A new guns amnesty could take place just four years after more than 1,200 illegal weapons were handed in to West Midlands Police.

Ministers have told a Black Country MP they are planning another amnesty, following shootings in London.

Owners were urged to hand in weapons following the murders of Birmingham teenagers Charlene Ellis, aged 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, aged 17, in 2003.

Shocked police received 1,265 weapons – including a home-made cannon and a rocket launcher. Across Britain, 44,000 were handed in.

But MP Tom Watson (Lab West Bromwich West) asked Ministers if they would consider a new amnesty. He raised the issue in the House of Commons following the shootings of James Andre Smartt-Ford, aged 16; Michael Dosunmu, 15, and Billy Cox, 15.

Further shootings in the capital and Manchester over the weekend have heightened fears gun crime is out of control.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker told him: "We are discussing with the Association of Chief Police Officers whether a national firearms amnesty should be held this year.

"The last national amnesty in 2003 resulted in the surrender of 44,000 firearms and over a million rounds of ammunition.

"Taking such potentially lethal items off the streets contributes to community safety but an amnesty is just one aspect of the wider strategy."

Mr Watson said: "The last amnesty hauled in a staggering amount of weapons. It is not the only answer, but they do work."

Police chiefs, community leaders, experts and Government ministers will meet tomorrow.

There were 946 firearms offences in the West Midlands Police area last year, Home Office figures show.

This is 37 offences per 100,000 people, the third highest figure in the country. London had the most, with Manchester second.

The Home Office report said: "Fifty-four per cent of firearm offences (excluding air weapons) in 2005-06 occurred in just three police authorities: Metropolitan, Greater Manchester and West Midlands."

The latest wave of shootings prompted demands for tougher measures against young people carrying illegal firearms.

Paul Tonks, West Midlands Chairman of the Police Federation, said: "An amnesty may help if it gets guns off the streets, but it is not an answer.

"Police need judges to hand out tougher sentences, we need politicians to give us tougher laws and we need more help from the community to tell us where these firearms are."

Politicians, police and campaigners against gun crime urged the Home Secretary to ensure carrying a firearm carries a five-year mandatory sentence.

MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry Barr) warned Birmingham still had its own gun crime problem, and those involved were getting younger.

The Criminal Justice Act 2003 introduced a five-year minimum term for over 18s and three-year minimum for under-18s, but in March the Court of Appeal said they could not apply to anyone under 21.

Conservatives have called on the Home Secretary to make an order in Parliament forcing minimum sentences.