AMNESTY TO CUT GUN CRIMES

ARMED criminals in Northampton are to be targeted as part of a
month-long nationwide gun amnesty launched by the Government in a bid
to cut back on soaring firearms crime and beat Britain's burgeoning
gangland culture.

Anyone in possession of illicit firearms and ammunition will be able
to hand their weapons over to police between March 31 and April 30
without fear of facing prosecution.

The move comes ahead of the introduction of tough new sentences for
illegal possession of prohibited firearms, which will see a minimum
five-year sentence for those convicted.

Latest figures show gun crime has more than tripled in
Northamptonshire in the past 12 months with gang leaders and drug
dealers choosing to carry firearms for their own protection. An
increase in the use of Class A drugs such as crack cocaine has been
blamed for the epidemic.

Speaking to the Chronicle & Echo in January this year, just days after
the gangland shootings of Charlene Ellis and Northampton-born Letisha
Shakespeare, deputy chief constable Derek Talbot said the use of
firearms was rising throughout the county.

He said: "People shouldn't be fooled into thinking this is sleepy old
Northamptonshire. We do not have the kind of gang-related use of guns
in Northampton, like the terrible incident in Birmingham, but we have
to realise gun culture is escalating quickly."

The last national firearms amnesty in 1996, following the massacre of
schoolchildren at Dunblane, saw 23,000 firearms and 700,000 rounds of
ammunition surrendered.

As well as prohibited, unlicensed and unwanted firearms, the police
are now encouraging people to hand in air weapons and imitation guns.

Launching the initiative, Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth said:
"Taking guns off our streets will save lives and cut crime. Every
weapon that is given up is a weapon that cannot be used in crime and
violence."