Posted on 08/26/2007 1:32:17 PM PDT by Stoat
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said people who knew where firearms were hidden or were holding them for a relative or friend, needed to be able to come forward without revealing their identity.
Ms Smith said police and Home Office officials were considering establishing a network of "drop off zones" where weapons could be handed in at a neutral place.
But the proposals have been dismissed by the Conservatives as "feeble".
Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said: "Frankly, I think it's a feeble response. Amnesties have a place. They had a place in trying to deal with knife crime before and knife crime has doubled in the last couple of years."
He added: "I think the Government, frankly, seem paralysed in the wake of this real concern in the country about the increase in violence and in particular the increase in knife crime and gun crime. They simply don't seem to know what to do."
The Government's plans follow the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool.
Ms Smith said her priority was to get guns off the streets, amid mounting public alarm about the recent spate of shootings involving young children and teenagers.
The Home Office earlier denied there would be an amnesty for people who possessed illegal firearms, saying police would always need to be able to investigate any weapon in relation to any crime that had been committed.
A spokesman said trial schemes could be set up in areas facing acute problems with gun and gang crime
U.K. Plans Anonymous Gun Drop-Off After Shooting (Update1)
By Brian Swint
Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will set up places to anonymously report or hand over guns to police after an 11-year-old was shot to death in Liverpool this week.
The murder of Rhys Jones, who was killed as he played soccer in a parking lot on Aug. 22, has fueled debate about gun crime. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the shooting had ``shocked the whole nation,'' and opposition Conservative leader David Cameron said the public wants to know why there is ``a seemingly endless availability of guns.''
Police in Liverpool said they arrested nine people in connection with the murder, all younger than 20 years old. Six are still being questioned and three have been released on bail. The police press office declined to confirm a report on Sky News that the main suspect is in custody.
``This kind of killing, terrible and random, is a warning that we have to tackle gun culture,'' Justice Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC in a televised interview today. ``There is a primary responsibility on government, which we accept, but there is also a responsibility within the community, above all for those who are in the immediate vicinity of this kind of gang- related violence.''
The number of gun-related injuries and deaths in England and Wales rose to 3,821 in 2005-2006 from 864 in 1998-1999, the Sunday Times reported today, citing Home Office figures published earlier this year. The numbers exclude crimes involving air weapons, the newspaper said.
`Addicted to Spin'
``This means there needs to be an independent measure of crime, independently published,'' opposition parliamentarian Nick Herbert told BBC television today. ``The government refuses to do this because it's addicted to spin.''
Straw said that the government is not complacent and that gun crime, as opposed to accidents or injuries involving the weapons, has fallen. The home office proposal adds to other policies to bring down gun-related crime, he said.
``We want to work with the police to create a scheme whereby members of the public can tip off a third party if they know someone is in possession of a gun or, if they find a gun, hand it in to that third party themselves,'' the Home Office said in a statement today. ``The third party would then liaise with the police, protecting the anonymity of the informer.''
There will not be an amnesty for people in possession of guns, the statement said.
``People locally have to be able to know where they can go to hand in guns anonymously or to give intelligence anonymously about where family members have got guns from,'' Smith told the News of the World. The Home Office confirmed the comments. ``This means we can take that gun out of circulation and stop it from doing harm,'' she said.
Overall crime in England and Wales rose 4 percent last year, according to the annual British Crime Survey, released Jan. 25. Violent crime rose 2 percent, according to the survey.
There will NEVER be a gun free society.
There will only be a disarmed law abiding citizen who is DEFENSLESS AGAINST VIOLENT CRIME.
In that, you are certainly succeeding.
Thank you for easing the worries of armed villains.
You thoughtless idiots...
And I am sure that EVERYONE will tell the absolute truth and NO ONE will use the hot-line to harass someone they don’t like.
Reminds me of our Homeland Security asking repairmen to report any homes they saw guns, ammunition, powder, etc in. I believe that was “shot down”, but a bad idea like that never truly dies.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said: "Frankly, I think it's a feeble response. Amnesties have a place. They had a place in trying to deal with knife crime before and knife crime has doubled in the last couple of years."
He added: "I think the Government, frankly, seem paralysed in the wake of this real concern in the country about the increase in violence and in particular the increase in knife crime and gun crime. They simply don't seem to know what to do."
Well, here are a few ideas for you:
Exactly...
Well now... This explains everything! The yabos who shot that kid in Liverpool didn’t mean to do it; they simply didn’t have a “drop-off zone” to go to to get rid of the gun. So, as a result, the gun followed them around until it shot someone. It’s all so simple!
But, no, instead, they are working themselves into a sillier and sillier corner, and will end up both with an oppressive police state and the same exact problem will persist. The problem is that criminals have a monopoly on effective use of force, and no amount of taking weapons from the law-abiding will stop that. Only if you allow the law-abiding the means to effective self-defense will you be able to stop this problem.
More guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens means less crime. How hard is that for anyone to comprehend?
But the gun-grabbers exhibit no interest in actually having less crime. Gun-grabbing is simply part and parcel of the formation of a totalitarian state.
You are obviously well-qualified for an extremely lucrative, tenured career in the UK's Labour Party or in one of their more Leftish "news"papers :-)
((((snicker)))))
Obvious, endlessly-verified and reinforced facts such as this run up against a physiological, neurological, and cognitive impasse within the corrupted brain of the Socialist. One might as well insist that a cloud can be taught to rain money upon the land....it's not gonna happen.
And so, "everything was all right, the struggle was finished. [Winston] had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."
“Ms Smith said her priority was to get guns off the streets, “
I know both of our countries speak English, but I’m beginning to wonder if we speak the same language. In the U.S. I have never witnessed any guns roaming the streets...
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