Blair orders gun law review
Tony Blair is considering tough new laws on guns
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A man in his mid-20s has died after sustaining fatal gunshot wounds in Hackney, east London, just days after police pledged to crack down on the capital's emergent gun culture. |  |
Sunday, 18, Feb 2007 08:07
Tony Blair has confirmed he wants to create tough new measures on gun crime in response to the latest London and Manchester shootings.
Three teenagers have been shot and killed in as little as two weeks as a number of attacks hit the south of the capital and three others have been wounded in recent attacks in Manchester.
Another man was shot and killed in London on Saturday morning.
Attacks have continued despite a police crackdown on shootings and the launch of high-visibility armed patrols in a number of areas.
New measures being considered by the prime minister include lowering the sentencing age for those being caught carrying a gun. Currently, those aged over 21 face a mandatory five-year prison term if they are caught carrying a gun.
Mr Blair is considering a measure which would reduce the age to 18.
Three teenagers, Billy Cox, 15, Michael Dosunmu, 15, and 16-year-old James Andre Smartt-Ford have all been killed in gun attacks in south London during the last fortnight.
But earlier this week the prime minister said the attacks were "not a metaphor for the state of British society".
In yet further evidence of Britain's emergent gun culture, three men were wounded in gun attacks in Manchester in two separate incidents.
And then in the early hours of Saturday morning a 28-year-old man was found slumped dead at the wheel of his car in Hackney, east London.