Britain records 18% fall in gun deaths

by Paul Conneally | January 8, 2009 at 11:18 am

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Good news on the violent crime front as gun deaths fall in Britain by 18%.

Concerns are raised by The Gun Control Network over the fact that although there has been a fall a disproportionate amount of deaths were of young people.

The number of deaths in Britain from gunshot wounds has fallen to a 20-year low despite concerns about levels of violent crime.

Most of the 42 gun-related deaths last year took place in London, the West Midlands, Manchester or Merseyside, with swathes of the country recording no homicides, suicides or accidental deaths from firearms. One third of the victims were younger than 21 and four of them were female. The Gun Control Network, which campaigns for tougher restrictions on firearms, disclosed the figure, which was a sharp drop on 2007, when 51 gun-related deaths were recorded in England, Wales and Scotland.

The network said it was worried that "despite the fall in gun crime, disproportionate number of incidents involve teenagers as victims and/or perpetrators". Fifteen people, including six young men, were killed in 2008 in London, which has suffered a spate of gang-related murders.