My weapons were for imminent civil war, says ex-BNP candidate (UK)

The Guardian ^ | January 20, 2007 | Helen Carter

[Gritty]

A former BNP candidate who is accused of possessing explosives told a court yesterday that he thought the UK was on the brink of civil war and he had purchased crossbows and airguns to protect his family from attack.

Robert Cottage, 49, told Manchester crown court that police would be unable to control the civil unrest that would break out. He stockpiled food, petrol and chemicals to make gunpowder...

*snip*

Cottage claimed that if civil war broke out the authorities would be unable to control the public as the armed forces were fighting in the Middle East and the police were insufficiently trained. "I believe it is everybody's God-given right to protect themselves and their families if they are attacked," he said. "The breakdown of the financial system will inevitably put an unbearable strain on the social structures of this country."

He said the air pistols and crossbows were bought for self-defence but he hoped he would never have to use them.

He said immigration was a luxury this country could not afford but that he drove a bus for children with disabilities and had a good relationship with Asian children among them.

*snip*

[mylife]

crossbows and airguns?

Oh The Hugh Manatee!

[txroadkill]

"I believe it is everybody's God-given right to protect themselves and their families if they are attacked," he said.

Well, I'll give him this, he's right and he's in good company:

Washington, George, VA Franklin, Benjamin, PA Madison, James, VA Hamilton, Alexander, NY Morris, Gouverneur, PA Morris, Robert, PA Wilson, James, PA Pinckney, Chas. Cotesworth, SC Pinckney, Chas, SC Rutledge, John, SC Butler, Pierce, SC Sherman, Roger, CT Johnson, William Samuel, CT McHenry, James, MD Read, George, DE Bassett, Richard, DE Spaight, Richard Dobbs, NC Blount, William, NC Williamson, Hugh, NC Jenifer, Daniel of St. Thomas, MD King, Rufus, MA Gorham, Nathaniel, MA Dayton, Jonathan, NJ Carroll, Daniel, MD Few, William, GA Baldwin, Abraham, GA Langdon, John, NH Gilman, Nicholas, NH Livingston, William, NJ Paterson, William, NJ Mifflin, Thomas, PA Clymer, George, PA FitzSimons, Thomas, PA Ingersoll, Jared, PA Bedford, Gunning, Jr., DE Brearley, David, NJ Dickinson, John, DE Blair, John, VA Broom, Jacob, DE Jackson, William, Secretary

All the original signers of the US Constitution.

[Pontiac]

he had purchased crossbows and airguns to protect his family from attack.

Robert Cottage, 49, told Manchester crown court that police would be unable to control the civil unrest that would break out. He stockpiled food, petrol and chemicals to make gunpowder...

The court had previously heard that he wanted to shoot the prime minister and Liberal Democrat peer Lord Greaves.

The guy is obviously a harmless survivalist.

Crossbows (and maybe air pistols) are deadly weapons but hardly can in this day and age be considered common tools for assassination.

This sort of silliness happens when the state starts willy-nilly banning weapons.

As for the chemicals all of them have legitimate civilian uses.

[sarasmom]

But this mans ancestors were "left behind", and he is not among those supposedly protected by the Constitution of the USA.
At no time did the USA invade the UK.
We merely violently forced the UK out of one of their many designated colonies, proving it could be done!

[RKV]

Air guns? Snort. I've been tagged by a few in my time. Just protect my face and groin, and I'll take the rest of the hits to get where I need to go. OTOH, the bows can actually do some damage.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Aren't the BNP like Britain's answer to David Duke? Of course the British media will hold this nut up as an example of what British conservatives are like.

[rpgdfmx]

I don't think maybe Brits would consider BNP activists "harmless survivalists." Nutty neo-Nazis, maybe, but not harmless.

[Pontiac]

BNP activists

The article says that he was a “A former BNP candidate”. As I am unaware as to what exactly that means I assumed he was a candidate for parliament for one of Britain’s more obscure parties.

What is BNP if you could kindly expound.

[Cicero]

British Nationalist Party.

[Pontiac]

Air guns? Snort. I've been tagged by a few in my time. Just protect my face and groin, and I'll take the rest of the hits to get where I need to go.

If you haven’t been tagged recently I would not be too quick to dismiss them so easily.

Many of the new air rifles push a .177 caliber pellet to in excess of 1000 feet per second.

They can easily pierce the skull and do real damage.

[rmlew]

The BNP grew out of the Moseleyite Fascists. They are now corporatists. They remain racialists.
It isn't fair to call them David Duke supporters because they have now disavowed anti-Semitism, although there are plenty of anti-Semites in their ranks. They just realised the threat of Islamists and figured that a few hundred thousand assimilated Jews pose no threat, but millions of Muslims do.
The British National Front remain antisemites.

[OldPossum]

Many of the new air rifles push a .177 caliber pellet to in excess of 1000 feet per second.<

Indeed. I have seen ads for air rifles that advertise 1,250 fps. That certainly can do severe damage, even penetrate one's chest if you're wearing a light shirt.

[infowarrior]

crossbows and airguns?

Recall that this is Britain, and these were perhaps all that he could obtain legally...

the infowarrior

[Pontiac]

They just realised the threat of Islamists and figured that a few hundred thousand assimilated Jews pose no threat, but millions of Muslims do.

They sound rather unpleasant to have over to a house party but that part makes a little sense (the part about the Muslims posing a threat).

Apparently the British government could learn something from this party. You don’t have to be a racist to face reality.

The things described that he had stockpiled in my mind does not make him much of a threat. Perhaps other things not mentioned would change my mind. Could he make a bomb with those chemicals? Yes but he could do those things he said he planed to do as well.

(And by the way many people have the makings of a Chlorine gas weapon under their bathroom sink and don’t know it. The cops could come in at any time and claim they intended to use these household cleaning products to manufacture weapons.)

But from the article as written he sounds like a survivalist who reads the papers and extrapolates liberally to the conclusion that society is going to h*ll in a hand basket and who can blame the guy.

[Constantine XIII]

They call that an arsenal? LOL

[Pontiac]

Indeed. I have seen ads for air rifles that advertise 1,250 fps. That certainly can do severe damage, even penetrate one's chest if you're wearing a light shirt.

I got one of the air rifles rated at 1000 fps for my teenager for Christmas a few years ago.

We set up coffee can lids as targets at about 20 yards. The pellets easily penetrated one lid.

When we set up one lid behind the other the pellet would penetrate the first and nearly penetrate the second.

A leather motorcycle jacket (or a helmet) is not going to stop these pellets.

And this was a one pump per shot rifle not the ten pump per shot Daisy or Crossman that was popular when I was a kid. It comes ready to mount a scope (I was not impressed with the iron sights). You could conceivably fire an aimed shot every four or five seconds.

[gonzo]

"...Cottage claimed that if civil war broke out the authorities would be unable to control the public as the armed forces were fighting in the Middle East and the police were insufficiently trained. "I believe it is everybody's God-given right to protect themselves and their families if they are attacked," he said. "The breakdown of the financial system will inevitably put an unbearable strain on the social structures of this country."..."

Preparation is something we all should have already done here in the USA. Luckily, we can still keep and bear arms, unlike the Brits.

Just for fun ................ FRegards

[Gritty]

[Pontiac]

One of my favorite movies.

Thanks.