Police seize 714 guns as fears grow over the arming of terrorists

Crackdown: Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe at New Scotland Yard with some of the seized weapons
PA
Justin Davenport27 May 2016
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Police recovered 714 guns in London last year, the highest total for five years, it was revealed today.

The figure — an increase of 23 per cent on the previous year — emerged as Scotland Yard warned of a rise in the availability of firearms in the capital, fuelling fears they could fall into the hands of terrorists.

Detectives believe criminals are using a variety of methods to smuggle weapons into the UK, including by post and on cross-Channel routes with guns being sourced in eastern Europe.

They say there has been a significant rise in the number of shootings in London in the last three months because more guns are available.

The total of 714 firearms seized included 409 handguns, 128 shotguns, 123 rifles and 23 automatic weapons such as Uzi submachine guns. Converted firearms were also recovered, some of them mementoes from the First and Second World Wars. These were handed in during an amnesty.

Officers are concerned at the number of weapons available to gangs and drug dealers in London, with fears they could be bought by terrorists planning a Paris-style massacre. In recent weeks an AK-74 assault rifle — an update to the AK-47 — was found with a cache of handguns and ammunition. In one case last year three Skorpion automatic weapons were discovered by workmen in a south London park.

In another case, a loaded MAC-10 machine pistol, known as a “spray and pray” weapon, was found in the home of a mother and her children. She had been looking after it for someone else and was jailed for five years.

In 2014 a total of 577 guns were seized by police. So far this year 184 lethal weapons have been recovered.

Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe this week launched a crackdown code-named Operation Viper in six gun crime hotspots, including the deployment of armed officers at checkpoints. He said that if the supply of guns was higher then the “chances of a terrorist getting hold of them are also higher”. Last year there were 226 shootings in London, and so far this year there have been 122.

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