'It's no good everyone else having guns and you not. You would be f******g dead'.

Byline: By charlie Hamilton

A teenager who made a gun gesture at Conservative leader David Cameron remained defiant yesterday.

Ryan Florence, 17, of Benchill, Manchester, said he smoked cannabis every day and had spent months behind bars for violent thefts.

The youngster was photographed on Thursday making a shooting action with his hand behind Mr Cameron, who was visiting Manchester to speak about youth gun culture.

Florence, who was walking his Staffordshire Bull Terrier with three friends yesterday, said he was a member of a gang named the Benchill Mad Dogs.

He said the area was rife with firearms which could be bought for as little as pounds 30.

He said: "Guns are a way of life around here. Everyone has got them.

"There are shootings every week here but they don't get heard about because no one wants to grass.

"Drugs are everywhere here. I smoke weed every day and all my friends do as well.

"There's nothing wrong with it as long as you don't get caught.

"I have tried sniff (cocaine) a few times but I didn't think much of it so I don't do it anymore."

During the five minute interview two men drove up to the group and offered to sell the boys stolen mobile phones and pirate DVDs.

Florence refused to answer questions about whether he had ever fired a gun but said he did not own one.

He said: "Lots of my friends have got them. They need them for protection and in case it kicks off and there's trouble.

"If we get rival gangs coming round here causing problems then they need to be sorted out.

"It's no good everyone else having guns and you not. You would be f*****g dead.

"You can get a gun for about thirty or forty quid. They're not very good. They are just blank-firers which have been drilled through.

"If you pay a bit more, about pounds 50, you can get something better; all ready to go.

"You can pay as much as two grand."

Florence said he had been in custody three times for burglary, robbery, stealing cars and breaching parole.

One of his friends, who refused to be named, said many of the young people in the area were trying to turn away from violence and find honest jobs but: "There is so little work around here, even if you want to go straight there are no jobs. People end up selling drugs just to get by."

Greg Davis, who helps run the United Estates of Whythenshawe community centre, which Mr Cameron visited, said he felt Florence's behaviour underlined the Tory leader's message.

"It's actually proving David Cameron's point," he said.

"That photo just shows the ingredients of deprived estates like ours that are in a mess and need sorting out."