SCHOOL CHILDREN CARRYING WEAPONS

Early day motion 543, tabled 7 July 2005 by Diane Abbott (Labour). Signed by 34 members.

That this House notes with great concern the findings of a leaked Safer London Youth Survey detailing that six per cent. of teenage schoolchildren claim to have carried a gun in the past year, with one in 10 admitting to having carried a knife; further notes that this survey of 11,400 youngsters in six inner London boroughs, Hackney, Newham, Lambeth, Southwark, Brent and Haringey, found that self-defence was the reason given by one third of those who claimed to have carried a real or replica weapon; calls on the Department for Education and Skills, the Home Office and local authorities to work more closely on the issues raised in order for local schools to monitor this problem; and further asks the Government to maintain its commitment to increasing the age limit for buying a knife from 16 to 18 years as well as increasing from 17 to 18 years the age for acquiring or possessing an air weapon without supervision, in addition to more stringent controls on the production and sale of replica weapons.

Signatures by party: Labour 21, Liberal Democrat 8, DUP 2, Conservative 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1, UUP 1.