Firearm A firearm , commonly known as a " gun " , was a term encompassing a variety of weapons which used a projectile fired from the weapon relying on chemical explosives to propel the projectile at high velocities from the firearm . In the words of Silurian scientist Bokka K ' to , " It project [ ed ] a small piece of metal at high speed . " ( TV : " Doctor Who and the Silurians " ) They were typically used to penetrate surfaces to maim or kill and were a favoured weapon of human s . Most firearms were ineffective against armoured races such as Dalek s and Cybermen , ( TV : " Army of Ghosts " / " Doomsday " ) though specifically designed bullets were produced to take advantage of alien races ' weaknesses ( Gold in the Cybermen ' s case ) . ( TV : " Battlefield " ) Standard bullets were effective against unarmoured humanoid s , such as the Ood , ( TV : " Planet of the Ood " ) , Silent s ( TV : " Day of the Moon " , " The Wedding of River Song " ) and Sontaran s . ( TV : " The Poison Sky " ) Although bullets would not work on armoured races such as the Cybermen and Stingray swarm , rockets and missiles were used to defeat these species . ( TV : " Doomsday " , " Planet of the Dead " ) Firearms , as a relatively primitive technology , could be neutralised by more advanced technology . For example , Sontaran soldiers employed a cordolaine field that affected metals such as copper , causing weapons using copper casings on their projectiles not to fire . ( TV : " The Sontaran Stratagem " / " The Poison Sky " ) Technological improvements such as the Bastic bullet made firearms more effective , a viable weapon even against a Dalek . ( TV : " Revelation of the Daleks " , " The Parting of the Ways " ) UNIT and other military personnel usually used weapons from the G36 weapons family . Officers usually carried pistols or revolvers . In future centuries future soldiers like the Anglican soldiers and soldiers in the Human - Hath War seem to carry modified P90s . One practical limit on the use of firearms was that they were usually lethal . While it was possible to use a firearm to incapacitate rather than kill , this could be done only by inflicting serious injury and pain . While there were forms of ammunition called " less than lethal " intended for incapacitation , such as rubber bullets , they still inflicted great pain , and were lethal under certain circumstances . For this reason , individuals such as the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith often refused to use them on moral grounds ( TV : " The Stolen Earth " , " Journey ' s End " , " The End of Time " , " The Doctor ' s Daughter " , " Invasion of the Bane " ) — although there were exceptions . ( TV : " The Seeds of Doom " , " The Time of Angels " ) Despite their limitations , humans were known to use firearms well into the 2001st century and beyond . ( TV : " The Parting of the Ways " , " Utopia " ) An appreciation of the usefulness of firearms was not limited to humanity . Upon landing on the planet Exxilon a Dalek taskforce ' s weapons were rendered inoperable , forcing them to replace their energy weapons with semi - automatic ballistic weapons . ( TV : " Death to the Daleks " ) Romana II believed guns to have no defensive value . ( AUDIO : " The Paradox Planet " ) Bolt - action rifle use . John Andrews used a when he chased the Third Doctor and Jo around the deck ; Vorg had made the specimens ' personalities violent . ( TV : " Carnival of Monsters " ) Laurence Scarman had a hunting rifle which proved ineffective against Sutekh ' s servitors . Sarah later put the rifle to better use by pulling off a difficult shot to detonate a box of Gelignite that destroyed an Osiran war missile . ( TV : " Pyramids of Mars " ) Lee - Enfield rifles were seen in the hands of the Kaled s and the Thal s on the planet Skaro . ( TV : " Genesis of the Daleks " ) Assault rifle use . was surrounded by UNIT soldiers from all sides with rifles pointed at him when only one handgun was not sufficient to guard him . This was after he tried to escape capture by stealing Bessie and the Doctor remotely controlled her to drive back to him . ( TV : " The Dæmons " ) Weapons resembling M4 Carbines with Beta C - mag drum magazines were used to shoot and subdue the Ood on the Ood Sphere . ( TV : " Planet of the Ood " ) The army and UNIT used H & K G36 assault rifles against the Sontaran s , Dalek s and the Cybermen . They were completely ineffective against the last two . ( TV : " Army of Ghosts " / " Doomsday " , " The Poison Sky " , " The Stolen Earth " / " Journey ' s End " ) Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones used G36 assault rifles to combat a Dalek in the Torchwood Hub . ( TV : " The Stolen Earth " ) ' s private armed teams fired on the Tenth Doctor , Martha Jones and Jack Harkness with M4 assault rifles . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " ) Captain Jack led a squad of men to shoot the Toclafane with assault rifles . He also destroyed the Paradox Machine by shooting it with one . ( TV : " Last of the Time Lords " ) The Preachers used a number of automatic weapons to fight the Cybermen , notably the Kalashnikov . ( TV : " Rise of the Cybermen " ) Miss Foster ' s guards were armed with assault rifles . ( TV : " Partners in Crime " ) The security guards in the International Gallery and the police units waiting to arrest Christina de Souza at the end of the tunnel were armed with assault rifles . ( TV : " Planet of the Dead ) " UNIT successfully battled three of the Swarm with assault rifles , although anti - aircraft batteries served a key role in finishing the creatures off . ( TV : " Planet of the Dead ) " Joshua Naismith ' s private guards were armed with M4 Carbine Assault Rifles , which they employed to put suppressing fire on the Tenth Doctor . ( TV : " The End of Time " ) British Army soldiers were seen armed with assault rifles at the Albion Hospital and in Downing Street . ( TV : " Aliens of London " / " World War Three " ) US Air Force personnel guarding the Eleventh Doctor at Area 51 were armed with assault rifles . ( TV : " Day of the Moon " ) On Malcassairo , the human guards at Silo 16 repelled the Futurekind with assault rifles fitted with telescopic sights , thumbhole stocks , and 10 round magazines . ( TV : " Utopia " ) The crew of the Firebird were equipped with AK - 47 assault rifles . ( TV : " Cold War " ) Handgun use . Two fake policemen were in possession of handguns equipped with silencers . ( TV : " Attack of the Cybermen " ) Gustave Lytton gave a handgun to Payne . The Sixth Doctor took it after his death and Russell took it when he arrested the Doctor . ( TV : " Attack of the Cybermen " ) Brigadier Lethbridge - Stewart and members of UNIT threatened with handguns . ( TV : " The Claws of Axos " ) The Lorduke of Zazz threatened Frobisher with a handgun . ( COMIC : " The Gift " ) When the lone Dalek , also known as the Metaltron , escaped the Vault , the security guards used pistols against it , to no effect . ( TV : " Dalek " ) Jo Grant brandished a revolver when tracing to Devil ' s End . ( TV : " The Dæmons " ) When Eva Saint Julienne was promoted to Floor 500 , she pulled a pistol on the Editor . She fired the pistol at the Jagrafess , to no effect . ( TV : " The Long Game " ) Jack Harkness used a 21st century era pistol against the Dalek s invading the Game Station . ( TV : " The Parting of the Ways " ) Queen Victoria carried a small revolver in her bag for her protection . She shot Father Angelo with it . ( TV : " Tooth and Claw " ) Maximillian Stael committed suicide with a handgun given to him by the Fourth Doctor at his behest . He did this to avert the Fendahl from using him as a power source . ( TV : " Image of the Fendahl " ) Jake Simmonds and Mrs . Moore pulled pistols on Mickey Smith when they found out he wasn ' t Ricky Smith . ( TV : " Rise of the Cybermen " ) Tallulah had a prop handgun to scare the Tenth Doctor , Martha Jones and Solomon . ( TV : " Daleks in Manhattan " ) ' s henchmen pulled out pistols to everyone witnessing when the Toclafane killed President Winters . ( TV : " The Sound of Drums " ) Thomas Milligan used a handgun to lure a Toclafane to the trap set up by Alison Docherty . Lucy Saxon used one to kill . ( TV : " Last of the Time Lords " ) Jack Harkness carried a revolver while in service with Torchwood . ( TV : " Everything Changes " ) General Cobb intended to shoot the Tenth Doctor with a handgun but Jenny got in the way . ( TV : " The Doctor ' s Daughter " ) Colonel Mace shot Commander Skorr with a handgun . ( TV : " The Poison Sky " ) General Sanchez attempted to repel the invading Dalek with a handgun . ( TV : " The Stolen Earth " ) A German woman threatened Martha Jones with a Luger P08 in an attempt to prevent her from using the Osterhagen Key , but lowered the pistol when she proved unable to kill her . ( TV : " Journey ' s End " ) John Jefferson shot an Ood with a handgun . He only fired one shot . ( TV : " The Satan Pit " ) The Fourth Doctor took Scorby ' s handgun and used it to retreat in safety . He told Sarah he ' d never use it but they didn ' t know that . ( TV : " The Seeds of Doom " ) Captain Erisa Magambo threatened Malcolm Taylor with a pistol , and later used it to defend against three of the Swarm . ( TV : " Planet of the Dead ) " Wilfred Mott took his old service revolver with him when he sought out the Tenth Doctor . He later gave it to the Doctor , who took it to use against the Master . The Doctor had to choose between shooting the Master or Rassilon , but finally chose to shoot the nuclear bolt , destroying it and breaking the link that anchored the Time Lords in the present time , sending them back into the Time War and saving the universe . ( TV : " The End of Time " ) The Fifth Doctor used a handgun against a Dalek mutant that had escaped from its damaged armour . He decided that he needed to kill Davros but when the moment came he couldn ' t bring himself to pull the trigger . ( TV : " Resurrection of the Daleks " ) The Sixth Doctor used an automatic pistol against a Dalek ' s eye stalk . ( TV : " Revelation of the Daleks " ) Both the Seventh Doctor and Ace used a handgun to protect themselves from Josiah Samuel Smith ( TV : " Ghost Light " ) . The Eleventh Doctor fired a handgun to destroy a gravity globe . ( TV : " The Time of Angels " / " Flesh and Stone " ) Amy Pond used Canton Everett Delaware III ' s handgun on a little girl in an astronaut suit , not knowing she was her daughter Melody , in an attempt to save the Eleventh Doctor . ( TV : " The Impossible Astronaut " , " Let ' s Kill Hitler " ) Machine gun , submachine gun and PDW use . Machine guns were carried by the Robomen during the Daleks ' invasion of 22nd century Earth . ( TV : " The Dalek Invasion of Earth " ) Inside the Miniscope , the crew of the SS Bernice used submachine guns against the Drashig s to no avail . ( TV : " Carnival of Monsters " ) Gustave Lytton had a silenced submachine gun . ( TV : " Attack of the Cybermen " ) Mounted machine guns were used to shoot the Scarecrow Drones when they attacked the Farringham School for Boys . They trained with these in the school grounds . ( TV : " The Family of Blood " ) Harrison Chase ' s guards all carried submachine guns . ( TV : " The Seeds of Doom " ) The crew of a Delta III refinery had two machine guns . ( TV : " The Power of Kroll " ) The use of other firearms . The Fourth Doctor used an Oriental fowling piece belonging to George Litefoot to kill a giant rat when it attacked Leela . The gun hadn ' t been fired for 50 years and Litefoot warned the Doctor that it would probably explode in his face . The Doctor scoffed at this , saying that the gun had been built in Birmingham . ( TV : " The Talons of Weng - Chiang " ) When one of the Fendahleen was feeding on the psychic energy of Leela and the Tylers , the Fourth Doctor tried to distract it by shooting it with Jack Tyler ' s double - barreled shotgun filled with rock salt . Leela later used the shotgun to kill another of the Fendahleen . ( TV : " Image of the Fendahl " ) After the Twelfth Doctor returned to Gallifrey , Rassilon ' s firing squad were ordered to shoot him , but purposefully missed . They then sided with the Doctor , dropping their guns and standing at his side . Last to join him was the General who dropped his pistol after telling Rassilon " Lord President , with respect , get off his planet . " Desperate to save Clara Oswald , the Doctor stole the General ' s gun and threatened him with it . The General told him it was the side arm of the Personal Guard of the Lord President and had no stun setting . After making sure the General could still regenerate , the Doctor shot him in the chest and fled with Clara . The General then regenerated into a woman , his preferred form . ( TV : " Hell Bent " )