LONDON (Reuters):

British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday backed tougher laws aimed at cracking down on gun crime after a spate of teenage murders in the capital that has sparked much soul-searching about the state of British society.

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.

Sentences

Blair said while gun crime in Britain, and London specifically, had fallen over the past year, tougher sentences for youngsters found carrying guns would help police clamp down on gangs.

"Is it a general state of British society, British young people? I think it isn't. It is about a specific problem, within a specific criminal culture to do with guns and gangs," Blair told BBC television.

Fatal shootings have been falling in Britain.

Lowest death total

According to Home Office crime data, 97 people were killed by shooting in 2001/02, 68 in 2003/05, 75 in 2004/05 and 50 in 2005/06, the lowest total for seven years.

Overall gun-related crime, including air weapons, fell six per cent in 2005/06 from the previous period.

But the fact that all three of those killed this month in the sprawling capital were under 17 has shocked the country.

"There is a particular problem which is that the minimum five-year sentence that we have introduced for illegal possession of a firearm does not apply to those under the age of 21 and we've got to lower that age ... down to the age of 17," Blair said.