Community 'terrified' of gun culture

Gun crime is causing fear in Chapeltown

A Leeds district which has been blighted by gun crime is "absolutely terrified" of the weapons culture sweeping the country, says a community activist.

Claude Hendrickson, who works with youngsters in the Chapeltown area of Leeds told BBC News Online that Home Secretary David Blunkett is not being tough enough with the plan for five-year sentences for anyone carrying a gun illegally.

And he said the writing was on the wall for the explosion in gun crime as long ago as 1989 in New York when he saw first-hand the gang and gun culture prevelant in the United States.

He said:" Five years is not a deterrent.

"If the Minister wants to get tough he should be looking at a ten-year sentence. The thing is to make these people take a step back from it."

Community activist Claude Hendrickson says David Blunkett needs to be tougher

Mr Hendrickson added that he and many others were working "positive from the ground up" to find employment and training for youngsters in the Chapeltown area.

But as a community were "absolutley terrified...the problem is where these guns are coming from. Some of these kids think guns are toys, but it is not a game."

Fabian Hamilton the MP for Leeds North East which covers Chapeltown said:"I think we do need to ensure the police have the resources to trace and track down illegal guns of all sorts whether hand guns or automatic machine guns."