The Daily Telegraph said people were worried violence is spiraling out of
control in Britain. "Police fear a new crime explosion as school-age muggers
graduate to guns," it said.
Despite police and government claims that crime is falling nationally, many
Londoners are frightened.
"The shooting of this young woman is off the scale of comprehension," said Nigel
Whiskin of the charity Crime Concern, which provides advice and help to
professional and voluntary agencies working to reduce crime and the fear of
crime.
"Quite a large number of people will be very worried about their own personal
safety and the safety of their kids. It is very demoralizing for us as a
community," he added.
For Charlotte Clarke, a 28-year-old worker for a department store, the shooting
was a sign that violence is escalating.
"From a knife to a gun, it's just a step up," said Clarke, who moved from south
London to a more fashionable area in the north of the city she thought would be
safer.
"I wanted to get away from the violence and the crime, but 18 months down the
line there have been stabbings, a mugging right outside my door, friends have
had their purses taken and credit cards stolen," she added.
Hand guns were outlawed in Britain in 1997 after the massacre of 16 children and
a teacher at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland. Some 160,000 handguns were
surrendered to police.
[b]Dave Rodgers, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the ban
made little difference to the number of guns in the hands of criminals.[/b]
According to a recent survey, the number of crimes in which a handgun was
reported increased nationally from 2,648 in 1997-98 to 3,685 in 1999-2000.
[b]"The underground supply of guns does not seem to have dried up at all," he said.[/b]
Professor John Benyon, a criminologist at Leicester University, said that
although Britain is still a "relatively low gun-use society," there is a public
perception that "we are moving closer toward the problems that America has."
"People are increasingly concerned that we are losing the fight against armed
crime," he said.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press