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| Converted gun ban 'by year end' | Converted gun ban 'by year end' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The home secretary has unveiled plans to ban deactivated guns this year, on a visit to the Liverpool suburb where schoolboy Rhys Jones was murdered. | The home secretary has unveiled plans to ban deactivated guns this year, on a visit to the Liverpool suburb where schoolboy Rhys Jones was murdered. |
| Jacqui Smith said she wanted to protect the public and allow police to remove black-market firearms from the streets. | Jacqui Smith said she wanted to protect the public and allow police to remove black-market firearms from the streets. |
| She is also expected to meet the parents of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, who was shot dead on 22 August while returning home from football practice. | She is also expected to meet the parents of 11-year-old Rhys Jones, who was shot dead on 22 August while returning home from football practice. |
| Gangs and gun crime, both prevalent in the area, will be top of the agenda. | Gangs and gun crime, both prevalent in the area, will be top of the agenda. |
| We already have the tightest controls in Europe but there is more we can do Home Secretary Jacqui Smith class="" href="/1/hi/uk/6937457.stm">Who supplies the guns? | |
| Ms Smith said: "I want to balance protecting the public with the rights of responsible collectors of deactivated firearms. | Ms Smith said: "I want to balance protecting the public with the rights of responsible collectors of deactivated firearms. |
| "I will shortly consult on a way forward to allow genuine curators to collect legitimate firearms while giving the police and other enforcement agencies the powers they need to get black-market firearms of our streets. | "I will shortly consult on a way forward to allow genuine curators to collect legitimate firearms while giving the police and other enforcement agencies the powers they need to get black-market firearms of our streets. |
| "Tackling gun crime is key to making people feel safer and more secure in their communities. We already have the tightest controls in Europe but there is more we can do to remove the threat of gun crime." | "Tackling gun crime is key to making people feel safer and more secure in their communities. We already have the tightest controls in Europe but there is more we can do to remove the threat of gun crime." |
| Widely available | Widely available |
| Typically, a deactivated gun has its barrel sawn down the middle and a metal rod is then welded inside to make it incapable of discharging a bullet. | Typically, a deactivated gun has its barrel sawn down the middle and a metal rod is then welded inside to make it incapable of discharging a bullet. |
| The breech block - which contains the mechanism to actually fire the bullet - is ground down so there is no firing pin. | The breech block - which contains the mechanism to actually fire the bullet - is ground down so there is no firing pin. |
| And many replica guns can be easily converted to enable them to fire live ammunition. | |
| It is a big loophole in our firearms legislation Gill Marshall-Andrews, Gun Control Network | It is a big loophole in our firearms legislation Gill Marshall-Andrews, Gun Control Network |
| The proposal to make converted or deactivated guns illegal comes after a huge increase in the amount of model and pellet guns to have been converted to fire live ammunition. | The proposal to make converted or deactivated guns illegal comes after a huge increase in the amount of model and pellet guns to have been converted to fire live ammunition. |
| The police have said there are an estimated 120,000 in circulation in the UK. | The police have said there are an estimated 120,000 in circulation in the UK. |
| Government ministers look set to reclassify them as replica guns, which are already banned. | Government ministers look set to reclassify them as replica guns, which are already banned. |
| The move will affect weapons which were deactivated before 1995, when new standards made it harder to convert non-firing guns back into lethal weapons. | The move will affect weapons which were deactivated before 1995, when new standards made it harder to convert non-firing guns back into lethal weapons. |
| But police say many firearms currently being used in crime were deactivated before that time. | But police say many firearms currently being used in crime were deactivated before that time. |
| Collector implications | Collector implications |
| A Home Office spokesman said any new law brought in following the home secretary's announcement would relate "almost entirely" to pre-1995 guns. | A Home Office spokesman said any new law brought in following the home secretary's announcement would relate "almost entirely" to pre-1995 guns. |
| Ms Smith also said she wanted to "balance protecting the public with the rights of responsible collectors of deactivated firearms". | Ms Smith also said she wanted to "balance protecting the public with the rights of responsible collectors of deactivated firearms". |
| Her visit to Liverpool comes as police raids saw 25 people arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas of the city. | Her visit to Liverpool comes as police raids saw 25 people arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs in the Croxteth and Norris Green areas of the city. |
| The Home Office is also to consider the implications for museums with collections of antique weapons. | The Home Office is also to consider the implications for museums with collections of antique weapons. |
| Gill Marshall-Andrews of the Gun Control Network said: "We are delighted, this has been on our agenda for a long time. It is a big loophole in our firearms legislation." | Gill Marshall-Andrews of the Gun Control Network said: "We are delighted, this has been on our agenda for a long time. It is a big loophole in our firearms legislation." |
| Rhys' parents, Stephen Jones, 44, and Melanie Jones, 41, are likely to hold a private meeting with the home secretary. | Rhys' parents, Stephen Jones, 44, and Melanie Jones, 41, are likely to hold a private meeting with the home secretary. |
| Rhys was shot in the neck and despite a number of arrests nobody has been charged with the schoolboy's murder. | Rhys was shot in the neck and despite a number of arrests nobody has been charged with the schoolboy's murder. |
| His parents have repeatedly called for the gunman to hand himself in. | His parents have repeatedly called for the gunman to hand himself in. |