For the types of firearms available to the police in Britain see Waddington (1991), Collins (1998) and Waldren (2007).

Air guns and ‘BB’ guns. Air guns fire a pellet projected by compressed air, whereas ‘BB’ guns fire ball bearings.

Assault rifles. These are shorter, lighter weapons than the standard rifle and with a smaller calibre and high muzzle velocity; they are very effective at short range. Probably the most renowned is the Russian AK47 Kalashnikov.

Automatic weapons. Automatic weapons are designed to fire a number of shots rapidly without having to be manually reloaded after each shot. Several techniques have been developed that allow the spent round to be ejected and a fresh round to be moved into the breech ‘automatically’. They are also referred to as ‘self-loading’ weapons. People also speak of a ‘semi-automatic’ weapon, which means a firing mode where the shooter has to pull the trigger for each individual shot, while an ‘automatic’ weapon can be fired continuously until the pressure is released from the trigger. Some weapons are configured for only for semi-automatic firing while others are capable of being fired on semi- or fully automatic modes.

Carbine. The carbine is a lighter form of rifle with a shorter barrel originally designed for use by cavalry. The H&K MP5, for instance, is referred to as a carbine and not a rifle.

Heckler and Kochs (H&Ks). ‘H&K’ has become a prominent weapons manufacturer, with certain of its handguns, such as the MP5 carbine, enjoying a prolonged product lifecycle. Since the mid-1970s, Heckler and Koch and its MP5 have come to dominate the choice for a close-quarter combat weapon that is also widely used in law-enforcement. The MP5 came into prominence in SAS hands during the Iranian Embassy assault in 1980. It is a reliable and versatile weapon that is manufactured in a variety of models. H&K also produces assault and sniper rifles and sub-machine guns. British police officers normally carry their H&Ks on single-shot, semi-automatic mode; for other purposes they usually can be configured for short bursts (3–5 bullets) or for full-automatic firing.

Machine guns. These weapons are capable of firing a large number of rounds rapidly, usually through an ammunition belt, with Maxim’s model of 1883 being viewed as the first fully automatic version.