Parents release anti-gun crime CD

A CD featuring songs about the pain suffered by bereaved mothers and fathers who have lost a child to gun violence is to be released.

Anti-gun campaigners hope the three-song CD, which features voice-overs by the parents, will help reduce gun crime.

The CD was funded by the Home Office and the Mayor of London and is due to go on general release on 22 August.

Proceeds will go towards victims of gun crime and related campaign groups.

The Mayor's race relations adviser, Lee Jasper, said he hoped the CD would raise awareness about the damage caused by gun crime.

A perpetrator wouldn't want to see his mother on a similar video or CD saying 'Why?' Lucy Cope, Mothers Against Guns

"We hope it will have a massive effect on young people and ultimately have the effect of raising awareness of the damage gun crime causes in our community and reduce the incidences of such violence."

Lucy Cope, who features on the title song Why? and is founder of the campaign group Mothers Against Guns, said she felt confident the CD would help to cut gun crime.

"Gun crime is going to decrease as a result because the one thing we all have in common in life is a mother.

"A perpetrator wouldn't want to see his mother on a similar video or CD saying 'Why?'

"It's very effective, very powerful, and should be in every record shop, in every school and every prison."

Ms Cope's 22-year-old son, Damian, was shot dead outside a London nightclub in 2002.