A survey by the Manchester Evening News has found that two out of every three children in the city have seen a gun in real life.

The newspaper interviewed 650 young people aged between 11 and 16 in the Greater Manchester area in sessions supervised by teachers.

They were asked about their experiences of and attitudes to firearms.

The newspaper suggested the results show how they have become an everyday part of life for local schoolchildren.

Almost half the youngsters said they knew someone who owned a gun, 66 per cent said they had seen one and 12 per cent thought they would consider carrying a gun.

The Manchester Evening News has carried a series of articles and insights into the spreading gun culture and recently asked readers if they could spot the fake from two photographs of firearms in the paper.

Before Christmas the paper called for a ban on fakes and described how a shop in the city’s Arndale shopping centre was a magnet for youngsters.

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