"Far too little action to prevent guns being brought into this country" - Open letter by Chris Nicholson

6.05.13pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 23rd Oct 2007

Dear Reader,

I am sure that you will have been shocked to hear of yet another fatal shooting in Streatham in the early hours of Monday morning. Sadly, this is becoming an all too frequent headline in local and national media. Not only is this a tragedy for the individuals and families affected, but I am sure nobody wants the names of Streatham, Clapham and Brixton to become synonymous with gun crime.

There is no easy way to tackle this problem. There is, in my view, a need for intensive work in local communities, amongst young people in particular, to provide relevant education and youth services, mentoring and role models to deter them from becoming involved with gangs and a life of crime.

But there are also specific things that national government can do.

Currently guns are all too available on our streets and even in schools. There has been far too little action to prevent guns being brought into this country. Currently there are NINE times more staff involved in trying to stop cigarette smuggling at our borders than detecting illegally imported guns. It is surely wrong that revenue protection is placed ahead of citizen safety.

It is also clear that the Government's plans for compulsory ID cards will do nothing to deter such crimes. It would be far better that the billions of pounds which are being wasted on ID cards were spent on enabling the police to deter and detect crime.

Yours faithfully

Chris Nicholson

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Streatham

Related Link:

Lib Dem plans to tackle gun crime