From: | Avenger <Avenger@*******.DEMON.CO.UK> |
---|---|
Subject: | Biker Gangs and Lawlessness |
Date: | Sun, 5 Jul 1998 16:45:07 +0100 |
a little interest. This is partly aimed at the advocates of gun law (or
banning) and also as an illustration of the kind of organisation that
can be found behind biker gangs - it helps a little, I think to flesh
out go-gangs like the ancients and other similar groups.
Chester Stern, Crime Correspondent, The Mail writes:
Fears are growing that bloody warfare between rival biker gangs could
spill on to the streets of Britain.
Police have seized caches of high powered automatic rifles, AK47 assault
weapons and even re-commissioned arms brought back from the Bosnian
conflict.
Now the National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) has warned forces
around the country of potential battles between the three main rival
groups - the Hell's Angels, the Outlaws and the Outcasts.
Undercover detectives from Interpol's "Project Rockers" have discovered
that the attacks involving shootings, rockets and bombings, are planned
to take place at public events run by respectable motorcycle
organisations and attended by huge crowds of enthusiasts.
Essex police have had to advise organisers to cancel this weekend's
Magna Carta event, which was expected to attract a crowd of 6,000 to a
leisure centre in Braintree.
They discovered that the Hell's Angels had insisted on providing
security for the organisers, the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), a
respectable lobby group.
Last year's Rockers' Reunion in Battersea - another mainstream event -
led to bloodshed when two of the Outcasts were murdered by Hell's
Angels. The gangs refused to co-operate with Police, but detectives
know the deaths provoked several revenge stabbings, shootings and
bombings.
This weekend's event which would have included a ride from Braintree to
Southend watched by thousands of holidaymakers, was likely to have
become the venue for the latest pitched battle, police feared.
"This is an emerging pattern," a detective said. "The gangs run huge
motorcycle shows of their own but they don't want them disrupted so they
are now beginning to fight their battles at other public events. Most
people are not too concerned if they fight amongst themselves, but we
are worried about innocent members of the public becoming victims. A
nine year old boy was shot in Canada during one of these fights recently
and two passers-by were killed in Scandinavia."
An NCIS spokesman said: "This is a sophisticated international crime
network but their violence is escalating and is about to explode. We
are so concerned over the danger this might bring to the public that we
have notified police forces across the country to warn them of the
dangers and place them on the alert."
The groups have strong links with Loyalist para-militaries in Ulster and
the fascist Combat 18 unit.
Many of their members are former servicemen and have stockpiled massive
arsenals of weapons.
(Article reproduced without permission for the purposes of discussion.)
So, this is all allowing for the fact that there is a total firearms ban
in the UK, the ban affects all weapons except bolt action hunting
rifles, shotguns and air powered weapons. I'm not trying to make an
observation on the futility of weapons bans, but I am interested in the
opinions of list members concerning the implications of biker groups
having links and ties with terrorist and para-military organisations,
and any ideas on how that would translate to the world of Shadowrun.
The biker gangs still exist in Shadowrun, and the implication from FASA
for large groups like the Ancients was that they are highly organised,
but I would still like to hear the opinion of list members, especially
in light of the above article. Also, how does this article compare to
reports of similar groups in the US?
--
Avenger
http://www.shalako.demon.co.uk/index.htm
(Newbies Survival Guide to Stk & SR stuff)
http://freespace.virgin.net/p.siems/index.htm
(UK Survival Guide, SR Guide to the Oceans.)