INCIDENTS AND OTHER CONCERNS RAISED BY GCN
CORRESPONDENTS - 2006
ENGLAND
Hythe, November 2006
We have received a letter from a correspondent who raises
some very worrying issues about what happens to a deadly legacy when a gun
owner dies. Here is part of what she wrote:
"My partner recently passed away. He had a vast collection of firearms at
his home, there were shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers, handguns (pump
action shotgun) & antique guns etc. And I have never seen so much
ammunition! There were between 30/40 guns, some legal some not (I was
told). His brother-in-law and nephew took all the firearms from his house
for safe keeping as they said I would be in serious trouble if I had
possession of any of them and shouldn't leave them in an empty house as I
didn't have a licence and he'd sort them all out at a later date
"I was stupid enough to trust these people, I know the
whereabouts of 7 of the shotguns and I gave permission for him to sell about
6 of the shotguns. When I enquired where all the rest of the guns were they
told my solicitor they had sold the lot, this includes the illegal ones I
presume. I have made repeated requests for the name of the person they sold
them to and for the receipts and lists etc, they have not responded to date.
"I informed my local police as I was responsible for all the guns and wanted
to make sure that they have not got into the wrong hands. I thought they
would be safe with the brother-in-law at the time and I thought they were
helping me, I was in shock at just losing my partner and they just took
over.
"The police said they would make enquiries but I have heard nothing since
August. The police seem to think it is a civil matter!! Which I find
unbelievable, I have gone to them reporting all these missing firearms, I
did not give my permission for them to all be sold, just for them to hold on
to until such time they could be gone through properly as there was so many.
"Why can't the police at least find out who they were sold to and let me
know? I feel so responsible, I don't know how I allowed this to happen and
for my own peace of mind I really do want to know where all those guns are.
Surely the police have the powers to trace them? Or demand to see the
receipts etc? Do I have to wait until something serious happens? Why is no
one concerned?"
GCN is certainly concerned about the issues raised here. The lack
of activity by the police is extremely worrying.
If the guns are legal then appropriate processes should be
followed and our correspondent's solicitor was surely obliged to advise her
on these. However, it sounds as though some of the weapons are illegal
in the UK, and whether they've been sold by relatives or held in 'safe keeping'
by them, they are still illegally held, and whoever the 'keepers' are
they're liable to prosecution. The police too have a duty to
investigate this thoroughly.
We have suggested that it is important for our correspondent
to write a letter to her Chief Constable giving him:-
1. details of the missing weapons,
2. the name and address of her partner's brother in law and nephew
3. the address from where the firearms were removed
4. the dates they were removed
5. the date you first contacted the Police, and asking to know the outcome
of his investigations.
We will be following up this case. We have no idea what
has happened to the guns but our correspondent is right to be worried that
the guns, legal or illegal, could have fallen into the wrong hands and the
police appear to have shown little concern.
Henley-on-Thames, 3 November 2006
A mother from Oxfordshire wrote to us because we
had not seen a report about her son's shooting with an
air rifle. We have now
added the incident to the list
for April 2006. The incident was another serious
airgun incident involving a young teenager, and we believe it is important to
provide more details. We also consider it important to highlight the
continuing complacency shown towards these potentially lethal weapons.
The victim was shot by another boy (both were aged 13) whose parent was in
the house at the time and had allowed him to have the gun (it was a gift
three weeks before). The boy thought it would
be fun to threaten the victim before shooting. The shot boy's mother
was told that he would not survive, but fortunately some of the pellet was
removed from the his brain during emergency brain surgery. Most of the
pellet remains
embedded further into his skull. CPS decided that although they noted
that the shooting was not an accident and that it passed the evidential test
that they would not take the boy to court but gave him a "Final Warning".
They said that it did not pass the public interest criteria. The
police have had nothing to say.
Also see Letters
sent to MPs by parents of other young airgun victims.
Keswick, October 2006
A correspondent wrote to us expressing
concern about a shop in Keswick, Cumbria, that sells toys on the
ground floor and fishing rods and rifles on the upper floor. Whilst
recognising that this is legal, she points out that only a scruffy notice
deterred unaccompanied children from going upstairs. She writes
"surely the very fact that children see toys and guns being sold in the same
shop must send out the wrong sort of message".
Stoke-on-Trent, 19 June 2006
Three pellets were fired into a new
van as our correspondent was driving down a road in the Stoke-on-Trent
area. Had the passenger window been open he thinks his wife would have
been injured. He believes that the three pellets hit the van so
quickly that three different air rifles
were fired.
Derby, 18 May 2006
A correspondent wrote to ask if GCN
had heard of any shooting incidents in the Derby area. Her
father's car had the rear window shot out on 10 May as he travelled home
from work. A bullet hole was found in the back seat head rest.
The matter was reported to the police but nothing was done and no officer
had come to see the family.
SCOTLAND
Kirkcaldy, 26 May 2006
We were contacted by the daughter of a
man who died from a shotgun wound to the head at an activity centre in 2004.
Here is her account of what happened.
Fatal Accident Inquiry into Death
at Shooting Range
"A fatal accident inquiry is set to
take place at Sheriff Courthouse, Whytecauseway, Kirkcaldy on the 20-22 June
2006 to investigate the death of JM, aged 57, who died from a shotgun wound
to the head in 2004 at Cluny Clays Activity Centre in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
"JM died on the 2nd November 2004
after visiting the Activity Centre whilst suffering from severe depression.
Despite having had his gun licence revoked by the police several months
prior to shooting himself at the range, he was given access to a shotgun
without any proof of identity.
"JM left home at 3.30 pm on the 2nd
November 2004, yet he was not declared dead until 7.12 pm. He would
have died between 3.45 and 7.12 pm (coroner's report). It is feared
that during this time there was scope for others to be injured or for the
gun to be taken off the premises.
"Cluny Clays Activity Centre sells
family tickets and offers to host children's parties."
The fatal accident inquiry is taking
place in August (see Incidents).
WALES
Cardiff, 17 May 2006
We received a message from a concerned
mother with a disabled daughter in St Mellons, Cardiff, who has
experienced anti-social behaviour outside her home. She described how
a youth, aged about 18, had a gun in close proximity to her house.
She had reported the same youth with a gun a month or so earlier. On
the second occasion he was heard to ask other youths whether anyone wanted
to buy it and fired it (this was video taped by our correspondent).
Although it was reported to the police nothing was done. They did
decide it was a BB gun but it is now
being described as a toy gun. Our correspondent believed, correctly,
that it is an offence to brandish a gun in a public place but no action has
been taken. Her local councillor was totally aware of the gun
incidents but he had not returned her call. She has also written to
the Chief Constable but had not received a reply. Only her A.M. had
responded. Her experience raises concerns about the degree of
seriousness with which some authorities treat the brandishing of weapons on
our streets.
INCIDENTS INVOLVING ANIMALS
Willingale, Essex, 30 August 2006
We were contacted by a correspondent
about an incident in which a domestic cat had its front leg shot off by
lampers on a truck using a high powered .22 rifle on farmland next to houses
in Willingale. The lampers are causing great alarm among
residents and are not being policed at all.
Essex, 16 June 2006 *
A correspondent wrote to us describing
how her cat had been shot recently with an airgun. The cat could not
survive the injuries. Her vet commented that in 30 years of practice he
had never seen such severe injuries from an airgun
pellet. It had penetrated his lung, diaphragm, liver,
spleen, both kidneys and several parts of the bowel. The police have
seized a weapon from the person suspected and are working with the RSPCA to
pursue a prosecution. See
Personal Accounts 2007 for an Update).
Kensal Green, London, April
2006
Letter from a correspondent:
"In early February my cat was shot in the leg with an airgun by my
neighbour. The shot broke both bones of her foreleg, leaving the pellet
lodged in the bone. She underwent an operation and an external metal rod was
fitted; she was in a full leg cast for six weeks and now faces a long and
painful recovery. This incident has damaged my cat for life and caused a
huge amount of trauma, stress, and anxiety (as well as expense) for myself.
"This man has been seen shooting and killing squirrels in his back garden and
he has also half-blinded a neighbourhood cat by shooting it through the eye.
I'm now certain that a dead magpie found in my garden a few months ago,
whose cause of death mystified me at the time, was another unlucky victim of
his target practice.
"I reported the incident to the police and gave them the pellet removed from
my cat's leg. They finally went to talk to my neighbour and confiscated his
airgun; both gun and pellet will be sent for forensic analysis to see
whether the two can be linked. Originally I was told by the police that if
the two can be linked they could criminally prosecute him; however I was
told today that the CPS have looked at the case and decided he can't be
criminally convicted because a cat doesn't count as my property. Instead the
case will then pass to an RSPCA inspector who will look into the matter as a
case of animal cruelty, and I could then pursue a civil suit.
"I am galled by the fact that the lax gun laws do not allow the police to
prosecute this man. That, and the fact that the CPS have ruled that my cat
doesn't count as a personal possession, means that I have no recourse in law
to seeing this man punished and having him compensate me for at least my
financial costs (£2,000 for vets bills and associated costs).
"It's clear that the only solution to this kind of wicked and irresponsible
behaviour is a complete ban on airguns in a city or
populated area. These guns are not kids' toys but potentially lethal weapons
that cause thousands of injuries each year (both to people and animals), as
well as untold cases of animal cruelty and death. The current law that
allows people to shoot guns in their own back gardens gives them virtually a
free hand to do what they like, especially if they know they can't be
prosecuted for injuring or killing someone's pets.
"Guns of whatever kind have no place in a civilized society. The government
seems very keen on helping communities feel safe, but I don't see them
addressing this problem -- which is all the more rampant because the
perpetrators can carry out their acts of cruelty with impunity in the eyes
of the law."
If you have had similar experiences please let us know. GCN is
campaigning for tighter controls over the ownership and use of airguns.
