Yesterday, Mikeb30200 questioned my assertion that the average UK inhabitant has lost the right of armed self-defense. I pointed out that the Islanders are not allowed to own guns for self-defense, period. No handguns. No long guns, save those used for “sporting purposes.” Later in the day, I encountered a Daily Mail tale wherein 19-year-old Gary Holmes shot an intruder—with an air rifle. Whereupon the invader, one Lewis Patterson, left. And called the cops; with an obvious expectation that the Old Bill would nick Holmes for shooting him. So far . . . no. But I betcha that a civil suit will be forthcoming. (The U.S. doesn’t have a lock on ambulance chasers.) Meanwhile, here are the bullet—sorry “pellet” points of how you “get away” with shooting a home invader in The Land of Hope and Glory . . .
1. Buy an airgun or some other “sporting” firearm
A UK home defender can buy an airgun without a license—provided he or she’s 18 or older and gun’s power limit is set at 12 ft. lbs. (air rifles) and 6 ft. lbs. (pistols). (For comparison, U.S. competition airguns use compressed air stored at 2000 to 3000 lb/in².) If a UK resident wants to step up to an airgun capable of causing more than a simple owee, your “Section 1 Firearm” requires a firearms certificate.
Same goes for a shotgun (forget about a rifle). If you’ve got armed home defense on your mind, you’ll have to lie to the Old Bill about your intentions in that regard, in great detail, in both writing and face-to-face (at home and down at the station). There will be a thorough police investigation of your background (including speeding tickets and mental health) and your references; so don’t just pretend you use the gun for blasting birds. Join a club, blast some birds, then apply.
2. Learn how to unlock and load
Assuming you’ve managed to secure a Section 1 Firearm, you’ll have to keep that bad boy unloaded, under lock and key, in an approved gun safe, nailed to the wall and/or the ground. And yes, the police can (and will) come at any time to check the security arrangements. If there’s a home invasion, the bad guy will have to wait for you to get your gun.
[Holmes] looked out of his bedroom window and saw Patterson in the back garden.
Mr Holmes said: ‘He was swaying like he was drunk. I knew something was going to happen. He was not normal.’
Mr Holmes grabbed an air rifle he used for shooting rabbits on a farm and ran downstairs. ‘On the way I picked up three pellets and put two of them in the gun,’ he said.
He found Patterson in his mother’s living room. He was attempting to steal his £1,250 motorcycle, which he stored there for safe-keeping.
Nice neighborhood. And either the air rifle was of the 12 lbs. or less variety—leaving a lot of peeved bunnies—or Mr. Holmes hadn’t stored it properly. You can not “grab” an air rifle out of a locked safe or cabinet. No doubt that detail will be the subject of investigation if and when a civil suit proceeds. As will Mr. Holme’s decision to grab his gun before there was a direct threat to Holmes’ home or his homies.
3. Warn the bad guy
“I told him to get out, not very politely,’ Mr Holmes said. ‘He just looked straight back at me. I put the rifle up to him and he stepped out on to the patio.
‘I know a bit about firearms and the law, so I warned him. I showed him the rifle and he came back into the house again.
‘That was when he raised the iron bar he was carrying. So I raised the gun back up. Then I shouted again: “Get out.” He just stared at me.
Most American states have adopted the “castle doctrine.” As the title suggests, this principle comes from England. It gives U.S. citizens the legal right to use deadly force to defend their home—in some states extended to workplace and car—from a violent attack or an intrusion which may lead to violent attack.
That last bit is key. In states with a castle doctrine you do not have to warn an invading bad guy to leave. Nor do you have a duty to retreat. In the UK, you must do both. As Mr. Holmes knew.
4. Run!
He kept coming at me with the bar so I shot him. He then started to come towards me again and threw a brick at me. I shot him again. If I had let him hit me, I could have been in hospital or dead.’
Mr Holmes added: ‘At the time I was in shock. Thinking back, it was just a reaction. I don’t just shoot people.’
Well, not effectively. Speaking of which . . .
A lot of American gun owners laugh at the idea of a .22 caliber bullet as a defensive round. The usual refrain: “The bad guy will get really annoyed once he realizes he’s been shot.” Imagine how Mr. Not Normal felt when he was shot with a BB. Stopping power? Good Lord, no! That would be barbaric!
Bottom line: if you’re going to shoot a home invader in the UK with an airgun, it’s probably best to use it as a diversionary tactic only. Shoot and scoot. Or attack with something else. In this case, a few pieces of burned toast launched Odd Job-style may have been equally effective.
5. Get a good lawyer/barrister
Patterson fled on a bicycle but then contacted police to report being shot.
He claimed he was hit as he walked past the property, but was exposed as a liar. He was not seriously injured . . .
He praised the police for how they handled the investigation, although he was initially concerned about being charged himself.
‘I never expected to have to shoot a person,’ Mr Holmes said. ‘The first officers who came seemed quite surprised when I said I had shot him. I don’t think they knew what to think. They seemed a bit confused about who they were going to be charging, so they sent officers from CID to take a statement the next day.
The cops seem to be making soothing noises in this case, but this is a Daily Mail story. Based on my experience as a longtime UK resident alien, I’m sure the Old Bill will be calling on Mr. Holmes again in the near future to discuss a few details and remove his gun for safekeeping. After all, he has no “right” to it.
It’s no wonder Mr. Holmes was concerned about the police. If Mr. Holmes didn’t own the rifle for the express purpose of shooting rabbits, if he told someone it was for self-defense, if his gun was set on iota above 12 lbs., he could be charged with “having an air weapon with intent to endanger life.” He’d be looking at a possible custodial sentence up to . . . wait for it . . . life imprisonment. And/or an “appropriate” fine.
Alternatively, Holmes could be charged with “threatening others with an air weapon (even if unloaded) to cause them to fear unlawful violence.” That crime carries a penalty of up 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine.
Equally depressing, Mr. Holmes could face civil action. Mr. Patterson can sue Mr. Holmes for simple battery (if not Grievous Bodily Harm). Given that Patterson called the cops to get Mr. Holmes in trouble, he probably understands this option. If so, there’s plenty more legal ammo at Mr. Patterson’s disposal.
It is an offence to fire an airgun within 50 feet of the centre of a public highway, If by doing so you cause any member of the public using that highway to be injured, interrupted or endangered. This applies even if you are on private property adjacent the highway.
No exceptions, mate. But it’s better to be sitting in jail howling against a system that leaves average people without the right to armed self-defense than it is to get hit in the head with a brick. One supposes.
So was Patterson charged with anything? Whatever the cops are going to do with Holmes it seems like they have an open and shut case of robbery, home invasion, and assault with a brick.
You left out the most important thing to know about shooting a home invader in the UK, which is sight alignment.
U.S. people take heed of the paragraph about intent. In many states, if you carry a small knife and when asked why you say, “self-defense,” you can be in big trouble.
I figure I’ll bring it up here instead of googling it… UK citizens can use things like pepper spray, right?
Only on bangers and mash, thereby improving the flavor. Oops, that’s “flavour.”
No actually, pepper spray is completely illegal for citizens, even with any license. Only the police are allowed to carry pepper spray here.
In a country like that I’d have a an Indian tomahawk close by. Now that’s a good close in fighting weapon.
So, they can have air-soft guns, hunting rifles and shotguns. That’s a little different than the never-ending assertions that they have been completely disarmed. That’s a far cry from the tyrannical confiscation of ALL guns that we keep hearing about.
Now, If you want to dig deeper, I’ll bet you can find exceptions to the handgun rule too.
About the laws against murdering bad guys as soon as they step out of line, like you guys enjoy, at least in many States, lots of people think they make good sense. These are policy decisions that can be argued about, but my original question was concerning the TOTAL GUN BAN.
WELL, SINCE SHOOTING THE PERP IS OBVIOUSLY A LAME DUCK IN THE UK…I SAY, LET THE PUNK BREAK IN AND BLUDGEON HIM WITH WHATEVER IS HEAVIEST IN THE HOME. I CAN TELL YOU THIS, IF ANYONE WERE TO BREAK INTO MY HOME, AND I HAPPENED TO LIVE IN THE UK, ARRESTED OR NOT, THE PERP WOULD NEVER LEAVE MY PLACE WITH ONE DAMN THING THAT BELONGED TO ME! EXCEPT MANY HORRIBLE MEMORIES OF WHAT I DID TO HIM AS HE WAS TRYING TO LEAVE AND GET AWAY FROM ME!
‘EAGLE’
If I lived in the UK, I would make sure that I had an illegal firearm, I would have killed this punk, then baried the body in the crawspace underneath my house and just never said anything (or freeze the body and run it through a log chipper)….very effective for disposing of the bodies of punks like this! Then you don’t have to worry abouts prosecution (criminal or cival). No body = nobody got killed.
Honestly, even if I used a legally-owned shotgun kept in a locked safe and I’d been corned in my bedroom with wife and kids behind me, after screaming warnings at the career criminal drug addict coming at me with a weapon, in the UK I’d still be tempted to hide the body and conceal the incident. Even if I was completely in the right morally, and should be in the right legally, it’s still probably going to be a legal nightmare with a high risk of injustice. I’m not sure whether being completely open about it or hiding it would be a bigger risk to my family. That’s a pretty scary statement about UK law, perhaps even scarier than murderous home intruders.
I thought gun owners always always claim to be law-abiding citizens?
I also have a pro crismon carry 2. It’s one of the most accurate pistols I own. The reliability is the issue with mine. I enjoy shooting it at the range but Because of the feed issues I will not use it for a conceal carry gun the way it was intended. I’ve had an ejector extender added, tried every magazine made for it, it’s just not reliable enough for me. For 1200 dollars I feel it should be flawless.
Damn shame he didn’t break into a house in West Virginia USA. We don’t have break ins here very often 55 percent of state residents have guns and when you come into a house here we have castle doctrine and stand your ground. As soon as the force entry you have no duty to ascertain as to whether they are armed. Deadly force is automatically authorized.
Actually English law has no duty to retreat or duty to sound a warning. There never has been. Furthermore it is permissible in England to use lethal force for home defence, and there’s a statement on the government website that confirms this.
There is no longer a requirement that the force has to be ‘reasonable’. It simply must not be ‘grossly disproportionate’. We have the right to trial by jury here for any offence that can carry more than 6 months imprisonment, and the issue of whether such force was ‘grossly disproportionate’ is left to the jury.
In reality, the perception that UK homeowners have no right to defend their property comes from a case where a fleeing burglar was shot in the back and killed with an illegally held firearm after he had left the premises.
Using lethal force against an intruder fleeing empty handed is disproportionate here. Using lethal force against a home invader who poses a threat is not.
You should be able to shoot anyone? Breaking into your house no warnings just shoot a.better than trying to use a knife at close quarters which can be used against you in a struggle a shotgun blast to the legs from 5metres should stop anyone instantly a.perhaps warning sign should be on the property .then its case of do you feel lucky punk.do they own a gun or not watch the numbers of burglaries plummet if they thought it could cost them their lives or the ability to walk .here if they get caught they are lucky if they get two years inside .we are too soft.
This country gets worse every day, to the point where we are no longer proud to be British! Rules and laws should always be in place for those exceptions that break them, however every man/woman and other (rolling eyes) should have the right to defend them selves, their loved ones and there home. Wether that be with and Airgun, a piece of wood or aunt betty’s rolling pin. At the end of the day, the intruder has no right to be there. If I park on double yellow lines I have no right to be there unless I’m disabled, so I pay the penalty and get a ticket. If I commit a crime, I pay the penalty and go to jail and serve time for my felony. Yet still scumbags have rights and in some cases, more than their victims. We seem to be a country living in fear, fear of not being able to speak our minds, fear of upsetting someone, somewhere for whatever reason. Don’t get me wrong, there are many people who abuse the right to an opinion and are just down right tools. It would be great to live in an ideal world where everyone got along and embraced the treat people how you’d like to be treated yourself, but sadly this isn’t the case. Getting back to the story, I believe Mr Holmes did the right thing defending himself with whatever means were at hand, gun or no gun.
When I trained in martial arts, I was licensed to use my training as self defence and defence of the weak! Meaning force can be used in some situations to prevent harm or save a life. What if Mr Patterson was armed with a gun or a knife! Truth is you don’t know, most criminals come prepared and tooled up. Why did he shoot that man, because he felt threatened for his life, for his own life and if anyones else was home, for the life of others. I know what I would do.
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