Blunkett bans replica guns and air rifles (UK response to rise in Gun Crime after total Gun Ban!)

Scotsman ^ | Thu 9 Jan 2003 | JASON BEATTIE CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

[vannrox]

Blunkett bans replica guns and air rifles

JASON BEATTIE CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

THE government moved yesterday to deflect criticism over a steep rise in gun crime by announcing a ban on the carrying of replica guns and air rifles.

The further tightening of the firearms legislation follows a fatal double shooting in Birmingham last week and comes ahead of figures to be released today which are expected to show a continued increase in violent crime.

Announcing the UK-wide ban, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, said the new legislation will make it illegal to carry a replica or air weapon in a "public place without a good reason".

The legislation, expected to be in the forthcoming anti-social behaviour bill, has been a long-standing demand in Scotland since the Dunblane massacre in March 1996. Police officers, north and south of the Border, have also been pressing for replica guns and air rifles to be incorporated into the existing firearms laws.

	‘Our crackdown on airguns is part of a commitment to tackle antisocial behaviour’ DAVID BLUNKETT

The ban comes as figures show an increase in firearms offences in Scotland for the first time in almost ten years. Between 2000 and 2001 there was a 40 per cent increase in such offences, up from 368 to 517 - though the figure is still below the 1992 peak of 800 crimes and offences.

The announcement is likely to provoke further accusations that the government is reacting for populist reasons to ease concerns after the shootings in Birmingham last week which left two teenagers dead and two others seriously wounded.

Mr Blunkett was forced to deny he had watered down plans for a minimum five-year jail sentence for gun possession announced immediately after the shootings.

The Home Office said the ban would cover anything that looked like a firearm, not just those capable of conversion to live ammunition.

In theory that could see offenders arrested for carrying a child’s toy or a gun-shaped cigarette lighter if they did not have a "reasonable excuse".

The age limit for possessing or using an air gun without adult supervision will be increased from 14 to 17 . Youngsters will only be allowed to use one if they are supervised by an adult, are a member of an approved rifle club or visit a shooting gallery.

Mr Blunkett said: "We are determined to tackle gun crime. Our guns laws are already among the tightest in the world, and these new controls will help the police to deal effectively with anyone misusing replica weapons or airguns.

"Our crackdown on airguns is part of the government’s wider commitment to tackle the antisocial behaviour which blights some of our most vulnerable communities and breeds a fear of crime."

Having a replica gun for use in historical re-enactments or plays will be considered a reasonable excuse.

The Home Office is also looking at a ban on the sale, manufacture and import of weapons, including certain models of Brocock, which can be readily converted to fire live ammunition.

Police have long lobbied for a ban on the sale of imitation weapons capable of conversion. In London, 75 per cent of guns seized are converted imitations or converted blank firers and senior officers claim many offences recorded as gun crime are carried out with such replicas.

The Brocock ME 38 air pistol, which can be illegally converted to fire bullets, now accounts for half of all converted firearms seized by police in London, according to the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

The weapon looks and feels like a real gun and can be bought legally over the counter for as little as £120.

Underworld dealers can easily convert a Brocock by inserting a metal rod into the barrel at a cost of about £70.

[vannrox]

YUP. Banning guns caused crime to soar...


The solution by our Ultra-Liberal friends....


Ban toy guns...


Yep. Brilliant just brilliant!

[vannrox]

BANG

[vannrox]

Executive Summary
1.1 This report summarises the results of an enquiry conducted in August-October 2000 at the University of Durham into what appears to be the increasing presence in criminal incidents in Britain, and in some other countries, ever more sophisticated replica firearms, newly manufactured involving an impressive level of detail, to resemble well known models of weapons (especially handguns and pistols) produced by gun manufacturers in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S. and other countries. The concern is to raise a series of connected issues:
(a) the issue of what constitutes a replica firearm, given the almost identical appearance of many replicas currently on the market and serious handguns of the kind that have been outlawed in Britain by the Firearms Act of 1997; (b) the question of what these increasingly authentic looking `replica weapons' (especially those which cannot be fired) are for. Is it realistic to suppose that replicas have any real use in sport? Or, does their essential function (whether `blank firers' or airguns) lie in their capacity to imitate? What is the relationship between the growth of the replica firearms market and the troubled condition of masculinity, with its fetishism of violence?

1.2 To investigate these and other questions, four focus group-style discussion meetings were held with staff employed in Durham by major national banks and other financial institutions, with a group of police officers undergoing training at the Police National Training Centre in Durham, staff employed by the local Wine Cellar retail outlet and a group of students of the University of Durham.These sessions were organised around the display, under appropriate supervision, of six pairs of `real' and `replica' firearms provided for this exercise by the Operations Division of Durham County Constabulary, and also taped the hour-long conversations which each `gun recognition exercise' produced.

1.3 Of the four groups involved in this exercise, only the police officers in training were able to identify the weaponry on display as `authentic' or `replica' more accurately than if they had been making an entirely random choice (i.e. 50 per cent accuracy). The chances of accurate identification were not significantly improved by a second `round' in which the pairs of firearms were on display for longer than 30 seconds - as against the five seconds' display of the firearms on the initial display.

1.4 The responses of our group discussants to these weapons, and to information provided to them about the increasingly frequent use of replicas in armed robberies, revolved around four themes, each of which are discussed at greater length in the body of this report:

(a) Astonishment at the existence and the scale of this market, coupled with a concern that these issues (notably, the carrying of a look- alike handgun) could and should have been tackled in the Firearms Amendment Act of 1997.
(b) A cynical view of the motivation of the gun manufacturers, in placing so much energy into the creation of market for such consumer items.
(c) An exploration of a range of different explanations as to the motivations that might lead people to acquire such replica weaponry in the first instance. These might range from the way in which some young people might acquire such weapons as a part of their search for respect in particular localities or cultures to the kind of collecting urge which is sometimes apparent amongst army veterans (and evident in the so-called `re- enactor' markets in replica weapons from the Second World War) and
(d) An almost unanimous view as to the serious dangers which this unregulated market represents - for example, for police officers in the course of their work (responding, as they often must, to incidents on the assumption that they involve a real rather than a replica weapon) or for employees of banks and other financial institutions (in respect of the trauma involved in being targeted by any kind of unidentified firearm). A particular concern was with the impact which the increased provenance of replica weapons might have on calls for the arming of the police in Britain, with all the negative consequences which this was thought to have for recruitment and retention of officers.


2 In a second dimension of this research, an attempt was made to try and understand how the increasing availability of replica weaponry might be a function of strategic innovation on the part of the gun trade itself. Particularly following the work of Tom Diaz (1999) on the America gun industry, the concern here was to see how gun manufacturers grasped the challenge that was beginning to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s (a reduction in consumer demand, especially for old-fashioned western style weapons). The encouragement given by the gun trade in subsequent years to the carrying of weapons by private citizens for purposes of self-protection (a campaign especially targeted at women) and the constant pressure on law enforcement bodies themselves constantly to upgrade `the stopping power' of their weaponry were both very significant aspects of gun manufacturers' energetic search for new markets. So also can we begin to see the development of new partnerships between firearms manufacturers, sporting gun producers and distributors, and toy manufacturers (based in different parts of the world) as examples of the industry's dynamic search for new markets. Enquiries with the Department of Trade and Industry and H.M. Customs and Exercise in Britain suggest that the value of the import trade into Britain has increased by some 52 per cent between 1997 and 1999.There is an urgent need for more in-depth investigations of this particular import and export market as a measure of the gun trade's own creative activity in trying to underwrite its own future.

3.1 The Report concludes with a brief overview of various initiatives currently being undertaken by national governments, in the name of the more effective regulation of the new market in replica firearms, and a discussion of some of the arguments which will inevitably be raised against an outright ban of such weaponry (and, indeed, against any further move towards regulation of the private firearms trade between sovereign-consumers).



Ian Taylor and Rob Hornsby
27 October 2000.

[vannrox]

4. The Impact of the Replica Market

There are several different concerns about the impact of this explosive growth of `replica weaponry' :
i) Most obviously, there is concern that such replica weaponry can be put to a variety of different uses, not least for criminal purposes, precisely because of their increasingly close resemblance to real firearms. Research conducted into armed robberies in London in the early 1990s also constitutes prima facie evidence of imitation firearms, and airweapons, performing an important role in these kinds of criminal confrontations.[29] The underlying issue in the first years of the new century is whether the increase in the availability of such increasingly `life-like' weapons on the open market significantly increases the probability of their use in criminal incidents and, indeed, whether it may play a contributory role in increasing the numbers of such incidents. From a law-enforcement perspective, of course - as the `Cowboy' Dixon incident dramatically underlines - the challenge posed involves effective management of responses to a variety of different criminal or public order situations in which firearms have been reported to be present, without any clear and final knowledge as to the authenticity of the weaponry in the hands of suspect individuals or groups.
ii) There is also a concern, already voiced in British press, that many replica weapons, especially those which are capable of firing pellets or ball bearings (`BB guns') are being specifically marketed to children and young people as if they were toys. The concern is that these weapons may then be put to something less than `playful' use, in a `thoughtless' fashion by the young and `immature' or - cf. legislative action on knives 1996 because of irresponsible supervision by parents. In August this year, the Sunday Mirror reported that there had in recent months been `dozens of reports of BB shots being fired at pedestrians, motorists and animals', though in the inquiries conducted in toy shops which had BB guns on sale, the reporter was told that these items were not for sale to under-16s.[30] The tendency in public discussion of the abuse of imitation firearms by children is for the debate to slide, rather quickly, into territories which are very familiar in the popular press - that is, into discussion of feckless parents or under- socialized offspring of the `dangerous classes'.

iii) A third, rather distinct, concern about the increasing prevalence of replica and imitation weaponry, however, is to understand the emergence of this new consumer item as a part of the larger strategies of the firearms industry itself.

We want to advance discussion of each of these three concerns, especially as they have an impact in Britain, firstly, through reporting a small scale pilot study, conducted in Durham in August-September 2000 with different sections of the public into their ability to distinguish between authentic and replica models of the same firearm, and, secondly, and through discussion of the evidence available as to some recent developments in the commercial strategies of the gun trade.

[HennepinPrisoner]

Just this morning my dad and I were discussing the recent gun crimes in Britain. We know exactly why gun crime has increased in Britain. The handgun ban is only part of the reason.

[Reactionary]

Maybe next the sensitive liberal males will outlaw thinking about toy guns.

It's that horrible "gun culture" anyway. A little reeducation in the camps and Britian would become a Utopian wet dream.

For the children...

[sneakypete]

THE government moved yesterday to deflect criticism over a steep rise in gun crime by announcing a ban on the carrying of replica guns

Sounds reasonable to me. How else are you going to stop replica killings?

[joesnuffy]

Problem: Criminals are robbing raping and killing honest tax paying Britishers
Solution: Ban toy guns
Result: New criminal class of people with toys
Crime wave: Unchanged though govt. crime figures now show new growing crime rate among what was once normal taxpayers.
Solution: Police State -confiscation legistlation-....Long live the NWO
Throw those who defend themselves against the beasts in jail....
And make room for the former tax payers....by releasing the real criminals
Good is bad....and Bad....is good....
Bring out "The Beast" ...........and "The lawless Man".............. IS LOOSED! ........

[chuknospam]

OK, Here is an island country, the ideal controlled setting that scientists love to study. Forst, we ban and confiscate all the guns on the island, gun crime increases, next we ban and confiscate anything that remotely resembles a gun.Gun crime increases. Next we punish people for defending their lives and property and make examples out of the "offenders"! Gun crime increases. They have cameras all over London, crime increases.

OK, now it's time to try something else, allow the "subjects" to own guns for self defense, and allow them the right to use them to defend their homes and lives, start hauling the thugs off in body bags and lets see the effect on crime. Anyone willing to stake their life savings on whether it will go down? I am.

[nothingnew]

I read this stuff and feel like I'm stuck in a Monty Python "Groundhog Day".

...or maybe Firesign Theater".

"Bailiff! Whack his pee-pee...with a toy gun!"

FMCDH

[razorback-bert]

at a ban on the sale, ...of Brocock

Don't know what they are, but if they are dangerous, I want one.

[CPOSharky]

The weapon looks and feels like a real gun and can be bought legally over the counter for as little as £120.

Does anybody know what this expensive replica looks like?

Underworld dealers can easily convert a Brocock by inserting a metal rod into the barrel at a cost of about £70.

Putting a rod in the barrel usually causes a firearm barrel to burst. Did the idiot "journalist" really mean a tube, as in liner?

[razorback-bert]

Model: Combat
Barrel Length: 2.5" 
Calibre: .22
Cartridge: BAC .38/.22
Muzzle Velocity: 380ft/s
Trigger: Single Action/Double Action
Capacity: 6 shot
Overall Length: 7.9"
Weight: 2.00lb
Finish: Blued, Combat grip
$290.25

Brocock

[David Hunter]

Police have long lobbied for a ban on the sale of imitation weapons capable of conversion. In London, 75 per cent of guns seized are converted imitations or converted blank firers and senior officers claim many offences recorded as gun crime are carried out with such replicas.

The Brocock ME 38 air pistol, which can be illegally converted to fire bullets, now accounts for half of all converted firearms seized by police in London, according to the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

Last time I checked converted replicas/air pistols accounted for about 10% of all the firearms recovered by the police nationwide. Therefore, what's the government doing to stop the other 90%. I wonder how much we can rely on the NCIS's figures, considering that in January 2002 they said that "..converted Brococks now account for 35% of all guns recovered by the police." That was shown to be a cynical exaggeration which was not picked up on by the media, or reported by them, and especially not by the BBC (who made such a big deal about it in the first place). I think we need to take a close look at the NCIS's figures to make sure they aren't pulling the wool over our eyes again, which I'm pretty sure they are.

The weapon looks and feels like a real gun and can be bought legally over the counter for as little as £120.

Well, isn't that terrible /sarcasm.

Underworld dealers can easily convert a Brocock by inserting a metal rod into the barrel at a cost of about £70.

What, a metal rod?! Then it would be bound to blow up in your hand - that must be quite a common occurrence with converted air pistols. They would also need to cut down .22 rimfire rifle catridges, reload them and probably change the gun's barrel. Not to mention placing new receiver tubes in the revolver's chambers, so that the bullets would fit. Hang on, it would be easier to just buy a real firearm from the black market. What self respecting gangster would carry a .22 calibre converted air pistol anyway?

[razorback-bert]

See my #13.

[David Hunter]

See post #14. The journalist was talking crapola as his kind always does.

[CPOSharky]

Thanks

[CPOSharky]

Exactly

[sistergoldenhair]

Slow learner alert.

[Mo1]

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