United Kingdom: "Blunkett to announce crackdown on gun laws"

[cuchulainn]

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentS...StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1039524174936

Blunkett to announce crackdown on gun laws
By James Blitz in London
Published: January 5 2003 14:07 | Last Updated: January 5 2003 14:07
David Blunkett (picture), the Home Secretary, will announce changes to the UK's gun laws on Monday, introducing a minimum five-year jail sentence for carrying illegal firearms.


Following the shooting of two teenage girls in Birmingham last week, the Home Office has announced that changes to the minimum prison sentence for people caught carrying illegal firearms will be set out in the Criminal Justice Bill to be passed in the current session of parliament.

The Home Office has said that ministers also want to ban replica guns -particularly those that could be adapted to fire live bullets - but has said that more discussion would be needed before an announcement is made.

Mr Blunkett is to host a summit on tackling gun crime this week. The summit - which will be attended by police chiefs, community representatives and customs and immigration officials- has been planned for some time.

It will cover topics that include gaps in the law on gun control and the rise in small arms imports from the Balkans.

There is speculation that figures to be released by the Home Office on Thursday will show a sharp increase in the amount of gun-related crime.

The focus on gun crime by ministers follows the shootings of 18-year old Charlene Ellis and her 17-year old cousin Latisha Shakespear outside a hairderssers' shop where a party was being held in Birmingham on Thursday.Police are still searching for those responsible for the shootings.

© Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2002

 

[PATH]

Oh my! The bad guys are quaking in their boots!

 

[m.i.sanders]

Yep. That's how you stop crime, pass more law's for the criminals to ignore. Isn't this the same country that's NOT sending first time burglers to jail? Are they going to give people a break for the first killing?

 

[Mustang]

That's what to expect from a country mired in a 1000 year old subservience to King/Queen and country. Darn glad I at least have the means to fight off becoming a "subject."

 

[Marko Kloos]

One ironic thing about the situation is that the British police are now discovering the "Prohibition effect":

Illegal ownership of a gun, any gun, will now net you five years in the brig. You get the same five years whether you tote a Beretta Minx in .22 Short, or a full-auto Krinkov AK. Guess which one the crooks are going to bring to the party?