December 2025 Review

GCN is committed to preventing gun violence and we work to pursue that objective through changes to the legal system, public services and attitudes to guns. We collect and analyse data to provide all stakeholders with the evidence needed to initiate change.

GCN collects data on gun incidents and related sentences, inquests and investigations in England, Scotland, and Wales, as reported in the British media. We know our information is incomplete, though we believe nearly all the most serious crimes are included.

This Review refers to incidents that occurred during December 2025 and to earlier incidents for which further information has now been reported, often as a result of a court case or inquest. Please note that the data used for the Figures is derived solely from incidents that occurred, or first came to our attention, in December 2025.

Figure 1: December 2025 incident reports by type

Gun Death

We monitor FATAL GUN INCIDENTS in Great Britain and compile lists that summarise the available information. Our summaries for 2017 to 2025 are available at https://gun-control-network.org/news-analysis/

We are aware of four reports concerning gun deaths in December 2025:

• It has emerged that, in November this year, the body of a man who had suffered a gunshot wound was found at an outbuilding on a farm near Thame, Oxfordshire. Following a post-mortem examination, cause of death was given as massive head trauma and gunshot wound.

• After a man was found dead at his home in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, a post-mortem examination confirmed he had died from injuries consistent with being shot by a firearm. Police appealed for information after launching a murder investigation.

• A man died at the scene after being shot on a street in Stonebridge, North London. No arrests have yet been reported. Police appealed for information, particularly from a large group of people thought to have been nearby at the time of the attack.

• After two cars collided in Thetford, Norfolk, a man armed with what looked like a handgun was reportedly seen leaving the scene. Following several other reports that he had been spotted with the weapon nearby, armed police officers located him and shot him from a short distance away. Despite medical aid, the man died at the scene. The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Inquests

We are not aware of any reports in December of inquests relating to gun deaths.

Armed Domestic Violence and/or Victim Known to Perpetrator

We are aware of six reports in December 2025 that we believe to relate to the above:

• Two men have been jailed for their involvement in a violent assault in July 2025: the 41-year-old received five years and four months after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm, causing grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon, while a 32-year-old was sentenced to two years and eight months after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and possession of a weapon for the discharge of a 30,000 volt electric stun gun. In July 2025, the pair attacked a man and a woman with scaffolding bars and a Taser outside a pub in Penryn, Cornwall. The woman suffered a head injury while the man was left with a fractured nose. The court heard that the victims were too scared to give victim impact statements.

• A 23-year-old man has been handed a suspended eighteen-month prison term and ordered to complete 240 hours of unpaid work after admitting causing grievous bodily harm and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear. In April 2025, following a “simmering dispute” between them, the man shot his partner’s uncle several times at his home in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The victim was treated in hospital after being hit three times, including in his neck. The defendant was found in possession of a loaded gas-powered BB gun when he was arrested, and the weapon was subsequently described by experts as indistinguishable from a USA self-loading handgun. The court heard that the defendant had bought the gun for “protection” because “he did not feel safe in Yarmouth”. He claimed to have intended only to show it to his victim to scare him but had “panicked”.

• A 46-year-old man from Maidstone, Kent has been jailed for two years after pleading guilty to unlawful wounding and three charges relating to possessing an axe and knuckle-duster, and threatening another with a hammer. In June 2025, following a row over payment for a boat, the defendant brandished a meat cleaver or machete and threatened to cut off his ex-brother-in-law’s fingers. He went on to brandish a hammer at him before firing a BB gun that resembled a handgun, causing twelve wounds to his victim’s head, face, neck, chest and arm. Three pellets also hit the defendant’s grandfather in the head, neck and elbow. In an impact statement, the first victim said he now suffers chronic stress and facial paralysis, and has been left unable to work.

• A 36-year-old man has been jailed for fourteen months after pleading guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear. In May 2025, the man was seen pointing a gun at a bridge in Tonyrefail, Rhonda Cynon Taf before approaching people at a bus stop while holding the weapon. He told them he had “done time in prison for armed robbery” and that he had the gun “to protect women, children and himself from gangsters and drug dealers”. He then told them that the weapon was, in fact, a water pistol. After the bus arrived, the man lifted his top revealing the handle of the gun to the driver. Responding police officers seized an unloaded non-functioning air pistol before recovering a kitchen knife and a screwdriver from his bag. The court heard that, at the time of the incident, the defendant had been suffering a hypomanic episode, having stopped medication for his bipolar disorder.

• Three men, all members of the same family, have been sentenced to a total of 36 years and eight months for a number of offences, including possessing criminal property, grievous bodily harm, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, dangerous driving and drug and firearms offences (one relating to a shooting). In January 2023, police officers searching an address in Birmingham, West Midlands recovered a fully-loaded sawn-off shotgun, cartridges and £12,000 worth of cannabis and cocaine from a vehicle outside the property. In July 2024, the youngest defendant was one of three people in a car that collided with two teenagers and a woman on a pavement in the city. The vehicle drove away from the scene of the incident, which left all three victims requiring hospital treatment.

• Armed police officers responded after a gun was seen during an argument between two men known to each other in Plymouth, Devon. A BB gun was recovered but no arrests have been reported.

Licensed/Former Licensed Owners/Dealers/Legal Guns and Ammunition, and Stolen Guns and Ammunition

We are aware of three reports in December 2025 that we believe to relate to the above:

• See Gun Deaths above — A man armed with what looked like a handgun was shot in Norfolk by armed police and died at the scene. 

• Following a security review, police licensing officers requested a man voluntarily surrender his firearms and shotgun certificate at an address in Windsor, Berkshire. The certificate was surrendered and it is believed that the officers imposed “severe sanctions” on how the man’s guns are to be “stored and who is able to access them”. 

• A 40-year-old man has been jailed for ten months for theft of an air rifle, possession of an air weapon in a public place, attempt of criminal damage and five thefts. In May 2025, police were alerted after the man was seen walking around Spalding, Lincolnshire with an air rifle. He fired off empty rounds and pointed it at one person in a wheelchair. A member of the public disarmed him before police arrived. The man had stolen the weapon from a shop, reportedly planning to rob a bank. On the same day he threw a brick at the door of a building in the town.

We are aware of at least four reports in December 2025 involving the use of a police Taser, including:

• Police officers tasered and arrested a man carrying a knife in the town centre of Llangefni, Anglesey. The man was later charged with possession of a knife in a public place.

• The Independent Office for Police Conduct has opened an investigation into the circumstances of the death of a teenage male in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset. The youth was being taken to hospital in an ambulance when the vehicle stopped on the M5 due to concerns of the ambulance staff. Police were called in when the teenager exited the vehicle and walked onto the motorway. After officers tried to engage with him, the man was tasered. He fell to the ground and was hit by a car. He died at the scene shortly afterwards.

• It has emerged that, in June 2025, police officers tasered and arrested a man after he was seen with a knife in Norwich, Norfolk. The man assaulted five officers before he was detained. He has now been jailed for eighteen months, having admitted possession of a bladed article, possession of cocaine and six counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

• It has emerged that, in 2019, police officers tasered and arrested a man at his home in Sheerness, Kent after he barricaded himself inside in response to an eviction order regarding mortgage payments. Police officers used an enforcer to smash the bottom half of his front door before restraining him. The man, who was holding a wooden club, was then tasered and punched. He was acquitted from criminal charges arising from the incident in 2022 and has since tried to sue the police in a civil action. His claim and an appeal were unsuccessful, but Kent Police have been ordered to pay him £2 in compensation due to the “late review of his time in custody”.

Animal Death and Injury

We are aware of at least five reports in December 2025 of animal cruelty and/or death involving a gun:

• A goshawk died from its injuries shortly after being found injured in Whiterashes, Aberdeenshire. Tests revealed that the bird had been shot. A police spokesperson said, “Goshawks are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and it is illegal to kill any protected species.”

• After an injured peregrine was found in the Peak District National Park, X-rays revealed it had been shot in the wing with a shotgun. While it is not known where or when the bird was shot, the extent of its injuries makes it unlikely to have been far from where it was found. Peregrines are legally protected and it is a criminal offence to intentionally injure or kill them under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

• Police appealed for information after the bodies of a number of ducks, one of which had suffered an apparent gunshot wound, were found near Fairfield, Derbyshire.

• An examination revealed that a peregrine, found grounded in Kibworth, Leicestershire, had been recently shot. Peregrine falcons are a Schedule 1 bird in the UK, meaning it is illegal to intentionally harm or kill them. Police have been informed.

• After a cat had been missing from his home in Denny, Stirlingshire for eight days, his owner found him suffering a leg injury. X-rays revealed he had been shot, with a bullet left lodged in his thigh. The injured leg was amputated from the hip joint. A spokesperson from the Scottish SPCA appealed for information and urged people to call their helpline to report any acts of animal cruelty.

Imitation, Airsoft, airguns and BB guns do not currently require a licence in England or Wales. These guns are responsible for many gun injuries to both humans and animals.

N.B. Since January 2017, airgun owners in Scotland have been required to have a licence, and airgun crime in Scotland has decreased by one third.

The previous Government’s Response to a further Consultation, sent predominantly to shooting organisations but not to women’s organisations or those supporting victims of domestic violence, concluded not to license airguns in England and Wales.

Border Force and National Crime Agency

We are not aware of any reports in December 2025 relating to the above.

Sentences and Convictions

We are aware of at least 38 reports in December 2025 of sentences and convictions for gun crime, including:

• A 25-year-old man has been jailed for five years after admitting possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition for a firearm without a certificate and possessing nitrous oxide. In February 2025, patrol officers saw an item, believed to be a cannister of nitrous oxide, being thrown from a vehicle in Wednesbury, West Midlands. They pulled the car over and found a second cannister at the male driver’s feet. Before the officers searched the man, he confessed he had a gun. An unloaded converted blank-firing gun was found in a bag that also contained two rounds of compatible ammunition and £550 cash.

• Two men have been fined £80 and ordered to pay costs after pleading guilty to possession of an air weapon in a public place. In March 2025, police officers arrested the defendants after responding to a report of three men seen with an air rifle at a country park in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside. The court ordered the air rifle to be forfeited.

• A 52-year-old former police officer has been jailed for two years and three months after pleading guilty to three charges relating to firearms and one charge of wilful neglect of his duties as a police constable and firearm enquiry officer. In January 2021, when he was a constable with the Firearms and Explosive Licensing Department in Kinross, Perth, he was handed a bag containing rifle components and two firearm barrels. In November of the same year, six shotguns in working order were handed in to him for destruction. During a search of the man’s home address in 2022, the shotguns were found in a secure cabinet, while the weapon components were discovered in the garage. 1919 bullets of 17 different calibres were also recovered. The court heard that a police spreadsheet recorded that the weapons and parts had been destroyed.

• After being convicted of murder, a 30-year-old man, a 38-year-old man and a 22-year-old man have been jailed for life with respective minimum terms of 32, 28 and 26 years. In April 2025, the 30-year-old fired a handgun into a property in Stanely, Co. Durham, killing a man instantly. The 38-year-old smashed the window before the attack to give the attacker a clear shot while the youngest man stood guard outside. The court heard that the shooting was planned as revenge for a suspected drug-related dispute, but the assailants targeted the wrong address. The victim’s partner described him as “an adored father and grandfather”, adding, “This horrendous crime has broken our hearts and it is something we will never recover from.” Three of the defendants’ accomplices were jailed after admitting perverting the course of justice by trying to destroy the stolen getaway car.

• A 37-year-old man has been jailed for four years and two months for attempted robbery, the possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, multiple burglaries and fraud offences. In June 2025, he threatened to shoot a worker with what looked like a handgun while he demanded money at a shop in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He was on a tagged curfew and awaiting trial for a series of burglaries when the incident took place.

• A 34-year-old man has been jailed for 26 years after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder. In December 2023, the man pulled up outside a pub in Edinburgh, Scotland in a stolen car before being approached by two men. He shot both men, one of whom died in hospital a few hours later. The deceased, suspected by police to be involved in organised crime, was wearing a stab vest when attacked, having been warned of a danger to his life. The court heard that the defendant had been hired to carry out the shooting for financial gain.

• A 68-year-old man has been handed a suspended 20-month prison term with 20 rehabilitation days after admitting possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. In April 2025, the man pointed an air rifle at a neighbour in Layer, Essex after she complained about noise. He told the woman to “shut up” before threatening to shoot her. The man must abide by a four-month night curfew, while the judge also imposed a five-year restraining order.

• A 37-year-old man has been jailed for fourteen years and five months after pleading guilty to five offences including possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and dangerous driving. In May 2025, the man was among a group who drove to Wales to recover drugs on behalf of an organised crime gang. In a case of mistaken identity, they pulled a man from his bed and seriously assaulted him before driving away at speeds above 150mph along the M4. Their car collided with another vehicle near Lower Stanton St. Quentin, Wiltshire and the man was arrested after he climbed out of the driver’s window. Police officers recovered a loaded sawn-off shotgun, a balaclava, gloves and a carbon dioxide-powered pistol from the car.

• A 61-year-old man has been jailed for five-and-a-half years after admitting attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm. In July 2025, the man threatened a worker with what looked like a gun in a plastic bag at a bank in Clacton, Essex. In an impact statement, the victim said that the incident had caused her “daily anxiety in her job”.

Many incidents involve the use of airguns*, Airsoft, imitation and BB guns, which do not require a licence and may not contain ammunition but are used by perpetrators to capitalise on the fear of victims who believe they are about to be shot. Traumatised victims are often unable to identify the weapons used. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between imitation and live-firing guns unless the weapons are fired and/or recovered, and, for this reason, guns involved in incidents frequently remain unidentified.

Shotguns and rifles can be legally held by those granted a licence. Ultimately, legally-obtained guns in every country tend to find their way into the wrong hands, whether through theft, corrupt gun dealers, and/or the failure of the licensing procedure to identify legal gun owners who pose a risk to themselves and/or others.

Please see the endnote for further explanation of gun types and current legal status.

Figure 2: December 2025 Weapon types recorded in firearm incidents

Notes

See Gun incidents in Great Britain page for details of incidents involving these gun types.

Guns that do not require a licence: Airguns* (so-called ‘low-powered’); Airsoft; ball-bearing; imitation; paintball; antique; deactivated; bolt guns** certain starting pistols/blank firers. These guns are cheap, accessible and available to buy on impulse. Moreover, lack of secure storage requirements enables theft. Many are capable of being converted into more powerful weapons. Guns deactivated to early specifications are capable of reactivation and recent, more rigorous specifications are not retrospective.

There is no legal definition of ‘antique’ and, although possession of antique guns is prohibited to those having served or received a criminal sentence, it is unclear how this is administered during sales and transfers.

Airsoft guns are exempt from the terms of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 and are ‘self-regulated’ by the Airsoft industry. The Home Office fails to collect data on the proliferation of Airsoft skirmishing sites.

• *From January 2017 airgun owners in Scotland have required a licence.
• ** A ‘slaughter licence’ is required for a bolt gun.

Guns that require a licence: Airguns in Scotland; shotguns; rifles; police firearms/ Tasers. Gun Control Network and others welcome the increase in Firearms Licence fees to ‘Full Cost Recovery’ in the interests of public safety. The under-resourced licensing procedure has consistently failed to protect the public from licensed gun-owning perpetrators and women are particularly at risk of domestic violence involving licensed gun owners. Any number of shotguns can be held on one certificate, which lasts for five years.

The Home Office continues to fail to publish data regarding the number of Licensed Gun Owners/Dealers/Legal Guns and Ammunition involved in non-fatal crime. Similarly, the status of guns used in suicides is not necessarily recorded at Inquests.

Guns that are prohibited: Handguns (revolvers, pistols etc.); 3D guns, Olympic starting pistols; Tasers; certain top venting blank firers; submachine guns; and ‘other’ weapons (pepper spray/CS Gas; home-made guns and explosive devices). Certain handguns are exempt from prohibition. Handgun, Taser and pepper spray use is authorised for police, but there are concerns regarding fatalities and Taser training.

Imitation/Airsoft guns are available without background checks. Crimes reported in the media as involving handguns are likely to involve imitations, airsoft, air pistols or other guns that look like handguns, resulting in misleadingly-inflated reports of handgun crime.