Fake guns in the spotlight

Several regional papers are currently running strong campaigns calling for tighter controls on imitation guns.

The Bournemouth Daily Echo and the Bath Chronicle have both put the spotlight on ball-bearing guns.

The Echo discovered that the Dorset Armed Response Unit had been called to 47 incidents in less than a year where the weapon someone was seen carrying turned out to a be a legally-held ball-bearing gun.

The Chronicle launched its campaign after revellers at a New Year’s party were sprayed with pellets from a spring-loaded handgun. A 14-year-old girl and a 36-year-old man needed hospital treatment for facial injuries. Other incidents followed at a school and a housing estate.

The Echo reported police fears that an innocent person could be shot by an armed officer unless tighter restrictions are introduced.

A 13-year-old boy in Wimborne, Dorset, was recently shot in the leg with a ball-bearing gun as he walked home from school.

Children can legally buy ball-bearing guns as they are classed as toys, but they can look incredibly realistic.

Inspector David Fitzpatrick told the Echo: “Even young men are carrying them in a shoulder holster as though it’s a status thing.”

He added: “They are so realistic-looking that someone carrying it could end up facing an armed police officer who has only a short time to assess whether the gun is real or not in what may be a stressful situation. It could end up with someone with an imitation firearm being shot.”

Avon and Somerset police have welcomed the Chronicle’s campaign and say they now plan to carry out detailed research into incidents involving imitation guns.

In Plymouth, the Evening Herald has been looking at the potential danger of air pistols after a forklift truck driver was shot in the ear and a 16-year-old boy was fired at three times in a separate incident. On both occasions police believed an air pistol was used.

Through the newspaper, the police asked parents finding air weapons among their children’s belongings to contact them so they could be disposed of safely.

An officer told the Evening Herald: “Air weapons are subject to legislation, there is some control over the use of them, but still kids are getting hold of them.”

Is your paper running a good campaign?
E-mail us now

Back to the Campaigns index