nutty - Of the two main atrocities regarding guns in my lifetime one man had been trained by the army(Hungerford) and the other was a member of a gun club(Dunblane).

The main difference in this country is that we have no gun shops in our shopping centres or towns, so we very few opportunities to obtain a gun legitimately or otherwise.

I have always admired your attention to details but am afraid that you are out of your field with this one.
Ryan (Hungerford) was never trained by the Army but fantasised he was.
Hamilton (Dunblane) was not a gun club member. He applied and was turned down. When applying for a gun licence he told the police he was a member and they did not carry out a (mandatory) check.

Knowing where you live, I can tell you that there are gun shops in Saltburn, Middlesbrough, Whitby, Stockton and Northallerton. Just because you dont shop there doesn't mean they dont exist.
And no, you could not buy an automatic from any of these shops!