Police urgent appeal after gun goes missing in town

Monday 02 June 2014

Police are urgently looking for a 9 mm pistol that was lost in town on Friday afternoon.

Although there was no ammunition with the gun when it went missing, police say that they are treating the matter very seriously and say anyone who has any information to get in touch as soon as they can.

The Glock handgun went missing between 1 pm and 3.46 pm on Friday. It was brought from the handgun dealer at Newton and Newton in Colomberie, and the buyer left it in an unlocked silver Mitsubishi while he stopped at the Monterey Hotel and Roberts Garage at Springfield before realising that it had gone missing.

The gun was in a black canvas zip-up case.

Handguns have been illegal in the UK since 1998. The law was changed after the Dunblane massacre in 1996 in which 16 children and a teacher were murdered at a school by a man armed with a pistol, who killed himself before police got to the scene.

In the UK, possession of an illegal firearm is punishable with a prison sentence of up to ten years.

Jersey never banned handguns, although like all firearms (including air rifles and shotguns) and ammunition they must be certified and held under licence. Licences last for five years and are obtained from parish constables.

The absence of a firearm ban in Jersey meant that magician Derren Brown had to come here to film a controversial Russian roulette stunt in 2003. Facing questions immediately after the show provoked a wave of complaints, the States of Jersey Police revealed part of the secret behind the trick when then Deputy Chief of Police Lenny Harper revealed that “there was no live ammunition involved and at no time was anyone at risk”.