "amnesty period" during which containers appear in police stations where you can dump illegal hardware (including stuff which was previously illegal), no questions asked.
Quoth BerettaCougar: Whenever my brother and I got toy guns as kids, mom always said.. "DONT TAKE THEM THINGS OUT FRONT"
Yeah, well, welcome to the Netherlands; sixteen million people packed into a piece of land half the size of Washington state. In the major cities, one residence in three (at most) has a backyard, and those are the size of postage stamps. If you're a kid in a large Dutch city (as I once was) you go to the local park to play, just because there isn't anywhere else.
Quoth gunslinger555: hmm all this in a country that legalised weed.
A common misconception. Cannabis is actually still illegal in the Netherlands, because of some international treaty which forbids the signatories to legalize any drugs. The government has, however, in effect classed cannabis as such a low priority as not to be worth bothering with.
It's worth noting a few things about the Netherlands. Despite having a population of 16 million, there are something like a hundred homicides a year. Most of these are drug traffickers rubbing out the competition. At the lowest level, you'll have a couple of street corner dealers trying to pop each other. More often, it's one syndicate (say, the Russian mob) rubbing out members of a rival syndicate (say, a Chinese triad); the shooters are usually Yugoslav free-lancers, and they're generally professional enough to carry out the hit where there's little chance of taxpayers being hit by stray rounds (like at highway rest areas at 3 AM). With reference to rhino's earlier comment, the smart criminals know better than to shoot at cops; cop-killers are sufficiently rare to begin with that the police can afford to mount a major effort against anyone who does kill a cop, and in a country as small as the Netherlands, there's not many places to hide.
Overall, Dutch gun laws are not significantly stricter than those of Massachusetts, by the way. It is possible to privately own firearms, but you have to be a member of a shooting club (i.e. a range) and/or hold a hunting permit as a prerequisite to getting a firearms permit, you have to register your firearms, and you can only transport them in a locked case between your residence, your range and any area where you're licensed to hunt. But if you have a permit, you can keep weapons in your residence, and use them for home defense. I might add, though, that in the major cities, police response time to a 112 call on a possibly violent crime is well under five minutes, in my experience.
I would suppose the murder rate would not go up that much if guns were more availaible there-look at Switzerland. I think it is the character of the people and the society that determines that. Looks a though the most problem is in "special" groups of people that have it in for each other. Too bad the US has alot more "special" groups of people that are out for trouble.