Saturday, November 19, 2005

Tony Blair trebles gun crime

THE number of offences involving firearms in England and Wales has been increasing each year since 1997, according to the Home Office.

Firearms incidents recorded by the police have nearly trebled in eight years.

Provisional figures released last month showed that firearms offences had increased by 5 per cent on last year, to a total of 11,160. There were 4,903 such offences in 1997.

The possession of handguns was banned in Britain that year after the Dunblane massacre. Yet the illegal ownership of handguns is believed to be higher than it has ever been, with nearly 300,000 illegal guns estimated to be in circulation.

David Rose at The Times

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