Is it getting worse or have the media jumped on it again?

[Guest M12]

Last night there were 3 separate shootings here. one of which was fatal. and on here ive read about that south london yout and james the tall boxer guy in london.is the gun problem getting worse again or have the media decided to hype.what serious measures do you think could stop/slow down the rate of murders from illegal firearms?

LONDON: Two separate shootings killed one person and wounded two others, including a teenager, in Manchester, a city known as "Gunchester" in the 1990s because of its widespread firearms crime.Friday nights attacks ââ¬â the latest in a rash of recent shootings in Manchester ââ¬â also came just two days after a 16-year-old boy was shot in south London by a gang who chased him on bicycles, police said.The violence is likely to re-ignite a national debate in Britain about guns and gangs among youths.Possession of handguns was largely outlawed in 1998, in reaction to the massacre two years earlier of 16 kindergarten pupils and their teacher in Dunblane, Scotland, by a man armed with four legally owned handguns.But in February then-Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans to overhaul gun laws after three teenage boys were shot dead in south London.Today in EuropeA book grabs attention by depicting Italian politicians as greedy and self-referentialBritish report criticizes U.S. on abductionsInvestigating judges file preliminary charges against VillepinThe age at which the mandatory five-year sentence for carrying a gun can be imposed should be reduced to 17 from 21, said Blair, who also ordered a gun law review to help police deal with Britain's inner-city gang culture."It is about a specific problem within a specific criminal culture to do with guns and gangs," he said at the time.Last year, gun crime in London fell 14 percent, but police said they were worried by an emerging trend which has seen boys with guns involved in killings and other serious violent crime.In Manchester, a large city in northern England, a 23-year-old man was shot dead late Friday night and a 33-year-old admitted himself to a hospital with gunshot wounds.Nearby, a 14-year-old was taken by ambulance to another hospital with a gunshot wound to the right leg.Police could not say if the two incidents were linked, but said they both happened around midnight and near one another in Hulme, a poor area west of central Manchester.One resident said people living in Hulme are getting scared."Kids carrying guns is frightening. You live in fear daily," the person said on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety. "I imagine people would be scared to come into the area."On Saturday, police patrolled the area to calm the situation, and guarded the hospital where the 33-year-old man was admitted.Violence also occurred in another part of western Manchester on Thursday, when a 16-year-old boy was targeted in a drive-by shooting and escaped with a minor injury to his leg in Moss Side, police said.On Tuesday a 36-year-old man was shot in the hip in the Longsight area of west Manchester. Last month, Ucal Chin, 24, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the same part of the city.The attacks are the latest in a long history of gun violence in Manchester, both this year and in previous periods, with the victims often being teenagers or young men. In some cases, the attackers and their victims have been youths riding bicycles, sometimes in city parks.In the 1990s, the city became synonymous with firearms crime and earned the nickname "Gunchester."Now, drugs and gangland turf wars have flooded the city with illegal firearms, which often have fallen into the hands of youths.In February, Chief Superintendent David Keller of Greater Manchester Police acknowledged that gun crime was on the increase in the city.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/28/...un-Violence.php

[Joel C]

wrong section maybe?

[Carpe_Deum]

i saw some stats that there were about 2300+ cases involving firearms last yr. so if anything, the media isnt reporting everything, seems they focus more on London. serious measures would be 15yrs mandatory for anyone caught carrying, and a whole shake up of trident, allowing witnesses give evidence anonymously by default unless the witness is not afraid of doing so, not by the individual judge's decision.knives should carry 10yrs minimum regardless of age, take away all amenities given to youth in prison, until at least 5yrs of doing time. supposed to be reflecting on your crimes not playing video games.

[JLovely]

To be honest i just think the criminals and victims are gettin younger.

[L]

Not being funny but the only shootings i've seen in the news were the london ones, nothing in manchester..

[Accra]

I read it in either The Sun or The London Paper and they had a timeline of shootings starting in February this year. There were about 6 or 7 and ALL of them were in South.SMH

[Black Ant]

Not being funny but the only shootings i've seen in the news were the london ones, nothing in manchester..

there was one there yesterday still

[kurious]

1 thing u do have to bare in mind is that the internet is responsible for alot of the hype around the crimes aswell as the media in forms of the news etcbefore the net was this accessable if it wernt for the coverage in news and local papers, the only other tmes u wud hear about killings were by word of mouth/hearsay, therfore more times it was just wat went on around ur ends or close bynow the net link is well established it means u hear about it a lot quicker in a lot more different areas, therefore a lot more frequent imo

[FANTA]

1 thing u do have to bare in mind is that the internet is responsible for alot of the hype around the crimes aswell as the media in forms of the news etcbefore the net was this accessable if it wernt for the coverage in news and local papers, the only other tmes u wud hear about killings were by word of mouth/hearsay, therfore more times it was just wat went on around ur ends or close bynow the net link is well established it means u hear about it a lot quicker in a lot more different areas, therefore a lot more frequent imo

Agree.

[i_Break_Ankles]

To be honest i just think the criminals and victims are gettin younger.

!!That's exactly what it is, that's why they're hyping it up (well, one of the many reasons).And it's never gonna end.