REPLICA GUNS | | It is hard to distinguish a fake from a replica gun |
The increase in gun crime in Yorkshire has led to calls for greater control of replica weapon sales. Inside Out investigates the extent of the problem. Escalating gun crime in Yorkshire has led to calls for a clampdown on sales of replica weapons and air guns. Gun crime has quadrupled since 1981, and crime involving replica firearms is also on the increase. In the first half of 2003, the number of firearms offences dealt with by West Yorkshire Police rose from 1,756 to just over 2,000 incidents. Inside Out investigates why replica firearms are a growing menace, and looks at what is being done to tackle the problem. Replica GunsIn the first half of 2003 the number of firearms offences dealt with by West Yorkshire Police rose from 1,756 to just over 2,000 incidents. | Fake Gun Issues | Fake guns are seen to be a problem by anti-gun lobbyists became: * They create a feeling of uncertainty and fear in communities. * Replica guns are often used in crimes such as robberies.
* They encourage an early interest in guns by young children.
* They cause problems for the police who cannot tell if they are authentic or not. |
If you pull out a replica gun during a serious crime in Yorkshire, there's a good chance that you'll be met with an armed response from police officers. In most cases the replica weapons are indistinguishable from genuine firearms by both victims and police officers responding to incidents. There are many different types of replica firearms ranging from toys to authentic-looking imitations of serious weapons. The number of replica guns in circulation in the UK is not known but best estimates put the figure at around 500,000-600,000. A booming gun marketSince 1999 the replica firearms market in the UK has doubled in value and is now estimated to be worth almost £10 million. Replica guns are often used in crimes, and they pose real problems for Yorkshire's police officers who have to decide whether they are real or not in high pressure situations.  | | Police officers are faced with huge dilemmas when confronting a criminal with a gun that looks real |
Replica firearms were involved in 823 recorded offences in England and Wales in 2000. In inner city areas the police estimate that 50% of call-outs of armed police result from the sighting of an imitation firearm.
Some criminals choose to use a replica gun rather than a real one, believing that the sentence if caught would be lighter. Lower level criminals may use replicas because they cannot acquire, or afford, genuine firearms, while replica firearms are readily available as they can be purchased legally. There is also evidence that replica firearms are used to threaten victims and that some owners, particularly in inner city areas. There's also an increasing trend to carry replica firearms as fashion accessories and to intimidate others. Air gunsAir weapons are another potentially problematic weapon which can lead to serious injuries and even death in rare cases.  | | This type of air gun cannot be converted into a live weapon |
In 2001/2002, there were 12,340 recorded offences where air weapons were used. Of these 166 involved serious injuries, and in two cases the injuries proved fatal. A small proportion of these weapons have proved to be vulnerable to conversion to take conventional ammunition.
Because of this they have become popular with certain criminals, and have been used in a number of serious crimes including murders, hold-ups and muggings. Scotland Yard said 75 per cent of the guns it seizes on the streets are adapted air weapons. Tough new measures| Yorkshire Fact File 2003 | * Two men were arrested by armed officers in York after one was seen waving a gun at CCTV cameras in a car park. Police recovered a plastic ball bearing gun from the crime scene. * A woman was robbed by two teenagers with a 'pistol' at a petrol station in Huddersfield. When police later arrested two youths, they discovered that the weapon was a cigarette lighter made to look like a gun. * Surgeons had to remove an airgun pellet from under the skin of a man who was shot whilst walking in Ripley. * A policeman was shot with an airgun whilst a gang threw petrol bombs during an attack on a housing office in Huddersfield. * A man was jailed for 20 years at York Crown Court after committing 23 robberies. He admitted six charges of robbery with a replica gun. He had been caught after a five-hour armed siege in Scarborough. * A Hull man was jailed for nine years for manslaughter, after shooting and killing a woman with an airgun. * A 13-year-old girl suffered a serious eye injury after being shot in the face by an air gun whilst out walking in Huddersfield. |
The Government has recently approved new measures under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 to curb the use of replica guns. This effectively bans individuals from possessing replica firearms in public and contains tough new controls on some air weapons.
Replica guns are regarded as a menace rather than a danger. It is an offence to possess any air cartridge without a firearms certificate, with provision made for their possession up to May 20. But will the new legislation go far enough? Some lobbyists argue that it is still relatively easy to acquire replica guns and airguns over the internet and via mail order.
Gun enthusiasts respond by saying that they are being unfairly penalised for the anti-social behaviour of others.
They extol the benefits of official gun clubs as a way of ensuring the proper and safe use of weapons, real or replica.
They also claim that law-abiding shooters are harrassed, when in reality they actually promote the sensible use of guns. Some gun owners believe that measures are needed to tackle the glamourisation of guns by the media, and the illegal smuggling of weapons into the country from abroad by criminals. Radical solutions?Research from Durham University reveals that sophisticated replica handguns are available to UK citizens. They can be purchased over the Internet, by mail order from gun magazines, from Army and Navy style market stalls, gunsmiths, and leisure pursuit clothing stores. The only restriction for sale of such weaponry is that the purchaser is over seventeen years of age.
A quick search of Internet shopping sites in the UK bears this out, throwing up everything from replica Sten guns and Colt 45s to flintlock pistols and countless American revolvers. And then there's still the thorny issue of authentic looking children's toys which look like real guns.
So what else could be done? Opinion is divided but some of the following schemes have been identified as possible ways forward: France and Belgium have banned some uncertified lookalikes and toys.  | | Could you spot the real from the replica? Clue: It's American |
Thames Valley police recently launched a scheme offering children free CDs in return for handing over their replicas. Los Angeles became the first American city to outlaw the manufacture and sale of replica guns after the deaths of a number of youths.
Tougher control of replica and air guns bought over the Internet would help reduce the availability of fake guns.
Further gun amnesties would encourage owners to hand in replica weapons and airguns. Tougher legislation to outlaw the manufacture, sale or importation of replica guns might also help. ClampdownDespite the new clampdown on replica guns, it appears that the trade in copy weaponry is set to continue, albeit more covertly. As for the new legislation, it's too early to tell whether it will help reduce the problem. It will be interesting to see if the new measures will simply force replica guns underground, or whether it will effectively reduce the problems caused by fake weapons in big cities like Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford.
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