Police to demand tougher gun laws

Police chiefs have launched a major investigation into soaring levels of gun crimes after Home Office figures showed a 40 per cent increase in firearms offences since 1997.

The Association of Chief Police Officers has set up a new working group to look into the problem.

There is particular concern about the rise in so-called gangland shootings and drive-by attacks. A 21-year-old man was shot at point-blank range last month, outside the celebrity haunt Browns nightclub in Great Queen Street in London's West End. Police suspected it was a gangland killing. It was by no means an isolated incident.

Acpo is expected to make recommendations to the Government later this year, which could include calls for tougher gun laws or the expansion of police initiatives already used by the Metropolitan Police to a national level.

The latest crime statistics showed a marked increase in the numbers of crimes involving handguns, from 2,648 in 1997 to 4,019 in 2000/1, despite the ban on these weapons that followed the Dunblane massacre.

There were also increases in the use of imitation firearms, from 511 in 1997 to 773 in 2000/1, and of air rifles, from 7,506 to 10,227. Acpo has already asked the Home Office to consider banning people from carrying replica firearms in public and has asked for a ban on certain air rifles that can be modified to create lethal weapons.

Ministers are understood to be considering their proposals but are sympathetic to taking action, particularly in the light of Tony Blair's pledge to cut street crime by the end of September.

Acpo is concerned about the rise in total firearms offences, from 12,410 in 1997 to 17,589 in 2000/1. "It is certainly something we are aware of and would wish to make the Home Office aware of," an Acpo spokesman said.

Officers from Operation Trident, a unit devoted to tackling gun crime, particularly in the black community, were called in to investigate both crimes.

Police now fear, however, that the problem is not restricted to the capital. Acpo said it was possible that Operation Trident, or similar initiatives, could be rolled out nationally following the review of gun crimes.

The Acpo spokesman said: "Within Acpo we have set up a group to look at gun crime across the country. It is looking at the scale of the problem, where the problems lie and how best to tackle them.

"We are finding out what the picture is nationally and will make recommendations to the Home Office once the research is complete."