... and speaking of leaving the firearms behind, I had an acquaintence who was moved to England for a temporary position while his company established themselves there. He and his family lived near London for a year or more, so when he moved house, like many Americans might, brought along many of the household items. When he was about to return to the US after the work was done, the British authorities were quite concerned about the two hand guns he had among his belongings! He had carried them over from the US when he moved, ignorant of the UK laws, and kept them in his possession during his whole UK stay!

I believe he sorted it out amicably (though he may have lost them) but I know he was quite surprised to find out he had broken the law!