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wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams - |
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Posted on 10/06/2003 11:24:05 AM PDT by 45Auto
Few people paid much attention when, late last month, Shabir Hussain and his friend Mohammed Shabir were jailed for 11 years at Birmingham Crown Court. Working with rudimentary tools in the basements of their homes, the pair had set themselves up as armourers to the local underworld, converting blank firing pistols into lethal weapons.
They produced more than 170 guns and sold them to gangs from Bristol to Manchester.
One week after the jailings, the murder of Nottingham jewellery shop owner Marian Bates, the gunning down of Hertfordshire gangster Dave King, and a drive-by shooting in Reading in which three men were injured on Friday night, as well as last month's shooting of seven-year-old Toni Ann Byfield, have brought the issue of gun crime to the top of the political agenda.
According to the Association of Chief Police Officers, gun crime is 'growing like a cancer' and spreading to smaller communities.
Police intelligence suggests Shabir and Hussain were the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of similar gun factories have been set up in homes across the country and detectives admit guns are being put on the streets more quickly than they can take them off. For the past 12 months police in Nottingham have been running Operation Stealth, an anti-firearms initiative. The team has made more than 580 arrests and recovered 160 weapons, 10 fewer than the Birmingham duo produced in a quarter of the time. The murder rate in Nottinghamshire has almost doubled. 'We're getting the right information,' says Assistant Chief Constable Peter Ditchett, 'but we're just not getting enough of it.'
Last year saw a record 35 per cent jump in gun crimes, which means there are now, on average, 30 incidents each day. There were almost 10,000 incidents involving firearms recorded in England and Wales and, although the largest increases were in metropolitan areas, the figures showed use of handguns was also growing in rural communities. Overall, handguns were used in almost half of these incidents.
Handgun crime has soared past levels last seen before the Dunblane massacre of 1996 and the ban on ownership of handguns introduced the year after Thomas Hamilton, an amateur shooting enthusiast, shot dead 16 schoolchildren, their teacher and himself in the Perthshire town.
It was hoped the measure would reduce the number of handguns available to criminals. Now handgun crime is at its highest since 1993.
As well as being converted from air guns and blank firing weapons, handguns are being imported from eastern Europe and beyond. A good quality semi-automatic handgun can be bought on the streets of London for as little as £200.
New laws that make carrying a firearm an offence with a mandatory five-year sentence have won little favour with officers on the street. 'It changes nothing,' said one drug squad detective who asked to remain anonymous. 'Most of the kids carry guns in order to protect themselves when they are dealing. They are going around with enough crack or heroin to ensure that they go away for 10 years if they get caught. Because of that, they feel they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by carrying a gun. They carry them just for the hell of it.'
Notorious underworld figure Joey Pyle agrees. 'In the old days, during the time of the Krays and the Richardsons, people didn't go around with guns on them all the time. You only got tooled up if you were out on a bit of work. That's all changed now. For a lot of people out there, having a gun is little more than a fashion accessory.'
Although much of the blame has fallen on trends in music and fashion, particularly within the black community, which have helped to glamourise weapons, the problem is now spreading into other sectors of society.
The Metropolitan Police's flagship and hugely successful Operation Trident is described as an initiative against black-on-black gun related crime in the capital. In Nottingham, Operation Stealth has been criticised for concentrating on the problem of gun crime within the black community but, with both suspects in the latest shooting there being white, this focus is now being questioned.
'It's no longer a black or white issue,' says Lyndon Gibson of the Urban Nation Youth Project. 'These guns are in the hands of the whole community. Guns are everywhere and they are being used by everyone.'
Assistant Chief Constable Nick Tofiluk, of the West Midlands Police, agrees. 'The use of firearms is not an Afro-Caribbean issue alone. White and Asian networks exist that possess firearms and are involved in the supply of illicit drugs both to the Afro-Caribbean networks and in competition with existing networks. The potential for inter-ethnic criminal disputes is increasing.'
The suspects in the murder of Dave King in Hoddesdon were wearing masks but some witnesses have described them as being white. King, who worked as a security guard to a number of high-profile musicians and also had links to the boxing world, was well known to local police.
Assistant Chief Constable Jeremy Alford says the Hertfordshire Police investigation will be looking closely at King's associates. 'I can say that he is a person who had some criminal convictions in the past and his past could be described as involving some considerable criminality.'
A police spokeswoman said a second man who was injured in the shooting had been discharged from hospital and was at a secret location. She said forensic officers were continuing to examine the scene and a vehicle - thought to be the van used by the gunmen - which had been found burnt out and abandoned in the Lampits area of Hoddesdon..
King's murder came amid heightened concern over gun crime after a mother was shot dead in Nottingham while trying to protect her daughter from armed robbers.
Marian Bates, 64, leapt in front of her daughter as one of the two young criminals aimed a handgun at the 34-year-old and demanded gems from the family shop.
Her husband of 42 years, Victor, 64, suffered head injuries in the struggle,
Mr Bates said the gunman had first attempted to shoot him but the weapon misfired. 'My wife ran forward to get between the gunman and my daughter and he shot her dead. She was a brave woman, not at all foolhardy. She was protecting her daughter, like every mother.'
Victor Bates has called on the Government to take action to end the problem of gun crime. Home Secretary David Blunkett has promised action. He is believed to be pinning many of his hopes on the new head of the Home Office's Police Standards Unit, Paul Evans, who previously worked in the American city of Boston, significantly reducing gun crime.
'I want him to bring that experience and share it with us. I want the experience of the Metropolitan Police in London, with Operation Trident dealing with gang warfare, guns and drugs, to be spread across the country. If we can do that, I think we can take these people on and we can beat them,' Blunkett said.
The most recent shooting incident took place in Elm Park, Reading, Berkshire, when three men were blasted with a shotgun. Just before 10.30pm on Friday the men were hit by shots fired from a dark blue or black Volvo-type car, Thames Valley Police said.
One of the victims suffered serious facial injuries, the other two shotgun wounds to their arms and back.
All three were taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, where the man with facial injuries was undergoing surgery.
A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said: 'None of the injuries is believed to be life threatening.'
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wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams - |
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GOVT'S ANTI-GUN MEASURES
The Government has responded to the latest shootings by revealing a range of measures to tackle gun crime.
A Home Office spokesman said while it remained low, there had been an unacceptable rise in recent years.
He said: "The Criminal Justice Bill includes our proposals for the five-year mandatory minimum sentence for illegal possession of a firearm.
"This is a clear demonstration of our commitment to both deter criminals from using firearms and to ensure that those who do receive appropriately tough sentences."
The Government is also launching the Anti- Social Behaviour Bill, which deals with the misuse of imitation guns and air weapons.
The spokesman added: "It is clear that legislation alone cannot solve the problem of gun crime.
"This is why we are also working closely with community groups to stop the emergence of gun culture.
"This includes £1.5m of confiscated criminals' money going to support local groups in the worst-affected areas."
Last Updated: 12:10 UK, Saturday October 04, 2003
Now an unarmed law-abiding citizenry is facing the worst of society helpless.
Cool.
Proof that Britian's restrictive gun laws do nothing but put weapons in the hands of the most dangerous, and take guns out of the hands of the most responsible. Predictable. And pathetic.
Wrong. It's exactly that kind of generalization that causes people to accept repressive legislation by dictatorial politicians.
During periods of gun prohibition, only criminals have guns. Righteous people have only..........law.
There is an answer to Britain's rising problem of gun violence, and it's right under their noses:
"According to Chief Constable Kenneth Williams in Tony Martin's Norfolk County, all you need to do if someone breaks into your home is shout loudly, and the burglar's will run away". America's 1st Freedom Oct. 2003 Fugitive from Injustice p. 39.
So, it looks like we'll no longer need to keep that .357 at the bedside, because criminals will leave once we start yelling. Actually, I think Mr. Williams forgot to take his meds...
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