Online firearm smuggling is seen as a threat in the United Kingdom after authorities claimed that terrorists use the platform to bring guns in and out of the British Island. Firearms officers believe that the increasing online firearm smuggling signals a danger to the Britain after the Paris terrorist attack.
The National Lead for Countering Firearms and Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Dave Thompson, said that the rising number of firearms circulating in the UK is now alarming. Thompson revealed that online firearm smuggling is now on the rise with guns prepared abroad and shipped to the UK, The Guardian reports. At present, it is still difficult for people to purchase guns and ammunition in UK. However, Thompson said that more guns and ammunitions are being sold in Germany and Balkan countries.
"Traditionally you'd have seen maybe six or seven years ago we'd be stopping people at Dover with 10 Baikals [a type of firearm] concealed in compartments in the car. That's become less of a feature," Thompson said. "What's become more of a feature is weapons through the fast parcel system, individual items coming through. We have to watch a trend of disassembling the weapons and sending them in component parts."
Thompson further said that the police needed extra armed officers and significant increase in firepower to arrest the possible threats, Independent claims. UK being an island makes it harder for the criminals to acquire firearms, he added. Armed robbers and drug gangs benefit from online firearm smuggling as suppliers sold guns to them. However, it could also pose severe danger if smugglers will be selling these items to extremists.
"While we do plenty of firearms operations, we deal with people [criminals] who there is not much debate we are going to win the encounter with, because we're better trained, we're better capable, they generally don't fire back at us," he said.
Meanwhile, a report published from the National Crime Agency (NCA) claimed that the agency has found that Czech made Skorpion submachine guns were imported into the UK, Telegraph reports. The ammunitions were allegedly shipped to street gangs in London and the South East. The hoarded guns were feared to land into the hands of the terrorists particularly the Jihadists, who have the intention to launch terror in the UK.
With the danger of online firearm smuggling, Thompson warned that the police must be ready to face the battle. He said that police firearm officers must be funded well to avoid being outgunned in case of an armed terrorist attack.
© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Get the Most Popular Lawyerherald Stories in a Weekly Newsletter
Join the Discussion
Related Articles
