Birmingham’s historic Gun Quarter could have name changed to avoid area being linked to violent crime

Gun Quarter close to inner-city areas which have been blighted by gun gangs in recent years

St Chad’s Cathedral and the Gun Quarter in central Birmingham (Alamy)

It was once the centre of the world’s gun manufacturing industry and even made the muskets used by British soldiers fighting Napoleon at Waterloo.

But now Birmingham’s historic Gun Quarter could be in line for a name change in a bid to avoid the inner-city area being linked to violent crime. City councillor and heritage campaigner Peter Douglas Osborn wants the area to be renamed the Gunmakers’ Quarter to focus on its heritage.

The Gun Quarter is close to inner-city areas including Aston, Hockley and Newtown, which have been blighted by gun gangs in recent years. Last year, the West Midlands was named the UK’s gun crime capital after overtaking London for firearms incidents.

A spiral of shootings have brought terror to parts of the city since last summer – including three murders. Guns recovered by police in the past three months have included converted antique weapons, shotguns and handguns from overseas.

Mr Douglas Osborn said: “Birmingham been a centre for gun manufacturing for hundreds of years. In more recent years the area has been known as the Gun Quarter. The name has negative connotations and I believe that it should go back to its original meaning, which was the Gunmakers’ Quarter. I think it should be changed.”

The Office for National Statistics recorded 562 firearms offences in the West Midlands in the 12 months up to April last year – up from 540 the previous year.

It means the region now has a gun crime rate of 20 per 100,000 people, compared with 19 in London and 16 in Greater Manchester, which was once infamously nicknamed “Gunchester” because of its shootings.

As a Birmingham gun gang including the “untouchable” Nosakhere “Nosa” Stephenson was jailed for more than 50 extra years at the Court of Appeal yesterday, detectives said officers were working “round the clock” to deal with a recent spike in gun crime.

In the six months to the end of January, they arrested 261 people for firearms offences and seized dozens of guns.

Birmingham’s historic weapons industry boasted more than 500 firms at the height of the 19th century and provided guns for the Crimean War, the Wild West and the farthest outposts of the British Empire. Only one major manufacturer now survives, but there are several gunsmiths and a gun barrel proofing establishment that was founded in 1813.

The issue of the Gun Quarter’s name made headlines five years ago when plans were unveiled to rename it St George and St Chad’s Quarter. Campaigners had called for the word “gun” to be removed entirely, suggesting it glorified violence, while then Labour leader Sir Albert Bore said the proposal, which was later dropped, was “ludicrous”.

Some agree that the name should now be changed.

Darren Campbell, from Two Towers Brewery, which runs the Gunmakers’ Arms in Birmingham’s Gun Quarter, said: “I don’t think it would be good to change the name to something else, but changing it to the Gunmakers’ Quarter would be more appropriate.

“There has been a lot of regeneration in Birmingham and the Gun Quarter could be the next area. A lot of apartments are being built and it’s really taking off.”

But Brian Boucker, who has been a gunsmith in the Gun Quarter for more than 40 years, said: “There is only one manufacturer here now and most of the gunsmiths are getting old and close to retiring. Come back in 10 years and they will be gone. I don’t see the point in changing the name.”