Police boss backs ban on replica guns

THE chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Toby Harris, last week responded to the publication of quarterly crime statistics in the midst of widespread concern regarding London's escalating gun culture.

Mr Harris pointed to a 6.6 per cent rise in gun-related crime between April and November 2002 as a sign of improvement upon the previous year's 33.9 per cent increase.

He said: "This indicates the on-going success of the Met's targeted initiatives such as Trident and various pan-London operations, and our combined determination to stem the escalation of gun crime on the capital's streets."

A wave of recent high profile incidents involving gun crime has drawn the Government's attention to the mounting problems faced by the authorities, to which they have responded by proposing to tighten current gun laws.

As reported in the Guardian, Waltham Forest has seen a rise in gun crime, with one man being gunned down in Leyton last week.

Mr Harris added: "The authority broadly supports the Government's proposals to strengthen the regimes for the sale, carrying of and possession of firearms, but we believe that still more needs to be done regarding the sale of replica guns.

"All too often replicas are used to terrorise victims and in certain cases are converted into actual deadly weapons. This specific problem should be addressed now."

15:03 Tuesday 21st January 2003

Printer Friendly Format

Send This Page To A Friend

• Cabbie robbed of car and takings
• Children's services are OK, say report
• Mum takes council to court