Blair to hold gun crime summit

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) Prime Minister Tony Blair will hold a ''gun summit'' today to address a spate of teenage murders in London and concerns over inner city gangs.

The fatal shootings of three youths this month in south London have generated a rapid political response and led to heated debate about whether the killings reflect a general malaise in the nation at large.

While gun crime has fallen generally across Britain, Blair has said the apparent rise in the use of weapons amongst teenagers was a ''specific problem ... amongst specific groups of young people''.

On Sunday he said he backed lowering the age at which someone receives a minimum 5-year jail sentence for possessing a gun to 17 from 21.

He also said gang membership should be taken into account when offenders are sentenced and that those prepared to give evidence against gangs should be given proper protection.

Today, Blair and Home Secretary John Reid will meet senior police officers from around the country and community activists in Downing Street to discuss what action should be taken.

Blair's spokesman said the meeting would focus on three main issues: policing, working with communities and giving the police and courts extra powers.

Reid said any measures needed the support from people in local areas if the issue was to be successfully tackled.

''We all have to work together -- not just the police, not just more powers, but parents and people in the local communities facing their responsibilities,'' Reid told the BBC.

In contrast to Blair, Conservative leader David Cameron has blamed the rise in gun crime on the breakdown of families and said society was ''quite broken and needs to be mended''.

''The issue here is the circumstances they grow up in, the broken families -- and that's not confined to any one sector of society -- and the massively rife drug culture,'' said Conservative home affairs spokesman David Davis.

Lib Dem leader Menzies Campbell said ''politician-led'' summits, new laws and longer sentences would not solve the problem.

''We need a community-centred approach to tackling the cycle of deprivation, drug culture and lack of recreational opportunities in inner cities,'' he said.

''This government's approach has focused on chasing headlines rather than giving communities the means to tackle the causes of crime.'' REUTERS BDP PM1757