Reporting Gun Crime on Five Live
updated 15th Feb - a third teenager in a fortnight has been shot dead in south London. Nick is reporting on the case for Five Live
I've been at Five Live for a few months now. It's sad to say that in that time I've spent much of it having to cover a story that's having a devastating effect on the black community: gun crime.
The murder of 15-year-old Jessie James in Manchester really brought home how much of a problem this has become. The teenager was gunned down on his way home from a youth club in Moss Side. I spent time with his friends and it soon became apparent that people in some parts of the country see life as cheap because of the weapons on their streets.
Since then I've made contact with gunmen finding out why they go "strapped", the slang for carrying a gun. The reason I was told was because in many cases "everyone else has one or can get hold of one and you never know".
The problem's compounded by the ease of getting hold of a weapon: I was told that in some parts of the UK, guns can be hired on a sale or return policy if they aren't used. For about fifty quid you can pick up a 9mm and a magazine, "just in case". A Makarov Russian service pistol smuggled in from Eastern Europe can be yours for a couple of hundred.
And here's why some say the sentences for weapon possession aren't working: "Better to get banged up and live to walk on road than be buried for not carrying".
For a special day looking at gun crime I spoke to the victims of the crime and people whose lives are affected every day by the problem. We've chatted to people who legitimately make their livelihoods out of the gun trade and how the illegal trade is impacting them; plus how government legislation will soon outlaw toys in the fight against gun crime.
I visited Ferndale Road in Brixton to gauge the views of the local community there - you can have a listen to the heated debate I captured in a barber's shop there. (You'll need RealPlayer.)
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