An imitation gun is anything which has the appearance of being a firearm …… whether or not it is capable of discharging any shot, bullet or other missile.

Ball Bearing (bb) Gun

Often designed to look like a real gun. A type of airgun designed to fire spherical projectiles (BBs), usually from a .177 (4.45 mm) smoothbore barrel. Modern BBs are steel, plated with zinc or copper (cf airsoft BBs).  Some manufacturers make lead BBs, which are generally intended for use in rifled barrels.  Fires at velocities capable of causing harm to people or animals. (for examples

OR a spring action gun designed to fire 6 mm spherical plastic projectiles (bbs) also may have been designed to look like a real gun.

The data confirm that a majority of all recorded gun offences are being committed with weapons that do not require registration.  Offences with airguns and imitation guns accounted for at least 53 percent of the total.

Source:  Crime Figures for England & Wales

IMITATION AND BB GUN OFFENCES

The number of imitation gun offences is rising. Imitation guns were involved in 566 reported crimes in 1998/99 and 2.562 in 2007/08. (Airguns and imitation guns, the majority of which can be owned without a licence), were the weapons responsible for two thirds of all injuries which occurred when a gun was fired.

Source:- Home Office Statistical Bulletin, Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2007/08. Supplementary Volume 2 to Crime in England and Wales 2007/08 Third Edition.

Additional note: It is an offence to carry a bb/ imitation gun in a public place without legitimate reason in Great Britain

HOW DO BB/IMITATION GUNS CONTRIBUTE TO GUN CRIME?

BB AND IMITATION GUNS INJURE ADULTS AND CHILDREN   

• bb/imitation guns capable of firing a projectile are involved in many incidents each year affecting adults and children both as victims and perpetrators, some result in serious injury, others less so.  The experience of being shot is always traumatic and can cause long term physical and psychological consequences.  

Read about these crimes by clicking on 'Reported incidents' and from the 'Issue type' option select 'bb/imitation'.

BB AND IMITATION GUNS ENABLE CRIME (ROBBERY ETC.)

• BB/imitation guns are used to enable crime and even if the gun is not fired, or capable of firing a projectile,  victims are threatened, frightened and intimidated, which can cause long term psychological damage.   

Read about these crimes by clicking on 'Reported Incidents' and from the 'Issue Type' option select 'bb/imitation'.

BB GUNS AND ANIMAL / BIRD CRUELTY   

• bb/imitation guns capable of firing a projectile are used to kill and injure many pets, wild animals and birds each year.    

Read about these crimes by clicking on 'Reported incidents' and from the 'Issue type' select 'animals/birds'. To find out more hover on 'current issues' and select 'animal cruelty' from the drop down menu.

Criminal damage   

• bb/imitation guns capable of firing a projectile are implicated in many cases of criminal damage each year.  Irresponsible owners used them to damage windows, premises, vehicles etc. 

Read about these crimes by clicking on 'Reported Incidents' and from the 'Issue type' select 'bb/imitation'

BB AND IMITATION GUNS ARE BEING CONVERTED TO MAKE THEM EVEN MORE DANGEROUS

• There is considerable evidence of bb/imitation guns being 'converted' (tricked out) to increase the velocity OR to allow the use of real amunition.  As well as individuals engaged in small scale home conversions, there have been prosecutions of those involved in larger illegal industrial enterprises engaged in acquiring, converting and selling on, large numbers of conversions linked to major crimes and murders.

For example:

Converted guns 'used in murders'

Two men ran an illegal gun factory to turn replica guns into live weapons later used in 51 shootings including eight murders, a court has heard. Grant Wilkinson, 34, and Gary Lewis, 38, deny nine charges of firearms offences after the discovery of weapons and ammunition near Reading. Mr Wilkinson bought 90 replica guns in 2004, which he told the dealer were for a James Bond film, the jury heard.  But the prosecution told Reading Crown Court the guns were converted and sold. The pair converted the replicas into real Mac 10 sub-machine guns in the factory at The Briars in Basingstoke Road, Three Mile Cross, jurors heard.

Prosecuting counsel John Price told the court that 51 shootings had been linked to guns which had been converted at the factory. Eight of these were murders, 24 were non-fatal shootings and the other 19 were incidents where the gun was discharged but no-one hurt.  A total of 46 shootings took place in London, four in Birmingham and one in Manchester. The majority of the murders took place in London, dating back to the summer of 2004. Mr Price told the court: "On 26 July 2005, a shooting in Denmark Hill, Peckham, which resulted in a fatality, involved one of these converted guns." He also said that on 25 April 2005 police raided an address in Whitcomb Street, London, where they seized one of the converted Mac 10s alleged to have been made at the factory. Mr Price said: "It is impossible to understate the find at The Briars, nor the seriousness of crime carried out across the country, mainly in Greater London, which has featured the carrying and discharging of Mac 10 sub-machine guns converted from replicas at the humble outbuildings here in Reading."  The court heard Mr Wilkinson used a fake name to buy the 90 guns, worth £55,201, from Sabre Defence Industries in Middlesex.

Source: BBC