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Midlanders want to carry guns
Apr 29 2003
By John Revill, BirminghamPost
Gun owners have been urged to use the last days of the national amnesty to hand over their weapons - as it emerged almost half of the West Midlands population wants to carry a firearm for personal safety.
The national amnesty ends tomorrow and the Government is planning tough new laws to tackle the illegal ownership of firearms.
The amnesty has already been hailed a success by Home Secretary David Blunkett, with more than 700 guns and 9,000 rounds of ammunition handed into police stations across the West Midlands since March 31.
That number has already exceeded the 1996 figure when 560 weapons were handed after the Dunblane massacre.
But a national poll reveals that almost a quarter of people in Britain would be prepared to carry a gun for the purpose of self-protection.
The ICM survey revealed 22 per cent of people would carry a weapon if the law was changed to allow possession of registered handguns.
In the West Midlands the figure rose to 45 per cent of people, compared with seven per cent in London and 55 per cent in Yorkshire.
The same survey also reveals that 94 per cent of people in the West Midlands supported the reintroduction of the death penalty, compared with 34 per cent of Londoners.
Chief Insp Steve Glover, spokesman for West Midlands Police, said there was no justifi-cation for carrying a gun at any time, even for self protection.
"Gun crime in total is less than one per cent of all crime in the West Midlands, although the offences which are committed tend to be high profile and are of a very serious nature.
"There is no need for anyone to carry a gun to protect themselves, and to do so would only make matters worse.
"During the amnesty we have had more than 700 weapons handed over, and that is 700 people saying they don't want guns any more." Chief Insp Glover called on people to make the most of the last days of the amnesty to hand over their weapons.
Dawn Marshall, chairwoman of the anti-crime group Parents United, said she was surprised so many people wanted to carry weapons.
She said: "I don't think many people would want to carry weapons in Aston or Handsworth for their own safety. They've seen what they can do and want them off the streets."
Mr Blunkett said rocket launchers and hand grenades were among more than 7,000 weapons handed over to the police since March 31.
Mr Blunkett said: "We believe the fact that these weapons are not available for use by criminals is a great success.".
© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2003
