Nipped out after work for a quick hour blast. Coming off Norland Moor near Halifax, heading towards the bridleway locally named baby head alley, I passed three lads with air rifles. Didn't think too much of it, even exchanged a nod with one. Took the right turn onto the bridleway. Next thing a pellet wizzed past me. Can't say for definitely how close it was but it must have been within ten foot.
I'm no expert on fire arms but they were fairly big rifles. Presumably they had some power.
I spoke to the police within minutes of it happening. To be honest they didn't seem too bothered.
To be honest they didn't seem too bothered.
Cutbacks!
why didn't you whizz round and go and kick the shit out of them? or at least have stern words whilst looking menancing.
Go into the nearest station tomorrow. Someone else may well take it seriously.
Wot slowoldgit said
I have a massive axe, a bike and I live only a couple of miles away.
Would be HTH 😉
The copper I spoke over the phone asked me if I just wanted to log it or if I was making a complaint. I think if I don't hear anythimg back this evening I will making more of it tomorrow.
Surely this is a fairly serious crime?
[i]I'm no expert on fire arms but they were fairly big rifles. Presumably they had some power.[/i]
Yep. You're no expert...
You'd have been unlucky for them to have done anything other than bruised you, especially through clothing.
B r isn't much of an expert either with that answer. There's potential for worse. Depends on the gun, but many people who shoot would probably only be brandishing something that would bruise you or slightly break skin at distance. But someone who was willing to pop shot a person may have also upped the gun a bit through a few methods. Catching you in the wrong place could have done some damage. Report it! It's not funny and makes hard work for people who shoot responsibly.
tell them you saw some middle eastern looking blokes behaving oddly shortly beforehand...
You'd have been unlucky for them to have done anything other than bruised you, especially through clothing.
So thats ok then ? what if someone turns round and gets blinded by a pellet ? The little shits want locking up
b r - MemberYep. You're no expert...
You'd have been unlucky for them to have done anything other than bruised you, especially through clothing.
The most idiotic comment I've seen here this year.
The most idiotic comment I've seen here this year.
+1
Happened to me about a year ago or so. Riding home from work, middle of nowhere, couple of kids with an air rifle in a field took a few shots at me. I thought about phoning the police but couldn't be bothered with the hassle.
The little shits want [s]locking up[/s] something else to do, a verbal hiding and some serious education.
FTFY
The little shits want locking up something else to do, a verbal hiding and some serious education.
At least they were out in the fresh air.
I also managed to crash on the decent and lost my water bottle.
There's no doubt that what they did was dangerous, but how dangerous ? should the police be more concerned?
[i]The most idiotic comment I've seen here this year. [/i]
You've not been on here much then. 🙄
I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.
speckledbob,
Was it a ‘copper’ that you spoke with or a call handler on the main switchboard (not that the service you should receive should be any different)?
Some air weapons are deemed more dangerous than others and are subject to stricter controls. It depends on the kinetic energy of the ‘missile’ they discharge.
The lad that fired the air-rifle could feasibly commit a number of offences under different acts.
I think the best course of action would be to visit the West Yorkshire Police website and Email the local NPT, flagging the incident - requesting they pay passing attention to the area and stop and Q any youths in possession of such weapons, dispensing words of advice where necessary.
Anti-social behaviour is a policing priority for many forces, as set by their respective Chiefs & PCC’s and thus incidents of this nature are progressed with a little more application then may have been the case in the past.
999
999, it's a firearms offence. With any luck they'll deploy some firearms officers to tazer them all.
[i]I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.[/i]
Yeah?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4134694.stm
And yet the same pellets will punch through a 2mm aluminium sheet, and that's at 12ftlb, not the 30ftlb+ That the Theoban Eliminator I used to have had. I've also shot air weapons all my life, but never at anyone, so also not seen anyone injured either. Doesn't mean it's safe to shoot at someone though does it?
I'd say its sufficient risk to be pissed off.
You've not been on here much then.I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.
Your verbal dexterity and life experience wins the day; I'm sorry.
Now just stand there whilst I point a .22 at your eye would you?
I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.
I shot them right through my childhood into my late teens, they could punch through plywood. Still never seen anyone injured but I never shot at anyone.
Deluded, the person I spoke with said they where from the local police station but did not give me a name.
It's not normal to see lads with air rifles in that area but I have seen others lower in the valley by the old tip and haven't had any such trouble before.
E-mailing sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the advise.
I've been shot in the hand by one at 25 metres, embedded itself between two largest knuckles. Glad it was my hand and nowhere else is all am saying.
****s taking pop-shots with weapons need levelling. How did the operator respond exactly? Did you get a crime number, etc?
I'm no expert on fire arms but they were fairly big rifles. Presumably they had some power.
Yep. You're no expert...
You'd have been unlucky for them to have done anything other than bruised you, especially through clothing.
I once had to have a pellet removed from my skull by an A&E doctor on a local anaesthetic.
**** taking pop-shots with weapons need levelling. How did the operator respond exactly? Did you get a crime number, etc?
No. It was all pretty shoddy.
^^ What Drac said. Mine could kill rabbits from a fair distance when I was 16 and I don't doubt that it could cause serious injury if it hit you in the right place.
Struggle to bruise skin? You're having a larf. Confusing an air rifle with a BB gun, maybe?
speckledbob,
I'm a policeman and I'd be hacked off with that sort of behaviour myself. I've every confidence that the Beat Team will pick it up and do something with your report.
I'm not from your neck of the woods, but is it Halifax Central (Sowerby Bridge) - http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/calderdale/halifax-central
Go back with a tommy-gun, that'll learn em
Not so very long ago, we had a late evening shooting session in the pub, with the landlord's gun, and a local's gun, shooting at an impromptu target on the heavy wood kitchen door. The pellets were penetrating nearly a centimetre into the door, so there's no way I'd want to get hit with one.
Great fun, though.
Not sure what the guns were, but one had a sculpted stock, and a pressurised tank, the other a very heavy break-barrel gun, with muffler and a 40x scope.
Deluded, yes that's the station. Thanks for the link. I'll wait and see if anyone gets back to me tonight. If not I'll e-mail in the morning.
To be honest I did consider going back and confronting them but thought it would be a stupid thing to do.
You'd have been unlucky for them to have done anything other than bruised you, especially through clothing.
The human body has arteries very close to the skin in the neck. An air rifle pellet there can kill you, and indeed, people have been killed this way.
To be honest I did consider going back and confronting them but thought it would be a stupid thing to do.
Wise.
I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.
I used to shoot air guns regularly (And a variety of proper handguns and proper rifles until the local clubs shut). I also know 3 people who have been injured to varying degrees by them, two just bruised, one had to have the pellet surgically removed.
People like that have no place owning guns and wreck it for those who use them responsibly.
[i]You'd have been unlucky for them to have done anything other than bruised you, especially through clothing.[/i]
Assuming it's some cheapo spanish thing with ha'penny pellets, but if it is tuned which many are and it's easy to do, then it's gonna spoil you day!
Assuming it's some cheapo spanish thing with ha'penny pellets...
I bought a £100 Chinese deathtrap of a rifle to compliment my BSA Lighning XL - I was sick of going plinking and having to wait to get a shot of the rifle.
Turned out that the Chinese rifle was waaaaay over the legal limit, straight out of the box. If you were lucky enough to actually hit a water-filled baked beans can at 20 metres, the pellet would rip straight through both sides and lodge itself in the tree behind. The Lightning was lucky to dent the can at the same range.
Similarly, the Chinese gun would make a hole in a clay plantpot, whilst the XL's pellets would bounce off it.
As a very naughty boy I once shot a mate with an air rifleafter he shot me with....a black widow.
Guess which left no lasting impression and the one that hurt the most and left a circular puncture wound for life.
What should really happen is that they get a thick ear from the copper and the barrel bent by their dad.
Sadly neither will happen so tell the law.
If you do so make a bloody fuss. No point in going to the law without them doing something so make a big fuss or don't bother.
he shot me with....a black widow.
Nasty things. When I was a scamp, my mate loaded one with stinking fish bait and shot me in the head after I broke his borrowed reel in a fit of rage!
Br, that would be why me 12 ft/lb air rifle used to turn bunnies brains into...well...not much then?
Always thought my black-widow catty was a bit tame.
Wouldn't want to cop for one full in the race though 🙂
I was joking about going back with a tommy-gun btw.
From a cycling forum over here in South Africa:
http://www.thehubsa.co.za/forum/topic/132279-attacks-in-pta-east/page__hl__shot#entry2100879
http://www.thehubsa.co.za/forum/topic/132245-attempted-mtb-hi-jacking-pretoria-east/page__hl__shot
You guys have it easy 🙁
A friend of mine asked me to shoot him with an air rifle loaded with a bread pellet once, it was pretty much the first time I'd handled one.
I aimed for his manhood, shot from 3m away and watched him drop to the ground. Luckily for him, I missed and hit his thigh, as it made a 5x10mm impact, and around that the skin had parted about 2 or 3 mm deep like it'd been cut with a scalpel. He was wearing trousers.
This same air rifle, [later and not with me there], hit him in the hand and went through, splattering blood on the ceiling.
I haven't picked one up since.
Br - I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.
Edited my initial response to this idiotic post!!! 🙄
Our air rifles as kids would go through plywood easily.
That seems dangerous enough to harm someone.
b r
Can I ask why you shoot air rifles? Just targets or rabbits? If the latter just think about the damage to a bunny and what makes you think op has tougher skin?
Clean through a rabbit skull at 30yds at 12ftlb. Ill pass ta.
I would just move.
A long way south will probably do it, maybe even north if you can get a job in Norway, otherwise just suck it up it comes with territory.
I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.
A mate was shot in the wrist when at school, 2 hr op to dig out and mend damaged bits n bobs.
No harm done hey 🙄
My loving Brother shot me in the arse when we were young from about 50yds it stung like holy h3ll and bruised my sorry arse, and that was a pretty weak airgun. I was not a happy chappy and I let me Bro know.
I had a weihrauch (sp?) and back then you could buy plastic pellets with steel heads, these pellets would go straight through a can over 50 metres away.
Very dangerous in the wrong hands!!!
One of the most awful injuries to the face I've seen was during a visit to see my bro in hospital when I was about 6. I remember staring and thinking what the hell could have done something like that. I asked the guy what had happened to his face and he told me the story. His mate shot him in the eye with an air gun. He was in there for at least a few weeks and the swelling and colouring was something else. Even the week after I first saw him it hardly changed. Who knows what kind of air gun it was but what a mess his face was.
I had a weihrauch (sp?) and back then you could buy plastic pellets with steel heads, these pellets would go straight through a can over 50 metres away.
Called Prometheus, nylon and zinc/tin alloy iirc. Great fun pushing the heads into the body of. 500 pellets. Not.
When I was younger a mate shot me "by accident" from about 15m away with his air rifle (albeit with illegal spring), cue trip to hospital to remove the pellet from just under the sking at the back of my leg as it had travelled through from the front, new respect on what an air rifle can actually do was quickly learned.
Shame you're not a Swan, that would have got the SAS out.
Bad news that happening as I regularly ride round there.
But - bridleway "called baby head alley" sounds good but I've never ridden anything that fits that description or heard it used before, I'm all intrigued, where is it ?
+1 Mattsccm
Kid up the road shot me in the shoulder with his Dad's 'rabbit' gun, we went for the Western approach to pellet removal, slug of his Dad's whisky, Stanley knife in the cooker gas burner and he dug it out. They must have heard the screams in Sheffield. Still got the scar. His Dad went mental and I went to A&E where the nurse told my Mum he'd done a decent job all things considered.
Not a fan of guns.
steel4real - MemberBad news that happening as I regularly ride round there.
But - bridleway "called baby head alley" sounds good but I've never ridden anything that fits that description or heard it used before, I'm all intrigued, where is it ?
Me too, never heard of it!
I have seen young lads on Norland with air rifles in the past, they were about
15/16 years old, never got shot at though 😯
When I was growing up, a lad living nearby lost the sight of one eye thanks to an idiot with an airgun. Long time ago, but I don't suppose he was the last such.
As a young boy I shot my Sister with a BSA 1.77 loaded with bone meal from Mum's garden shed ( ran out of pellets ), apparently she still has the scars on her thigh 30 years later. My Dad confiscated the Rifle and didn't give it back to me until I was thirty !
Someone shot my car with an air-rifle.
I think they were aiming at the foglight, but they missed and left a hold about the size of a 10p piece in the bumper.
Bumpers are tough old things - I wonder what damage that would have done to a person?
"Shame you're not a Swan, that would have got the SAS out. "
hahahaha spot on oldgit, that's how f'd up the UK is.
25 years ago a lad at my school was killed by an air rifle after being shot in the mouth which then penetrated his brain ! This definitely needs following up & they most certainly can be charged with firearms offences ! After all I remember a few summers ago, when a group of lads were driving around with supersoaker water pistols & firing water at passers by. The police took this very serious eventhough they were just having a laugh & a very slim chance of anyone getting injured !
sound like a good idea, if you cant beat them....
I've shot airguns all my life and never seen anyone injured by been shot by a pellet.
My brother was hit in the neck by an air pellet which almost hit the cartoid artery. He was in surgery for several hours. Still, as long as you never saw it happen that'll be ok.
Steel4real and nigew, baby head alley runs from the edge of Norland Moor down the left side of Norland Clough into Packwood Scar. It used to be far more loose than these days. You probably know it. The right hand side of the Clough is also rideable but not for me. It's fairly technical and also a footpath.
One thing i will say is these guns looked brand new. I hope it's not the start of something regular for these lads. If they have taken a shot at me I doubt they hesitate with a dog.
'Baby Head Alley'?
I ride/Live in this area and have never heard a bridleway called this...I'm intrigued...which end of the moor is it at?
br - what about eyes then?
Isn't it an offence to just be wandering around with an air rifle? Its not private land up there - its common land open to everyone but I'm guessing there are rules on where you can shoot those things?
Absolutly awful response from the rozzers.
In a slightly related matter, glad the trail is making a name for itself - I named it babyhead alley 😀
DBW I believe I may have heard it from you so it's maybe just me and you who call it that. Either way its a good decent. I left part of my left ear on that path. Have you tried the other side?
Happened many times before.
Police not bothered unless someone is hurt.
speckledbob - yep, the one that comes down from the bridge? Techy with steps and rocks and stuff? Great trail. When it veers right into the woods and gets to a really boggy bit... I've been thinking of ways of making that section rideable or cutting a new trail earlier that climbs above the rocks where the spring comes out the ground and then joining back onto the trail on the other side of the boggy bit as it winds down towards terrible turns.
I'd be onto the cops again and saying you weren't satisfied that you were shot at with an air rifle and it was shrugged off by the officer you spoke to.
And you;re right - the babies head sized rocks seem to have gone these days and its a proper flat out blat down there now! That, then the cheeky little section that drops down steeply onto the cobbles above Wireworks and then Wireworks is a top way of getting back into the valley...
Yes, that whole section from Norland is a good long decent. A good 5 mins plus of decending. Not sure how it will be at the bottom of wireworks once that estate gets built. It will probably end up a doggy toilet.
Anyway just e-mailed the NCP as suggested bu deluded. See what happens.
Top end of Norland from the Lad Stone, along that funky little trail right on the edge of the moor with the drop-off etc, short climb back onto the main trail and then hammer all the way down the moor, Babyhead Alley, cheeky bit, Wireworks - ace descent 😀
I got shot in the back when I was 9. The gun was a Diana SP50, a low powered, pop-out barrel design. It hurt a lot and gave me a massive bruise.
Airgun misuse is frightening as the consequences can prove fatal or life-changing.
A legal (sub 12ft/lbs)modern pre-charged pneumatic air rifle in .177 cal. is capable of generating muzzle velocities in excess of 780 feet per second. It may not be a devastating amount of energy but the potential for deep penetration of tissue is obvious.
SpeckledBob - I know where you mean now, we call it The Fradge Factory, dont ask 😉
Its a great descent, just slow down at the farm, hes getting very pissed off with bikes flying past.
DBW the cheeky bit is always good for catching folk out 😈
The lads with guns definatley need a talking to if you can find them, maybe head over there at a similar time next week, creatures of habit and all that.
EDIT I mean to get another description for the police