An Explosive Situation
‘STUDY the scene. Take a look at the guns in the Suns SHOTGUN WEDDING.
See the armed police surround the ceremony, hide in bushes and, most chillingly of all, behind gravestones at Moordown Johns Church, Bournemouth, Dorset.
The armed police are on the look out for one Antonio Martino, father of bride Andre, 17, who is enjoying the happiest day of her life with 20-year-old groom Brian Elliott.
Antonio isnt happy. Hes threatened to shoot his daughter and blow-up the groom if the wedding goes ahead. So the police are manning the pews. And theyve got guns.
The wedding takes place without a hitch. And one hour later, Antonio is arrested at home on suspicion of making threats to kill.
Its a good story. But did you notice the guns? Take another look. Are they real? If you cant decide and its not easy to spot a real weapon from a fake pop along to Cedar Mount School in Gorton, Manchester, and ask some of the 13 and 14-year-olds what they think.
As the Star reports, they students have just been visited by the police as part of a campaign to cut down on gun crime organised by the Manchester Multi-Agency Gang Strategy (MMAGS).
And for the purposes of education, the cops took along some guns real ones. The police invited the pupils to handle the revolvers and rifles.
As Ralph Corrigan of MMAGS says: The idea was to show children how difficult it can be to tell replica firearms from real ones and I think the message was put across.
Indeed. And we urge the police to check their cache of weapons to see if any genuine rifles were swapped for replicas. Its hard to tell the difference.
We wouldnt want the police to turn up at, say, a wedding armed to the teeth with water pistols would we? That would be ridiculous…’
Posted: 22nd, February 2006 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
