I think one point you have missed is that the Proof House here in Britain is nothing to do with the Government; they didn't set it up, it was the Gunmakers themselves in order to protect their products and the public from poorly made guns being sold. It works quite well and the cost is a fraction over 20 per gun which is not that much when added to the cost of a new Purdey costing 60,000. America got around it by having their own in-house testing in the larger establishments such as Winchester but what happened in the smaller places is anyone's guess so the way they got around this is by over engineering the product. By having Proof regulations here the Gunmakers can build a gun light and well balanced that will pass proof knowing it is safe to use. Personally I like the system because it protects me. If someone sells an 'out of proof' gun here it is one of the Proof Houses that take up the prosecution. It is all run by Guardians of the Proof House who are practical Gunmakers and not a bunch of Whitehall Civil Servants. If you set one up in the U.S. that was purely optional I'm sure it would get a lot of use. Lagopus.....
