The Proximity of Gun Crime in Manchester 1 March, 2007 — Stuart Brown

Posted in News, Personal
Tagged with: gun, crime, manchester

Gun crime has been a hot issue in Manchester news this week, with a seemingly increasing rate of reports of fatal shootings and a rise in the 'gun culture' of Britain's inner cities. For all this hype though, as a resident of Manchester I'm yet to come face-to-face with a firearm - a position I'm thankfully sure most Mancunians are in. But should I be worried?

I suppose it depends where you hang out - traipse round the streets of Longsight or Moss Side when it's dark and you're no doubt asking for trouble. But Manchester is a crowded place - and you can compartmentalise all you like, but a dodgy area is seldom more than a couple of streets away.

Take my workplace, for instance - I work on the Manchester Science Park, just behind the University on Oxford Road - but Moss Side is just behind the science park, and the recent fatal shooting of Jesse James was yards away from where I travel every day.

It's not always apparent when you travel the more-highly trafficked thoroughfares in Manchester, but the potential for crime lurks a stone's throw away from the safer areas. When your city gets a reputation for gun crime - 'Gunchester' or 'Shottingham', for instance, it can be hard to shake away this so-called 'gun culture'.