Handguns which fire blanks are being converted into deadly weapons by criminals. File on 4 has discovered they're now being used more often than real handguns. Adrian Goldberg meets victims of gun crime and explores the UK's trade in illegal firearms. He discovers how easy it is to buy a blank firing pistol which can be illegally converted into a lethal weapon in 20 minutes, and hears from a former gangster who warns the law has too many loopholes. The UK has some of the strictest firearm laws in the world. So as some criminals struggle to obtain genuine guns, they're now getting blank-firing weapons converted into deadly weapons. As reporter Adrian Goldberg discovers how easy it is, gun campaigners call for tighter regulations around the manufacture and sale of blank firing weapons.
Reporter: Adrian Goldberg Producer: Paul Grant Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Editor: Carl Johnston
Furlough Fraud
Controlled, Abused and Criminalised
For Richer, For Poorer
Pandora Papers: From Bribery to the British High Street
Occupational Hazard: The bus drivers who died from Covid
Mental Health Profiteers
Hush Money: the Rise and Fall of an International Fraudster
Tackling Online Abuse in Football
Held to Ransom
Acts of Abuse
A Death Sentence?
Contracts of Interest
Above the law?
The Cost of Care
Leaseholder Losses
Sexual Abuse in Schools
The Cost of Long Covid
Britain's Ghost Companies
The Asylum Business - the UK's hidden housing crisis
The Disinformation Dragon
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins