Discovered: Revolver which belonged to British hero killed on the first day of the Somme

Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 19th February 2009 | Daily Mail Reporter

[PotatoHeadMick]

A British policeman with some sense of history stops his colleagues "dismantling" a WWI relic.

[1rudeboy]

I would pay to watch the this turn up on Antiques Roadshow UK. :)

[wbill]

Interesting article, but truly scary.

Did you read the quote about "Making the gun safe"? In general, I would think that an unloaded weapon is about as safe as it gets, unless you drop it on your foot.

[dirtboy]

After finding the 1912 Webley Revolver, staff at the shop in Earl Sholton, near Leicester called Leicestershire police to collect the weapon so it could be dismantled.

If that doesn't epitomize what has happened to England - a war hero's weapon dismantled - I don't know what does.

[stubb]

“dismantled” - are you kidding me? In their view it’s a bomb that could go off at any time.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Wait and see. They’ll call on the Arsenal of Democracy again some day.

[ladtx]

[the OlLine Rebel]

Which is also being neutered.

[arthurus]

Did you read the quote about "Making the gun safe"?

The police must have come in hazmat suits and then evacuated and cordoned off a 4 block area before gingerly approaching the dangerous weapon. I suspect that folks who find such a piece of history in their family's archival closets and turn them in to the police will then face charges for possessing these heinous objects and not having found and turned them in when Confiscation was decreed.

[gate2wire]

“In general, I would think that an unloaded weapon is about as safe as it gets, unless you drop it on your foot.”

I have a couple Webleys from a WW II Veteran Uncle. By their condition, I would guess my Uncle’s last words were “don’t fire the Webleys.”

[LimaLimaMikeFoxtrot]

Exactly. How about making it safe by keeping your finger out of the trigger housing?

Those evil guns again. Even nearly 100 years later they are trying to kill innocent launderers.

[andy58-in-nh]

It really does make no sense that the revolver was dismantled, and is explicable only by the bizarre anti-gun culture that now dominates England. Consider that the weapon’s caliber is 9mm x 16, which is not exactly a commonly-found cartridge these days. (In comparison, 9mm Parabellum is 9x19 and Makarov is 9x18). Even if one could buy pistol ammunition in the UK, which you cannot, finding suitable cartridges would be a remote possibility. In that respect, the gun, fully assembled threatened no one, except as a symbol.

[Locomotive Breath]

Well they probably wanted to file off the firing pin (or whatever) to make sure the weapon could never be fired again. Can you even get a cartridge/round for that thing?

[osagebowman]

Ping! LSA

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Its an antique and part of their heritage. Not that anyone in the UK would understand that.

[gate2wire]

“Can you even get a cartridge/round for that thing?”

Am hardly an expert on ammunition, but here goes.
One of mine has a couple clips which allow the revolver to fire .45ACP.

[caver]

“Wait and see. They’ll call on the Arsenal of Democracy again some day.”

And it won’t be here.

[tet68]

we would urge anyone who finds any sort of weapon in their family’s belongings to call the police and not to dispose of it on their own.

‘Officers will come to your house, and make the gun safe.

Mine are on safe already thank you.
God what has happened to England.

[PowderMonkey]

"found dumped in a bundle of second-hand clothes."

(sigh) Heartbreaking. Not the first time this has happened in the U.K. Plenty found before were sent to the furnace for melt down, without a second thought. It would appear that given this coupled with the current state of affairs in England, I'd say that the good Capt. Sayres ultimately gave his life for an England that disappeared at the close of the 20th Century.

[bgill]

Officers will come to your house, and make the gun safe.

And promptly arrest you for having it in your home.