A self-confessed "nasty piece of work" who served 20 years in prison for blasting two police officers says criminal kids are running riot in Birmingham "to get rich quick".
Leroy Smith, from west London, believes the youth of today are "lost people, dejected from society" after spending time in the city filming BBC documentary Gun No.6 .
The 49-year-old, who shot two armed cops back in 1993, said: "Birmingham's different to London.
"People know each other a lot more, they're more connected. It's like a smaller melting pot.
"London has a lot more factions, a thousand different cliques who all want one thing: to make money.
"Kids in Birmingham, just like here in London, are lost people, dejected from society.
"They're doing their own thing and have no direction other than to fight each other and people are dying out of it.
"They're falling away from mainstream society. These street kids just want money, to get rich quick and there's no-one to keep order.
"Everyone has a time on the track, [youngsters] are looking at those above them on the food chain as it were - bare man robbing post offices and involved in armed robberies.
"They're all in their own little bubbles and they get their porridge [sent to prison] to learn. They're in a goldfish bowl and they're not realising."
The former London gangster says youngsters living in poverty are most at risk of spiralling into a life of violent crime.
"At school they're probably told they're an idiot," he said. "Everywhere, people are telling them they're idiots. But they're warriors.
'I was f****** out of order'
"I often tell kids who are struggling, 'Get respect the right way, make something of yourself. Then you'll be someone.'"
Leroy, meanwhile, learnt the hard way himself after serving 20 years of a 25-year sentence for shooting two police officers in Brixton.
"I did what I did," he told BirminghamLive. "I was a really nasty piece of work. I was f****** out of order.
"I said sorry for what I did and, luckily, I've came out the other side. A lot of other people haven't been so lucky.
"I came out four years ago and now I'm trying to help people. The officer I shot has read my book.
Guns and Gangs in Birmingham
"I'm not going back inside and having screws laughing at me while I'm there with chains around my hands. I need to rest in peace now, I'm free."
One-time armed robber Leroy was among five ex-convicts who acted out the 11 shootings involving Gun No.6.
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The single firearm has wreaked havoc in Birmingham, resulting in the killings of city bouncer Ishfaq Ahmed in November 2004; dad Andrew Huntley in July 2005 and Craig Hodson-Walker in January 2009 . The gun is still yet to be found.
When asked about Gun No.6 and the devastation it's caused, Leroy added: "That's what I've learnt about Gun No.6 in Birmingham, I've learnt about the other side of the story and how one day it might come back to someone's door.
"It's still out there. It doesn't go rotten, just a little rusty. It's the demon gun, Gun No.6, as seen in the documentary.
"My message to the geezer holding it: don't get found in possession of it, you'll be going to jail for minimum five years.
"Find a way to hand it in; drop it somewhere and tell police by ruffling your voice or something. That or smash it up, destroy it.
"Even if it's in a lake or what not. It could easily be found and it could even be used 50 years from now. Give it back to police before it's used again.
"I've used a gun. It's cold like ice and that runs through you.
'It's a far better life in Birmingham than London'
"When you bust it, you feel that power. Only those who have fired a gun know what it feels like. It's cold."
Amid violent crime reports in and around Birmingham, prisoner-turned-publisher Leroy believes those living in the Second City are "better off" here than in London.
He said: "It's not all doom and gloom, you know. Birmingham is nice place and people are better off here rather than in London, trust me.
"The average person is nice and people are cool with you. I know people in Handsworth and other places. I knew Burgers, Johnnies in prison got on with all of them.
"Even when you go to a gas station here, people speak to you. In London, the rich don't mix and the poor are desperate. It's a far better life up here, the grass isn't always greener, as they say."
