Nottinghamshire Police warn that criminals are putting their own lives in danger with improvised firearms as one suspect lost part of his hand due to a makeshift weapon backfiring. Officers have seized a number of 'slam guns' where metal pipes have been hammered to discharge a cartridge.
Officer David Richardson said: “They are really dangerous to the user not just the public. There was a suspect who blew part of their hand off using one." Police said criminals are also using blank fire pistols such as the Retays, but rifling them out so the chamber is clear for a projectile. The force's archive and exhibits department handles between 30 and 60 firearms a week.
The department works with detectives to build up an intelligence picture and provide detailed analysis of the weapons seized, which includes rifles, air pistols, BB guns, CS spray and stun devices.
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Weapons seized are typically found in lofts or sheds after a relative has passed away with no link to criminality or they are recovered from licensed gun-holders. However, some criminals are making their own firearms, known as 'slam guns.'
Officer Richardson said: “Blank firing pistols are also used. Criminals rifle them out and make them into viable firearms. We had a spate of them, but it has now slowed down. We had between 20 to 30 in the space of a three-month period, but they have all been seized and the people who had them have all been sentenced."
He continued: "We get a lot of imitation or replica firearms. They look like a viable firearm and fire a projectile like ball-bearings. You can still get done by the law for having one and they can be potentially lethal."
Handguns are much rarer and are usually passed between criminal groups. It can be a 'business' itself, with criminals paying around £500 to rent it out before the weapon moves to another part of the country.
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