NOVEMBER 2011 SUMMARY
Gun Deaths - At least three people's lives were taken by a firearm in England, Scotland and Wales during October. A further seven convictions were handed for charges related to gun homicide during the month. Click to view Gun Deaths.
In the past month, men were shot and killed in Nottinghamshire and south London, while a woman shot and killed herself in Somerset. Jail sentences were handed to a man who drunkenly shot his best friend in North Lanarkshire, Scotland; to a 23-year-old in Chester who borrowed his father's legal shotgun; to a pair of men who were involved in a drugs conspiracy in East Lancashire, to another pair in south London in another drugs feud; and to another south London man who shot and killed an intruder at his home.
Assaults causing Fear and Injury
Most firearms assaults in England involve guns being used to threaten individuals, usually for the sake of robbery, while the fear of gunfire is also evident when citizens call police to report gun shots. Guns used to threaten people in the UK are usually identified as an 'imitation gun' (see explanation) or as unidentifiable, since it's difficult to distinguish -- especially for witnesses and victims of gun violence. many robberies take place with guns that may not contain bullets -- yet the fear they instill is, of course, considerable and undeniable.
Although imitation and air guns are legal in Britain, such guns are also responsible for many of the gun injuries, to both humans and animals. Air guns are used with ruthless frequency to attack animals, including at least two incidents resulting in death and nine times resulting in injury during November.
In most assaults in Britain involving a gun that result in injury, the armed individual clubs, or 'pistol-whips,' the victim. These are frequently imitation firearms, but the perpetrator is able to capitalise on the fear of a victim who is facing imminent danger of being shot. In fact, this traumatic experience is more common in England, Scotland and Wales than non-fatal shootings.
