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Ex-officer slams gun amnesty
Mar 31 2003
By John Revill, Birmingham Post
A nationwide gun amnesty which starts today has been criticised by a retired senior West Midlands Police officer for not doing enough to rid the streets of firearms.
Douglas Sharp, a former chief superintendent, said the amnesty was a “little tactic†which could have only limited results.
During the amnesty, people will be able to hand in firearms and ammunition to any police station in the region without being prosecuted for illegal possession.
The move comes ahead of the introduction of tough new sentences for illegal possession of prohibited firearms which will see a minimum five-year prison sentence for those convicted.
Police forces across the country hope the moratorium, which will run until the end of April, will reduce the vast array of weapons responsible for the rise in firearms offences.
It is also hoped it will cut the number of imitation and modified weapons which are increasingly being used by gang members and other criminals.
Mr Sharp, who is now director of the centre for criminal justice at the University of Central England in Birmingham, said there was no incentive at all for gang members to hand over their weapons.
He said: “An amnesty is not an answer to the problem of gun violence.
“The people who are gang members and who carry guns for all sorts of reasons are not going to surrender their weapons.
“They have got the guns for self protection and for status which they would lose if they handed in the weapons.
“Anyone who has got an illegally held weapon is more likely to throw it in a canal than hand it into a police station.â€
Mr Sharp said that although an amnesty was a useful tactic in removing some guns from circulation, they could easily be replaced by weapons from abroad as well as home made and modified replicas.
He said: “We don’t need little tactics, we need to look at the overall picture. On its own it is going to have a very small impact.
“There have been two major amnesties, after Hungerford and then after Dunblane, where thousands of weapons were handed in, but gun crime has still gone up.
“Instead we have to address the issues of why they carry weapons in the first place. Some are smuggled guns, while others are replicas or converted from starter pistols or air weapons.
“A proper campaign would also examine why young men and young women feel the need to carry these weapons to give them a degree of credibility in their communities.â€
During the last amnesty in 1996, 560 weapons were handed into West Midlands Police along with 17,000 rounds of ammunition.
Chief Inspector Steve Glover, force spokesman, said: “Our message is if you have got a gun, we want it. We want the gun, but not your name.
“Every weapon we take off the streets is a bonus.
“We also want people who have imitation, blank firing or air weapons to hand them in. These are frequently used in crime, and we are giving people a chance to hand them in before new laws about carrying them in a public place come into effect.â€
Chief Insp Glover said the amnesty was one part of a wider offensive against guns.
He said: “We have increased the number of firearms officers and are increasingly targeting people who use guns and workshops which convert imitation weapons.
“The community has had enough of weapons and the emphasis is changing. It is no longer acceptable to have a gun.
“We will be doing all we can to rid the streets of guns, and the amnesty is just the start.â€
© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2003