International   

Call for tougher gun control in U.K.

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: The shooting at America's Virginia Tech University campus has sparked calls for tougher gun laws in Britain amid widespread concern over a growing gun culture among the youth, especially in black and Asian communities.

London alone has witnessed a spate of fatal shootings, mostly involving gun-wielding black teenagers, and the massacre at Virginia Tech have fuelled fears that Britain might go the "American way'' if measures are not taken to tackle the problem.

On Friday, one of Britain's most senior police officers called for Australian-style laws that would compel people to report gun crimes even if they themselves are not victims.

Bernard Hogan-Howe, Chief Constable of Merseyside police, who is in the race to become Britain's next police chief, told The Guardian that there was urgent need to break the "wall of silence'' that surrounds gun crimes as victims tend not to report them for fear of reprisals.

"The challenge is: people who survive do not want to complain and the best witness is quite often the victim who can help provide a description and motive. By refusing to help, it can put the investigation on to the backfoot,'' he said.

His remarks were seen to reflect what the BBC described as "growing frustration for police chiefs over the difficulties in tackling gun crime among youths.''

Deterrent lacking

Although Britain has one of the toughest gun control laws, they have not been proved to be a deterrent.

A Commons committee, examining the crime among young black people, was told by a senior police officer recently that it was easy to get hold of guns as these could be hired for as little as £50 to £100. Recently, Scotland Yard launched a campaign to educate young people about gun crime and encourage them to report to the police if they know someone who illegally possesses a firearm.

Failing to do so would amount to them having "blood'' on their hands, police warned in an advertisement.

"If you know someone who has got a gun and don't report it, you could have blood on your hands,'' it said.

A number of measures to tackle gun crime were discussed at a high-level meeting of experts held at Downing Street in February after a series of shoot-outs in London.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Six killed in Sri Lanka violence
Call for tougher gun control in U.K.
Pope urges Colombo to respect human rights
Musharraf denies deal with Benazir
Mass welcome for ousted CJ
Two die in NASA hostage stand-off
Baghdad wall to protect Sunnis
Roads speed destruction of rainforest
British police conclude probe into cash-for-honours scam
52 killed in Somalia fighting
Gruesome video
President defiant
Diner shot dead in Indian restaurant

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu