Man shot three times in UK by "ball-bearing pistol"

[economist]

Man shot three times in street by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:01 PM on 07th October 2008

A man told today how he was shot three times in a London street for wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt.

Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted him and glared at the top, which carries an image of the Democrat US presidential candidate underneath the legend 'Believe'.

The man then launched into a tirade of racist slurs, shouting 'I f***ing hate n*****s' and urging 36-year-old Mr Egwuatu to leave the shop with him.

The man then left the shop but when Mr Egwuatu re-emerged, the attacker was waiting for him in broad daylight with a threatening-looking dog and holding a gun behind his back.

Realising what had sparked the increasingly violent assault, the terrified Mr Egwuatu zipped up his jacket to cover the image of Mr Obama and walked to his car.

But the shaven-headed man, who was white, followed Mr Egwuatu and after pulling open the passenger door pointed the gun at him.

After pleading with the man to leave him alone, the married former street warden put the keys in the ignition and turned the engine on.

The attacker then fired the gas-powered ball-bearing pistol three times, hitting the civil servant in the face, hand and shoulder.

Fearing for his life and bleeding heavily, Mr Egwuatu raced away in his car and found somewhere safe to call for help.

He was taken to hospital and later sent to have a piece of metal removed from his jaw.

Mr Egwuatu, a data analyst with Croydon Council, said: 'The venom in his voice was frightening.

'He was telling me that he was going to kill me.

'I couldn't believe it was happening - and just because I was wearing an Obama T-shirt. He was trying to make me walk somewhere quieter, saying: 'I've got something for you,' and 'I'm going to kill you.'

He added: 'Obama inspires me, his educational track record alone is quite unbelievable - that is why I was wearing the T-shirt.

'I did not think for one minute it could stir up such powerful feelings of hatred and I never said a word to him.'

Mr Egwuatu's wife, Angela, 35, said neither of them had experienced anything like it during their childhood in Nigeria.

Mrs Egwuatu, an immigration officer, said: 'At first my feelings were pure horror and now it is pure anger.

'If he had been carrying a real gun I would have been a widow. It is just ridiculous.

'I don't know how a person's mentality works. Why would a T-shirt get you to the point where you want to shoot someone.'

To the untrained eye, ball-bearing guns like the one used in the attack look every bit like a real firearm.

The potentially lethal weapons are often converted by criminals to fire real bullets, and can be bought easily in high-street shops and on websites.

The Met said it was investigating the incident, which took place in South Norwood, and that police searched a nearby house which the attacker was seen going into.

No one has been arrested.

Is "ball-bearing pistol" UK speak for BB gun?

 

[jhblaze1]

with a threatening-looking dog

 

[Admin]

Serves him right.

 

[drgrant]

I see the "gun control" is panning out real well over there.

-Mike

 

[doobie]

'If he had been carrying a real gun I would have been a widow. It is just ridiculous.

Or the wife could have been saying, "My husband is a hero, because he was carrying his pistol and got that piece of meat off the streets."

 

[Scrivener]

Is "ball-bearing pistol" UK speak for BB gun?

Yes. It sounds far more terrifying that way.

 

[SKS Ray]

I see the "gun control" is panning out real well over there.

-Mike

I'd rather be popped by a few rounds from distance than have some Neo Nazi gut me on the street with a large knife up close.

 

[SKS Ray]

Yes. It sounds far more terrifying that way.

Shit! For that matter he could have caused welts with an airsoft.

 

[economist]

Can I get an english to english translation of this line:

Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted him

 

[Scrivener]

Third-Worlder had a pre-paid cell phone he was adding time to in an off-track betting parlor.

Local skinhead then accosts him over the Obama T-shirt.

 

[LoginName]

You'll shoot your eye out, kid...

Gaussian gun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7CyPtF0ChA

 

[pipmaster1971]

Can I get an english to english translation of this line:
Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted him

Dube Egwuatu was buying a cell phone prepaid card in a liquor store when the gunman confronted him.

 

[packingungal]

Well, the t-shirt was inspiring to somebody....

 

[z0mbi]

Nowhere in this article does it clarify that this man was actually attacked for wearing an Obama shirt. I'm sorry, but perceiving him as 'glaring' at your shirt doesn't really show that is the motive.

Of course, based on this mans name and country of origin, I am assuming he himself is black, which if that is indeed the case most likely prompted the racial slurs by his attacker. So for all we know this could have gone down even if the guy was wearing a McCain shirt.

 

[packingungal]

Nowhere in this article does it clarify that this man was actually attacked for wearing an Obama shirt. I'm sorry, but perceiving him as 'glaring' at your shirt doesn't really show that is the motive.

Of course, based on this mans name and country of origin, I am assuming he himself is black, which if that is indeed the case most likely prompted the racial slurs by his attacker. So for all we know this could have gone down even if the guy was wearing a McCain shirt.

Aw, you're taking all the fun out of it, z0mbi!!

 

[EddieCoyle]

He had it coming.

 

[Arioch]

I hope the dog wasn't hurt.

 

[Beansie_Time]

The potentially lethal weapons are often converted by criminals to fire real bullets, and can be bought easily in high-street shops and on websites.

Can someone teach me how to do this? buying a BB gun at walamrt and converting it to .45acp would be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting that 1911 I've been eyeing.

 

[Ripach]

Can someone teach me how to do this? buying a BB gun at walamrt and converting it to .45acp would be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting that 1911 I've been eyeing.

It is my understanding that this is most commonly rumored to be done with 6mm blowback soft air guns. The bore is close to a .22 and the mechanical parts are almost all there. I have never personally attempted it or even seen one, and in fact I doubt it has ever been done. If I ever did come across one I can promise that you would never see me firing it.

 

[Beansie_Time]

Wow. I was being sarcastic I didn't think this could actually be done. I thought it was more crappy journalism. It probably is impossible but I never thought to compare bore sizes to a .22

 

[Blitz1]

It is my understanding that this is most commonly rumored to be done with 6mm blowback soft air guns. The bore is close to a .22 and the mechanical parts are almost all there. I have never personally attempted it or even seen one, and in fact I doubt it has ever been done. If I ever did come across one I can promise that you would never see me firing it.

Isn't that how they make Glocks?

 

[LoginName]

Can someone teach me how to do this? buying a BB gun at walamrt and converting it to .45acp would be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting that 1911 I've been eyeing.

I don't know how common (or uncommon), the conversions are, but the Brit authorities have been 'warning' the public about this hidden menace for awhile now...

Live-bullet airgun a 'major problem'
Brocock air cartridge gun
The airgun accounts for 35% of recovered weapons
A leading police group says sales of an airgun, which can be illegally adapted to fire live bullets, must be banned.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) wants a national ban on the public sale of the Brocock air cartridge pistol because of the risk posed by the weapons.

ACPO firearms adviser David McCrone, who is Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, told BBC's Newsnight programme: "There is evidence which would justify banning them."

Mr McCrone said new legislation is required to give the Home Secretary the power to ban weapons like the Brocock air cartridge pistol when they become a threat to public safety.


The pistols are imported and distributed by the Birmingham-based company Brocock, which makes the air cartridge system that powers the air gun pellets.

Brocock said in a statement: "Both the police and a Home Office ballistics expert confirm that we're already doing everything possible to prevent the illegal conversion of these products which are sold through a network of registered dealers."

Alan Shiers, an officer with the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), has been collating information from police forces across the country

He told BBC's Newsnight that conversion of Brococks amounted to a "major problem" which had to be tackled.

Special sleeves

He said: "We're having reports of this type of weapon being recovered not just in London where the problem started - but it's now spread to Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol, all over the country."

Figures from NCIS show that converted Brococks now account for 35% of all guns recovered by the police.

When used legally, the airgun fires small pellets using a compressed air charge in a cartridge that is loaded into the pistol.


Brocock air cartridge pistols are purchased by our customers for the legal pursuit of their sport

Brocock, pistol importer
But criminal gangs have been adapting the guns by fitting special steel sleeves inside the chamber of the gun, enabling live .22 calibre bullets to be fired.

In October, Bradford taxi driver Mohammed Basharat was murdered with a converted Brocock pistol.

This weapon had been drilled out to take more powerful .38 calibre bullets.

In their statement, Brocock also said : "We are advised by the police that some illegally converted weapons have been recovered.

"We accept there may be a rare occurrence of illegal conversion and are co-operating with the police in every way.

"Brocock air cartridge pistols are purchased by our customers for the legal pursuit of their sport.

"We have not considered removing a legitimate and tightly regulated product from the market."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1779349.stm

In Britain the selling and manufacture of a particular kind of low powered airgun called the self contained gas cartridge gun (often called the Brocock) was banned. All existing owners had to hand them over to the state without compensation or had to apply to the police for firearms certificates to keep the ones they had. If they were refused a certificate they would loose the gun. This was done because the particular airgun in question could, according to the government, be easily converted into a lethal firearm by criminals, an activity already banned by law.

In Britain new legislation introduced at the same time as the Brocock ban allowed for the Home Office to ban any gun they thought “especially dangerous” (which is how they viewed the Brocock) without offering any compensation to owners and without consultation.

In Britain the minimum sentence for being found in possession of an illegal firearm (such as the now banned brocock airgun) is, I believe, a 5 year prison sentence mandated by the government at a similar time to the ban on the Brocock airgun.

In Britain many thousands of law abiding sporting shooters had to give away to the government (without receiving a penny in compensation) or had to get a license for (until they fell into ruination) over 75,000 items of personal and private property.

In Britain, if you sell 574 guns to the criminal underworld and are one of the criminals that caused thousands of people to have their liberties reduced by the state because of your criminal activities in converting airguns into firearms you will receive a sentence not exceeding 6 years.

Two men were jailed on Friday for conspiring to supply hundreds of firearms to London's underworld.

But Herbert said he was delighted to receive only six years for selling 574 guns to criminals.

As he was being led out of the dock at the Old Bailey, Herbert told Judge David Paget: "That's lovely. Thanks very much - we got away with that."

Herbert, 45, and his partner Beard, 47, had faced up to 10 years in jail.

Both pleaded guilty to conspiracies to manufacture prohibited weapons, sell them and cause fear of violence with them.

Herbert and Beard bought hundreds of replicas guns, blank-firing pistols and airguns legitimately, converted them into lethal weapons and then sold them to criminals.

http://www.theenglandproject.net/mt/archives/000609.html

 

[Ripach]

Isn't that how they make Glocks?

I think it might be.

I don't know how common (or uncommon), the conversions are, but the Brit authorities have been 'warning' the public about this hidden menace for awhile now...



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1779349.stm



http://www.theenglandproject.net/mt/archives/000609.html

Good to see the brits haven't lost their zeal for banning all things that frighten them. I wonder if they plan to ban copper pipe and rubber bands if there is an increase in zip gun confiscation.
Also nice to see that leniency for the actual criminal is not just a U. S. trend.

 

[Negotiator]

Yes. It sounds far more terrifying that way.

Most probably a CO2 powered 6mm BB...
http://www.surplusstore.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/112_114/products_id/983

...which are still legal in the UK

 

[K-DUB]

I thought guns & knives (& threatening looking dogs) were outlawed in UK? How can this have happened!?!

 

[meth0d]

I thought guns & knives (& threatening looking dogs) were outlawed in UK? How can this have happened!?!

Hahhahaha!!

That line bothered me in the article.

 

[Bob P]

Brocock, pistol importer
But criminal gangs have been adapting the guns by fitting special steel sleeves inside the chamber of the gun, enabling live .22 calibre bullets to be fired.

In October, Bradford taxi driver Mohammed Basharat was murdered with a converted Brocock pistol.

Oh please! If they want to do that, they don't need the airgun, just the pipe, a nail and a rubber band. Zip guns have been around forever. They banned guns, that didn't stop crime so now they want to ban anything that looks like a gun too.

 

[Carguy]

Who says we don't have friends and allies around the world?!!? Here are 2 English citizens...well an immigrant and an idiot anyways...that seem to care alot about American politics, goodness knows why

I think we should send as many Obama t-shirt wearing imigrants and white shaved head idiots with menacing dogs over to England for a throw down. The winners can go off to Georgia and help defend against the Russians while the reest of us try to take care of US business. there are crazies everywhere!

 

[maee]

Isn't that how they make Glocks?

I don't think they can ever eradicate single shot pistols since that can easily be made in any machine shop.

As for semi-automatics, probably somebody could engineer a single-action revolver that could be machined without too much trouble.

Which begs the question, how does the ammo get into the UK? I would imagine that ammo is perhaps harder to make than a simple firearm. You need to make the powder, the brass case, primers--bullets are easy. Seems more challenging that using a lathe and mill.

 

[dvajda]

Serves him right.

Wow. So wearing a t-shirt in support of a certain politician (and being black) means you deserve to get shot in the face with a BB gun?

Impressive. No wonder most people look at gun owners as if they were a bunch of uneducated rednecks without the mental capacity to responsibly own firearms.

Way to set the tone for discussion.