www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sas-amnesty-filled-a-skip-with-weapons-8537547.html

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SAS amnesty 'filled a skip' with weapons

After Danny Nightingale case, details emerge of high-grade hardware brought home as souvenirs


Some of Britain's elite warriors believe they are above the law and smuggle deadly weapons – from handguns to rocket launchers – into the UK as part of the spoils of war, senior military sources warned yesterday.

A culture of "entitlement" among SAS veterans means they have no qualms about bringing back anything from bazookas to quad bikes stolen from the US military in combat regions such as Afghanistan. Some appear not even to have considered that what they are doing is illegal, according to army officers.

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a plan by the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, to bring in an amnesty across the Army, encouraging soldiers to hand in unauthorised weapons. SAS sources revealed that an amnesty at the regiment's Hereford base, shortly after the arrest of SAS sniper Sgt Danny Nightingale in 2011, revealed a shocking amount of heavy weaponry and stolen US army hardware. In addition to rocket-propelled grenades, a grenade launcher, 66mm rocket launcher and machine guns were among the items turned in by soldiers wanting to avoid punishment. Some, unable to dump their trophies in a skip, opted to throw the weapons into a local river.

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Sgt Nightingale, 38, from Crewe, Cheshire, was sentenced to 18 months at a court martial last November after admitting he should not have kept a Glock 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition at his home.

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A US born Scot who worked for me said that the SAS were known among the rest of the UK armed forces as the Hooligans from Herefordshire. The story confirms my observations that the degree of "specialness" does seem to correlate to a sense of entitlement among some special forces.

The US SAS has a lot of foreign trophies, too

It is against the law in the UK for thier veterans to own weapons, even Glocks.

Rabid,
They have to follow all the same laws anybody else does to own firearms. Which is very different than here, but it certainly does not prevent them from owning them.

I wonder how much of this stuff is actually in homes, although it sounds like some is, and how much is in team rooms and unit storage. They could probably claim a bunch of it as "training aids" and justify keeping it if they wanted.

Tango Mike speaks the truth.

Also, there are plenty of RPGs/AK47s hanging above American fireplaces...

CT 97 Brit Mil that I worked with in Iraq (Basra) said they could not even keep their personal weapons, for training or otherwise, when their gun ban went into law. Said it was the saddest day of their life. The only shooting that they could do was going to their armory, checking weapons out and firing them on military ranges. They were always very jealous of what we could do and own gun wise in Texas.

[This message has been edited by Rabid Cougar (edited 3/20/2013 7:52p).]

Rabid,
That is correct, that is the same as civilians as well. Civilians have to keep their firearms at private armories/gun clubs/hunting clubs, and they have to go there to check them out use them at that location then check it back in.

I have several good friends that are British Army and RAF as well.

This reminds me of my Tank gunner (former 1CD) telling me the story about the Makarov pistols he hid in the transmission cooler after Desert Storm.

Only real problem I have is its weapons from an ally.


Feels like its one thing to nab a Soviet-era rifle or gear, but another from an allied nation.

Even then, if it was just a service pistol or M-16, etc., er, I think that would be let go. But it sounds like they grabbed some pretty serious gear.