I am old enough to remember when the UK had sensible gun laws, in fact I was just about to make the transition from field target with airguns to 'Practical Shotgun' competition JUST as the laws in this country changed and the sports of practical pistol and shotgun were lost forever here. So when I see programs or articles about the the American gun market I always feel there are two reasons why Americans shouldn't have access to so many guns - not just because they are apt to use them, but because they are apt to have the worst taste in gun design in the world!

Above: Featured on the usually excellent Fire Arm Blog this attempt to 'Westernize' (apply the aesthetic of the Old American West) this AR10 exemplifies why Americans should stick to the side of gun design that involves designing guns and not applying design to guns. [Fire Arm Blog: Turnbull TAR-10 Rifle: Western-Style AR-10]

While on holiday I happened to catch an episode of 'American Gun' on the discovery channel. In many ways it's the fire arms equivalent of the excellent 'American Chopper' or ' American Hotrod', with one important exception - while we all marvel at the wonderfully creative designs produced in the later programs American Guns seems to be more akin to 'Pimp my Gun' with all the aesthetic good taste of a street gangster.

I sat through 40 minutes of wincingly bad modifications to a custom Colt 1911 which eventually saw the classic pistol adorned with dubious engraving, sloppy silver plating and - OMG! - diamond encrusting!

...There just isn't any justice.