A topic in the December print magazine is gun crime; here’s some background.
Recent Home Office figures show that the number of firearms offences in England and Wales has risen in the last year. There has been a three per cent climb in gun crime, following a two per cent rise the previous year.
Speaking to Conservatives.com about the increased figures, Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, said: "No amount of Government spin will hide the fact that violent crime is out of control. We now have record levels of gun crime, rocketing sex offences, a further 14pc increase in violent crime and overall crime is nearly 750,000 higher than 1998. There is now one gun crime an hour – and by the Government’s own admission this is fuelled by drugs, both of which they have let get out of control. It beggars belief that a Government with form for fiddling the figures is trying to suggest that the rise in violent crime is because of "record police numbers" – it is more to do with record levels of crime. It is time that the Home Secretary admitted he has failed to get a grip of crime."
The Met Police however say that latest figures show the MPS is making considerable progress in tackling gun crime in London. In the last four months the Met has cut gun crime by 15 per cent – a
fall of over 300 offences compared with the previous year. Speaking two days after the Met launched a high-profile
advertising campaign to tackle gun crime in London’s black
communities, Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, Head
of the Specialist Crime Directorate, welcomed the results,
but stressed that the Met would not become complacent.
What they say
He said: “A 15pc drop in gun crime offences is very encouraging. Our target for this year was a 4pc reduction, so it is very encouraging to see that we are already way ahead of that. Despite our success, gun crime remains a significant challenge for the Met, and we must not become complacent. We know that when high profile incidents take place, they cause considerable fear, particularly amongst vulnerable communities. Londoners should be reassured that we are working very hard to drive this down even further. Community support is absolutely key. We know that the majority of gun men carry out their crimes on their own doorstep, and both victims and perpetrators usually come from the borough where the shooting takes place. We need Londoners to help us tackle this problem – not only in terms of coming forward with information, but in rejecting the gun men who are living amongst them. The MPS will continue to target these offenders, but we will also be focusing on a number of new areas to drive down gun crime even further. In the coming twelve months we will be working more closely with licensed premises in London, in a bid to promote more responsible management. We will also be looking at the options open to us and our partner agencies in tracking the release of dangerous gun crime offenders.”
AC Ghaffur also re-iterated calls for a complete ban on
replica firearms, saying: “It is clear our efforts to tackle converted weapons are paying off. Our targeting of gun conversion factories and the Government’s new legislation around firearms is certainly having an impact – but we would welcome a total ban on replica weapons which are easy to buy and easy to convert.”
For further details about the Met’s anti gun crime campaign visit
