Posted on 01/06/2003 5:56:40 AM PST by nypokerface
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain announced tough new firearms laws Monday in a bid to tackle a growing epidemic of gun culture on its streets that came to a head last week with the killings of two teenage girls.
The slayings in a drive-by shooting shocked Britain and highlighted a growing trend of gun use and gang violence in the country's main cities.
Responding to what he called "an unacceptable increase in the flagrant use of guns," Home Secretary David Blunkett outlined plans for a minimum five year jail sentence for illegal gun possession.
He said he was also considering a ban on replica guns, particularly those that could be adapted to fire live rounds.
"We will not tolerate an escalation of the number of guns on our streets," Blunkett said in a statement.
Public outrage greeted last week's shooting of two young girls outside a New Year party in Birmingham, central England.
The girls -- Charlene Ellis, 18, and Latisha Shakespear, 17 -- had stepped outside for some air when they were caught in the middle of a suspected gangland shooting.
Police said more than 30 shots were fired by at least two guns, including a submachine gun.
Their deaths, together with an expected rise in gun crime figures, have heightened calls from the British press and public for the government to act.
Figures on firearm offences due Thursday are expected to show a 20 percent increase in England and Wales last year.
Firearms offences in Britain totaled 12,410 in 1997, according to government statistics. The figure rose by 42 percent to 17,589 in 2001.
Police and black community leaders have expressed fears that an increasing number of "black-on-black" drug-related shootings in major cities such as London and Birmingham are indicative of a growth in U.S.-style gang violence.
One British politician drew charges of racism Monday after hitting out at black British rap musicians for creating a culture in which killing was "almost a fashion accessory."
"For years I have been very worried about these hateful lyrics and the boasting these macho idiot rappers come out with," culture minister Kim Howells told The Guardian newspaper.
Blunkett said Monday that protecting the public from gang violence was the government's highest priority.
But the main opposition Conservative Party said the new laws were a case of too little, too late.
"Gun crime has doubled nearly in five years and nothing has happened," James Paice, Conservative spokesman on home affairs told the BBC. "Now we are having a knee-jerk or panic reaction."
Detectives have yet to make a breakthrough in the Birmingham killings, despite repeated appeals to the community and the offer of a large reward.
Blunkett confirmed Monday he would hold a gun crime summit with senior police and community leaders Friday.
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Ummm...........too late?
That was exactly my thought reading this ridiculous article. They use the terms "gun culture" and "gun use" interchangeably in an attempt to be synonymous with gun "crime."
I lived in England, and have a best friend and relatives in Birmingham. The place is rife with crime, and if they allowed law abiding citizens to carry guns for protection, a vast majority of the criminals would crawl back under the rocks from which they came.
British literacy rate is at the low end, the "offal state church" is cracking in half, the marxist reactionaries and the imbedded class system leave no breathing room for "political good will and normalcy".
BTW, the brothers of the rosy cross control the constabulary, the judiciary and contribute to major corruption government-wide.
The Brits were poorer and less literate than the Germans pre-WWII and they are still in the cellar. What causes it must be a mystery.
You're not missing anything. The English have decided to use, "Stop, killer, or I'll yell stop again!" as their deterrent to crime. Guns are banned, but criminals still use them. Why, we'll show them. We'll BAN THEM AGAIN! Ha Ha! Look at how tough on crime we are.
5 years later, gun crime in Britain has doubled.
So the obvious solution is...pass more and tougher gun laws! What do they think more laws will accomplish? Since guns are illegal, all of the people carrying them around are already, by definition, breaking all the laws. If "killing is a fashion accessory", do they really think these cold-hearted criminals will turn in their illegal weapons at the thought of one more law? And if the laws get so draconian as to, say, give the death penalty to anyone caught with a gun, what do you think people will do when cornered by the police? (Hint: it ain't peaceful surrender)
Bloody idiots. Monty Python is alive and well in the UK.
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