Confiscated cash to fund anti-gun crime measures

Up to £1.5 million of confiscated criminals' money is to be put back into the community to tackle gun crime, Home Office Minister Caroline Flint announced today.

Speaking at the inaugural conference of the anti-gun charity, Disarm Trust, Ms Flint revealed that the cash would be allocated to community groups working in the eight regions in England worst affected by gun crime.

She also confirmed that the Home Office is to award £300,000 of this funding to the Disarm Trust to help them support regional anti-gun initiatives and develop partnerships to combat gun culture at a grass roots level.

Ms Flint said that while levels of gun crime in the UK were low by international standards, the government would not be complacent.

"We know where the problems are and are targeting our efforts where they are needed most - in specific areas in a small number of cities. People living and working in these communities have a vital role in fighting a culture of violence, and we will work with them and support them in that," she said.

Seventy five per cent of all gun crime in England and Wales takes place in and around the cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Nottingham.

The government has proposed introducing a new five-year mandatory minimum sentence for illegal possession of a prohibited firearm. It has also been proposed that new laws should ban carrying imitation guns and air weapons in a public place.

A national firearms amnesty, which ran from March 31 to April 30, saw a total of 43,908 guns and 1,039,358 rounds of ammunition handed in. This compares to 22,939 guns and 695,197 rounds of ammunition during the amnesty in June 1996.

(GMcG)