Five-year jail terms for possessing firearms
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A five-year minimum prison sentence for anyone caught with a firearm is likely to be introduced by the Government next year amid growing concern about gun crime.
Police chiefs alarmed at the sharp increase in shooting incidents have been lobbying the Home Office in recent months for tougher treatment of gun criminals. Yesterday Scotland Yard announced it would routinely deploy armed officers to patrol five of London's most violent boroughs. The Metropolitan Police is also planning to recruit and train "hundreds" of extra armed officers to work in rapid response squads.
Pressure for a minimum jail term for possessing a firearm has been growing with the rise in young men carrying handguns, some as a form of fashion accessory. Shootings among drug gangs and against the police are also rising. The police have become angered at the courts unwillingness to hand out long jail sentences for people caught with firearms.
Chief constables believe that unless stiff minimum sentences are introduced the number of guns will continue to rise. In response the Home Secretary is understood to be planning to introduce a minimum jail term, probably of five years, for anyone caught with a gun. It is expected to be included in the Criminal Justice and Sentencing Bill.
A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed: "We are looking at it." She said the Home Secretary, David Blunkett believed there was "good reason" for taking the issue seriously.
Scotland Yard yesterday highlighted three cases which they believe show the judiciary do not take gun possession seriously. In one case in north London a man received 100 hours of community service. Another man arrested in possession of a firearm in May 2000 was given a six month jail sentence, while in September this year a man received a 12 month conditional discharge.
This year the Met has seized 144 firearms a month, on average, compared with 117 a month last year. In London there are now 307 firearms offences a month. Sir John Stevens, the Met Commissioner, said that in the last few days, a police officer had been shot and injured in Highbury, a plain clothes officers had been shot at in east London and yesterday two officers were fired at in north London.
In response, the Met plans to deploy four armed response vehicles in five problem areas – Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Southwark and Brent – where there is a particular problem with crack cocaine and heroin gangs. The vehicles will be crewed by an extra 50 armed officers working on shifts.The three armed crew members will be encouraged to display their weapons and make their presence known when they make so called "hard stops" of suspected or known criminals in the streets.