February 2026 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 February 2026 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 February 2026.

Figure 1:  2026 February 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 one report concerning a gun death in February 2026:

• A man died at a house in Southampton, Hampshire after being shot inside the property. A man has since been charged with murder and possession of a prohibited weapon. A second man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting aggravated burglary.

Inquests

We are aware of two reports in February 2026 of inquests relating to gun deaths:

• An inquest into the death of a man in Bean, Kent has been opened and adjourned. The man, who was involved in a crash in December 2025 after which a motorcyclist died, was found dead in the garage of his home in January this year. Cause of death was given as fatal, self-inflicted gunshot injuries.

• The coroner at the inquest into the death of a man near Blackrod, Greater Manchester in September 2025 has concluded his death was suicide. The man, who held a firearms and shotgun licence, died from a shotgun wound to the head at the farm where he lived with his family. The inquest heard that, shortly after contacting police on finding a shotgun was missing from the gun cabinet, a family member found the man in a shed. The coroner has sent a Prevention of Future Deaths Report to the Home Office and Department for Health and Social Care, noting that current firearms legislation does not require someone who holds a shotgun or firearms licence to report a new illness or mental health condition that may affect their suitability to hold the licence. In addition, there was “no obligation or provision” requiring a GP practice to record a firearms certificate on medical records “to assist with flagging any issues that may need reporting” and requiring the reporting of these issues to police. He said these were clear “gaps” in legislation that may cause further risk of other deaths.

Armed Domestic Violence and/or Victim Known to Perpetrator

We are aware of three reports in February 2026 that we believe to relate to the above:

• Armed police officers were deployed following a report that a woman was being threatened by a family member armed with a gun at a property in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. On arrival, a man fired a suspected air rifle towards the officers. The woman was brought to safety but, following three hours of negotiations, the man challenged the officers with weapons including bricks and wood. He was brought to the floor by a police dog and arrested on suspicion of firearms offences, threats to kill, criminal damage and burglary.

• A 77-year-old man, a retired head gamekeeper on a Scottish Estate, has been jailed for life, to serve at least nineteen years, after being found guilty of murder. In February 2024, he fatally shot a man with a shotgun on a remote lane in Pitilie, Perth and Kinross. The victim, an ex-colleague on the Edradynate Estate with whom his attacker had fallen out, died of gunshot wounds to the neck and chest. The court heard that the 77-year-old disabled his home CCTV system and placed duct tape over his doorbell camera to conceal his movements on the day of the attack. He also discarded the shotgun and changed the tyres on his getaway bike following the shooting. Police initially believed the victim’s death was due to medical causes and this mistake meant the crime scene was not sealed off and forensically examined until days after the body was found. The 77-year-old was arrested three months later.

• A 37-year-old man has been jailed for nine years and nine months after admitting attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and two counts of possessing a firearm with intent. In April 2005, the man fired a gun at another man’s home in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Shortly afterwards, he knocked his victim off his motorbike and shot at him. The court heard that the assailant knew his victim and had been intent on causing him harm. Armed police officers traced the assailant to a block of flats but he escaped and fled. He was discovered later in the garden of a nearby property. A firearm, and ammunition that matched the cartridges found at the crime scenes, were subsequently seized at the flats.

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

We are aware of two reports in February 2026 that we believe to relate to the above:

• See Armed Domestic Violence and/or Victim Known to Perpetrator above — The former head gamekeeper, a previously-licensed gun owner, accessed a shotgun to fatally shoot an ex-colleague in Pitilie. 

• Police appealed for information after 81 air weapons were stolen from a parked lorry in Basildon, Essex. The driver contacted police after discovering the air rifles had been taken from the vehicle. No arrests have yet been made.

We are aware of at least four reports in February 2026 involving the use of a police Taser, including:

• Armed police officers were deployed following reports of a man making threats and causing damage with an axe in Bristol. A police Taser was used as officers arrested a man on suspicion of affray and possession of a bladed article in a public place. The man was taken to hospital for checks following his detention.

• After a car failed to stop for police officers in Derby, Derbyshire, it collided with another vehicle. The driver of the car was tasered and arrested at the scene. A passenger in the other vehicle involved was treated in hospital for serious injuries.

• A 39-year-old man has received a five-year sentence, half of which will be served in prison and half on licence in the community, after admitting possessing a prohibited firearm and possession of an offensive weapon. In June 2025, police officers searched the man’s home in Shotton Colliery, Co. Durham and recovered a loaded blank-firing pistol from under children’s clothing in a bedroom drawer, along with a zombie knife from under another bed. The pistol had been painted black over the original orange cover and its muzzle plug had been removed. Officers also found a Taser, two samurai swords a hunting knife and an air rifle. The Recorder ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the firearm, the knife and the ammunition.

• After three people reportedly “ransacked” a hair salon in Leeds, West Yorkshire last month, police officers tasered and arrested one man, while his accomplices escaped. He has since been jailed for one year after admitting several offences.

Animal Death and Injury

We are aware of at least six reports in February 2026 of animal cruelty and/or death involving a gun:

• A fox is being treated at a wildlife hospital after being shot with an air rifle. The fox was found in a garden in Basildon, Essex, with X-rays later revealing a pellet lodged in its body.

• A cat suffered serious injuries after being shot with an air rifle in Warrington, Cheshire. Police appealed for information but no arrests have yet been reported.

• X-rays revealed that a buzzard, found injured near Wigginton, North Yorkshire, had a shotgun pellet lodged in her leg. Buzzards are protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it illegal to kill, injure or take them, or destroy their nests and eggs.

• Police appealed for information after X-rays revealed that a golden eagle, found injured in Stanhope, Peeblesshire in January this year, had been shot in the wing with a shotgun. The eagle has since been treated and returned to the wild.

• A herring gull is being treated at a wildlife hospital after being shot through the wing in Benfleet, Essex. The bird’s rescuers reported hearing a loud bang before seeing it fall from a roof.

• A goshawk was euthanised after being shot with a shotgun in Stanton-by-Dale, Derbyshire. The protected bird of prey had suffered several injuries including wing fractures. A police spokesperson said, “Shooting birds of prey is a serious crime under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Offenders face unlimited fines, up to 6 months in prison, firearms seizure and a criminal record. This is not just illegal – it’s heartless, barbaric, and will not be tolerated.”

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 aware of four reports in February 2026 relating to the above:

• Border Force officers stopped a van at the Port of Dover, Kent and seized 55 loaded pistols and 500 rounds of ammunition from the vehicle. The guns had been hidden inside two spare tyres. A man from Bulgaria has since been charged with smuggling firearms and ammunition.

• A 59-year-old man has been jailed for seven years after being found guilty of bringing a realistic imitation firearm into the country, possessing Class B drugs with intent to supply, possession of criminal property and being concerned in production of cannabis. After Border Force personnel intercepted a parcel from China that was addressed to his ex-wife and contained five realistic imitation revolvers, detectives raided his home in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire in May 2024, as well as two linked properties. At the man’s home police discovered two primed mantraps, two potential firearms and four large plastic bags of cannabis buds with an estimated value of £16,000, while next door and at his ex-wife’s home, they found 24 cannabis plants, 1.5kg of amphetamine, several imitation guns, a crossbow and a homemade flame thrower. Officers also recovered £27,000 from inside a sofa. The court heard that the man had rigged his home with trip wires and home-made pipe bombs, inspired by the film, Home Alone, in order to deter intruders. Nearby homes were evacuated while the traps were made safe by army bomb disposal experts.

• It has emerged that National Crime Agency investigators arrested a man from Bristol in July 2024 after he bought 35 top-venting blank firearms, three antique firearms and more than 1,000 bullets. He was also detained in relation to the manufacture of a 3D printed submachine gun. The man was arrested again in January 2025 after police officers found a pistol and a revolver hidden in a bush in the city. He has since been charged with two counts each of possessing firearms and possessing ammunition, as well as converting a firearm, manufacturing a firearm, selling firearms and conspiracy to import firearms.

• A 31-year-old man has been jailed for 22 years and three months after admitting conspiring to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs; his 40-year-old co-defendant received 26 years and nine months for the same charges. Both members of an organized crime group (OCG). The older man co-ordinated operations while the other converted blank-firing guns including pistols and submachine guns, to be sold onto criminals for use in feuds and turf wars. The pair also planned to produce industrial supplies of the Class A drug, methylamphetamine. In March 2024, National Crime Agency officers raided the younger man’s business premises in Kendal, Cumbria after witnessing him collecting ten Turkish-made top-venting blank firers from another two men. They discovered a firearms conversion factory and recovered bullets, a silencer and a semi-automatic pistol that was being converted to fire 9mm ammunition. The court heard that the OCG had purchased and converted seventeen firearms, twelve of which have been recovered. Three other conspirators received sentences totaling over 35 years.

Sentences and Convictions

We are aware of at least 31 reports in February 2026 of sentences and convictions for gun crime, including:

• A 59-year-old man from Hale, Greater Manchester has been jailed for 30 years after being convicted of drug and firearm offences, while his 29-year-old co-defendant received 25 years after admitting conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons, conspiring to kidnap and drug offences. After the criminal messaging network, EncroChat, was decrypted, messages revealed that the older man had tried to broker a deal with criminals concerning an assault rifle and bullets while the other man organised the sale of two 9mm handguns and 50 bullets. Following his arrest, the older man also admitted hiding guns at a property he owned in Mallorca. Evidence was also found that the pair had “operated as facilitators, moving drugs to contacts for more money than they paid for them”.

• A 47-year-old man from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has been jailed for 25 months after admitted exporting prohibited goods and knowingly mis-describing mailed goods. In November 2021, couriers seized a suspect package bound for China and found it contained two thermal-imaging scopes, to be attached to hunting rifles. While legal in the UK, they are illegal to export. The defendant had quoted a value of £200 for the package but the goods were actually worth more than £5,000. After receiving a warning letter, the man sent another parcel in April 2023, labelled as a digital camera worth £1,750. In fact, it contained five more scopes worth £19,350. He claimed not to have realised he needed a licence, despite having bought the scopes from a gun business that clearly stated the equipment was not for export. Investigations revealed he had sent ten packages containing a total of 26 gun sight items. He claimed he had sent the items to a friend and was not involved for profit; however, a spokesperson from HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service said, “This was a calculated and persistent attempt to undermine and circumvent the strict licensing regime that is in place to protect the UK.”

• An 18-year-old man and a 21-year-old man have been jailed for their involvement in shooting a male youth in June 2025. As part of an ongoing drug debt feud, the older man fired a double-barrelled shotgun through the letterbox of a house in Cardiff, South Wales, while the other waited nearby. On hearing a loud bang, a teenage boy came into the hallway and saw the letter box come off. He was hit by a second shot and left with 30 pellets embedded in his leg. The victim, whose injuries were not life-threatening, was not the intended target. The younger man has been jailed for eight years and four months after admitting possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing a loaded shotgun in a public place and wounding/inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent. The older man received six years after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possessing a loaded shotgun in a public place and wounding/inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent.

• A 38-year-old man and a 52-year-old man have each been jailed for life after being found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism. Through a contact he believed was a like-minded extremist, the younger man arranged to have four assault rifles, two handguns and 900 rounds of ammunition smuggled into the UK. His contact was, in fact, an undercover operative and, in May 2024, the 38-year-old was arrested when he went to collect the weapons at a car park in Bolton, Greater Manchester. The court heard that both men had planned to attack the Jewish community in Manchester and that the younger man intended to martyr himself in the process. He also bought an air weapon, visited a shooting range and used fake online accounts to spread extremist Islamic views and infiltrate a group organising a march against antisemitism. The older man also conducted research on how weapons could be smuggled into the country.

• Two people have been jailed for sixteen years and seven years, respectively, for multiple offences relating to firearms and explosives. One converted blank-firing guns into lethal pistols in his caravan in South Ockenden, Essex and, together with his co-defendant, made explosives and grenades. The guns were sold on to criminals, two of whom were sentenced for possessing firearms. Police officers raided the caravan in November 2024 and seized loaded guns, a replica assault rifle, a replica sub-machine gun, a 22-inch shotgun disguised as a torch, a hunting knife and homemade bombs. The court heard that the couple were preparing for a war against Muslims and immigrants. A spokesperson from Counter Terrorism at the CPA, said: “…There is no scenario in which they could have believed these weapons were destined for anything other than serious harm…” Both individuals held extremist anti-Muslim views. Their stockpiling of weapons and explosives was not simply criminal opportunism – it was fuelled by as belief in the inevitability of violent conflict…” One defendant received sixteen years for possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, possessing prohibited firearms, converting imitation firearms, two counts of conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited ammunition, possessing prohibited ammunition, possessing a firearm when prohibited, making explosives and attempting to make further explosives, possessing ammunition when prohibited and three counts of collection of terrorist information. The other was sentenced to seven years for two counts of possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate, making explosives and collection of terrorist information.

• After being convicted of attempted murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, three men aged 44, 39 and 31 have been jailed for 30 years, while another defendant, aged 52, received 27 years. In September 2024, the offenders chased a man on a street in Wolverhampton, West Midlands before one of them shot him in the back. The victim required hospital treatment following the attack. Despite attempts to evade detection, the assailants were linked to each other using phone evidence.

• A 25-year-old man has been jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 27 years after being found guilty of murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. In July 2024, a man died after being shot three times with a handgun in the doorway of his partner’s home in Kirkby, Merseyside. No motive has been established for the killing. The 25-year-old was a passenger in a car that left the scene of the shooting and doorbell footage at his own home captured him talking about the attack a minute later. Three other men, including the gunman, were jailed for life in 2025 after being convicted of murder.
• A 45-year-old man has been jailed for sixteen-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to money laundering and two counts each of conspiracy to sell or transfer prohibited weapons and conspiracy to sell or transfer ammunition. In October 2023, police officers recovered ammunition, gun components and 83 converted top-venting blank firearms from properties in Datchet and Windsor, Berkshire. The following February, officers discovered 70 more converted blank-firers and over 600 rounds of converted ammunition in suitcases at a property in Crosham, as well as ammunition in various stages of conversion at an industrial unit in Horndean. The man was found to be the head of an organised crime group that controlled the operation. He was arrested in November 2024 after being extradited from Spain.

• A 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old man have been jailed for 40 years and 38 years, respectively, after being convicted of three counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. In September 2024, shots were fired from a car occupied by the two men towards a group of people outside a bar in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. Three women suffered serious injuries in the attack.

• A 47-year-old man has been jailed for nineteen years after being found guilty of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. In February 2024, he got into a row after a man in a car in Birmingham, West Midlands reportedly “short changed” him on a drug deal. When he pointed a handgun at the dealer, a passenger in the car grabbed the 47-year-old man’s arm. In the ensuing struggle, the gun went off and hit the dealer in the stomach. The victim self-presented at a local hospital and underwent life-saving surgery. When police officers called at the 47-year-old man’s home three days later, he threw the loaded gun into the garden and tried to escape through a window. The court heard that the victim still has a bullet lodged in his body and has been left with mobility and mental health issues.

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: February 2026 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.