LONDON (Reuters) - More than two thirds of people polled in a survey published on Tuesday want tougher measures to combat violent crime, including more armed police on the street.
Seventy-two percent of people questioned in a YouGov poll said they want more armed police patrols while 88 percent said they want an increase in the five-year minimum sentence for possessing an illegal firearm.
The nationwide survey of 2,100 people was carried out for think-tank Policy Exchange.
It also found that 12 percent of adults know how to acquire an illegal firearm and that 12 percent of respondents said they know someone who has, or has had, an illegal firearm.
Nearly half of those adults questioned, 45 percent, said they feel their area is less safe than it was five years ago because of gun and knife crime, while 29 percent, said they, or their family, feel personally threatened.
In its report, "Gun and Knife Crime in Great Britain," the think-tank said gun culture now affects all sections of society, in all parts of the country.
Gavin Lockhart, research director of Policy Exchange, said: "It is clear that it is no longer just hardened criminals who have access to guns or deprived inner city communities which are affected by them.
"Britain's gun culture has become so endemic it affects huge swathes of the population, with millions of people saying they know how to get hold of illegal firearms and millions more feeling personally threatened by them."
It claimed the number of fatalities and injuries caused by gun-related incidents has increased from 864 incidents in 1998/9 to 3,821 in 2005/6.
London is the gun crime capital of the country, but a large minority in all regions knows how to get a gun, the report said.
More than 80 percent of respondents said they believed the government has not done enough to make Britain's streets safe, despite steps to curb crime, the report said.
"Historically, the overwhelming majority of Britain's police is not armed, a stance supported by the government," Lockhart said. "However, fear of gun crime has risen so much that 72 percent want an increase in armed police patrols."
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