The National Rifle Association is blasting a new gun policy in the United Kingdom that allows for police and constabularies to inspect the private homes of legal gun owners without notice or a warrant.
The new policy from the British Home Office went into effect Oct. 15 and revises an old policy to allow police to inspect gun-owning citizens’ homes unannounced.
“Where it is judged necessary, based on specific intelligence in light of a particular threat, or risk of harm, the police may undertake an unannounced home visit to check the security of a certificate holder’s firearms and shotguns,” the updated policy says, Fox News reported.
A British police organization — the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) — sent out a letter to legal gun owners encouraging tipsters to call a new Crimestoppers hotline to report any concerns they have about the storage of legal firearms, Fox News reported.
The NRA blasted the measure as contributing to the U.K’s “devolution into a police state.”
“Americans should view the UK’s ever-expanding gun control efforts with grave concern. Barack Obama has repeatedly touted the U.K.’s gun laws as an example for the U.S.,” the NRA’s lobbying arm said on its website Friday.
“The new guidelines, along with ACPO’s press release, are a chilling reminder of what can happen to a citizenry who fails to insist on their basic rights,” the statement continued. “For U.K. residents, warrantless home “inspections” by government agents, based on flimsy tips to a dedicated line for accusations against licensed and presumptively lawful guns owners, is merely the latest step in an ongoing march to civilian disarmament.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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