[snowsislander]

I find it incredible that the U.K., the former home to the great Royal Ordnance system, is now down to begging just to borrow a few machine guns?

I hope that this will serve to remind us all as to how far a great power can fall in such a short period of time.

[SWO]

Hey Folks,
This is the "SUN" newspaper. Page two is normally true to life. Everything else in this rag you should take with a grain of salt.
A Big Grain of Salt.
Quote about "the borrowers", 99.99% chance it was made up.
These folks would make Dan Rather blush.

[Dogbert41]

Nothing funny about it. This is exactly where we will be soon. Earlier in the week someone posted a list of all of our combat aircraft that need IMMEDIATE fixing or replacing. The next few years is going to be shockingly expensive just to keep what we have. I’m sure Obama and Hillary are all over that.

The UK and the rest of Europe has been getting by the cheap on national defense because we have been there to take up the slack. All there monies have gone to social programs and there simply are none left for national defense. It’s exactly where we are headed in 2009. Hold on to your girdles.

[Billthedrill]

I'd be happy to store a couple of M2s for 'em. Heck, I'd even clean 'em and make sure they were operable every so often. They need 'em, I just pop 'em down to Fedex. Signature required, of course.

[yarddog]

90 years old and still going strong.

[ApplegateRanch]

The Army has also run out of the 7.62mm GPMG and Minimis.

Supply has collapsed partly because of a dispute with the manufacturers, Manroy – which also provides weapons to Saudi Arabia.

Doesn't Britain have a history of arming enemies before equiping their own troops?

I know; S.A. is our friend. How do I know? GWBush tells me so.

[Nuc1]

The once Great Britten cannot supply heavy machine guns to their Army. Dang what is the world coming too? It’s a rhetorical question.

[TigersEye]

All they need is 400 guns? Heck, for some American citizens that’s a small collection. lol

[lowbridge]

Page six of the November 1940 issue of American Rifleman carried a very important appeal headline: “SEND A GUN TO DEFEND A BRITISH HOME.” It explained: “British civilians, faced with threat of invasion, desperately need arms for defense of their homes. THE AMERICAN COMMITTEE FOR DEFENSE OF BRITISH HOMES has organized to collect gifts of pistols, rifles, revolvers, shotguns, binoculars from American civilians who wish to answer the call and aid in defense of British homes. The arms are being shipped, with the consent of the British Government, to CIVILIAN COMMITTEE FOR PROTECTION OF HOMES, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.”

And NRA members responded with the donation of thousands of small arms including rifles, shotguns, revolvers and pistols.

http://www.fa-ir.org/ai/second_amend.htm

Incidentally, the NRA’s call to help arm Britain in 1940 resulted in the collection of more than 7,000 firearms for Britain’s defense against potential invasion by Germany (Britain had virtually disarmed itself with a series of gun control laws enacted between World War I and World War II).

http://www.nracentral.com/history.php