[10
APR 00] WARWICKSHIRE CONSTABULARY NEWS
Gun Warning After Spate Of Scares
Youths
who play with air guns could find themselves surrounded by armed
officers, Warwickshire police are warning.
Nearly
70 per cent of firearm incidents between October and December 1999
involved either an air weapon, a bb gun (ball bearing gun) or a
replica firearm.
Officers
are calling on young people in the county to be careful of the
weapons.
They
say regularly recover these types of weapons and are concerned that
one day a young person will be involved in a tragic accident.
Every
time there is a report of someone carrying or using a firearm, armed
officers are called out.
Each
situation is dealt with according to the circumstances. In the vast
majority of instances the incident is dealt with in a low-key style
and no real problems are experienced
But
police are worried that if a situation became confrontational because
a young person failed to follow police instruction, a potentially
lethal situation could be created.
They
have issued the following examples of the folly of carrying air
weapons.
In
Nuneaton last November, armed officers were called to the town centre
after a teenager carrying a gun had frightened parents and children.
The
gun, although a replica, was very realistic. Armed officers surrounded
the 15-year-old boy at Attleborough after he pointed the gun at a
passer-by.
Last
February, officers arrested a 15 year-old local youth after he shot at
two boys, aged 10 and 14 injuring one in the back and one in the leg.
He
had previously been firing at wildlife in Nuneaton Park. The youth was
subsequently charged with assault and appeared at the youth court on
March 24. He is due to
reappear at the court on April 14.
In
Rugby last November, youths were seen firing at wildlife on the canal
towpath.
Officers
had previously been called to the canal following reports of youths
firing at canal barges.
Earlier
in the year officers were called to Newbold-on-Avon after the public
reported youths firing at horses in a field.
Police
are also warning of the danger of air weapons when safety guidelines
are not followed.
In
Stratford last January a boy aged 16 from Solihull was taken to
hospital after a ball bearing injured his eye.
The youth and his three
friends were larking about in a bedroom when the gun was fired
accidentally. The ball bearing penetrated his retina and he is still
being monitored by doctors.
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