My apologies - I thought you were thinking along the lines of bad people out there wanting to acquire guns for criminal purposes after the news item this evening saying that obsolete calibre and vintage guns were increasingly being used in armed crime. Apparently a French cavalry officers pistol was used to try and shoot down the police helicopter - so they want the legislation on owning old guns legally tightened up. I thought that there was quite severe penalties already for using guns for illegal purposes so wouldn't it be better to use the available man power to catch the criminals rather than policing more licencing for the law abiding. Certainly security is high on the list of considerations at all time but because shotguns are licenced here I would have thought a stolen Purdey, H&H or Boss would plummet in value if stolen as anyone buying it wouldn't be able to use it or show it off - which as far as I am concerned is the reason they have such elevated values. I am not sure if there are owners clubs for the London guns but perhaps there isn't a demand as the manufacturers have the records and maybe the owners don't want to meet up in order to see other old guns and chat to like minded people. Researching the Perrins family work has been a fascinating piece of living history which has only been possible since the advent of the internet. To be honest it serves no useful purpose and these meets serve no useful purpose. People give there time and support the day and only people who are interested come along so I suppose it enriches their lives - so that is the purpose. Long may it be so. John
