The home secretary today said the Government would "consider all the options" on gun laws, as the prime minister cautioned against a "knee-jerk reaction".
The home secretary said the Government would “consider all the options” on gun laws in an emergency statement before the Commons this afternoon, as the prime minister cautioned against a “knee-jerk reaction” on gun ownership laws following the murder of 12 people in Cumbria yesterday. The comments came as police confirmed the weapons used by Derrick Bird were legally held firearms – he had held a licence for 15 years.
Though there was agreement from Alan Johnson, the shadow home secretary, that there should be no rush to change firearms laws but they should be reviewed, there were growing calls today for tighter gun control laws in Britain. Peter Squires, professor of criminology at the University of Brighton, wrote in today’s Guardian that “if gun owners weren’t able to store ammunition at home mass shootings would be less likely”.
Professor Squires explained:
“If firearm owners were not permitted to store guns and ammunition at home, the incident could not have happened… the risks are out there – if gun owners are to keep their weapons at home, as they want to, then they should not be allowed to keep ammunition at home as well.
“We can’t look into a crystal ball to say who may or may not be about to go off the rails/encounter depression/be consumed by murderous rage – but we ought not let them have the means to perpetrate a mass shooting outrage if and when they do. Keeping guns separate from ammunition would make such incidents preventable – and our communities safer places.“
International evidence shows that there is a correlation between the percentage of households with firearms and the rate of intentional firearms deaths per 100,000 of population, as the graph below illustrates:
There have, however, been some calls for gun licensing laws not to be tightened, but repealed – citing Israel and the United States as examples Britain should follow. Dr Sean Gabb, director of the Libertarian Alliance, said:
“The Libertarian Alliance notes that these shootings would have been extremely difficult in a country where the people were allowed to arm themselves. In the United States, at least one campus shooting was brought to a premature end by armed civilians. The same is true in Israel, where many members of the public go about armed…
“All the Firearms Acts from 1920 onwards should be repealed. The largely ineffective laws of 1870 and 1902 should also be repealed. It should once again be possible for adults to walk into a gun shop and, without showing any permit or proof of identity, buy as many guns and as much ammunition as they can afford.”
34 Responses to “Calls for tighter gun control in wake of tragedy”
Anon E Mouse
mike – Because of Labour’s excessive increases in duty on alcohol I’m struggling to find a pub that’s still open…
…where are you drinking tonight dude – let me know: your comments have had me laughing all day. It’s my round…
Jimpy
Did handgun crime go down after pistol shooters had their hobbies destroyed and guns confiscated?
Does looking everyone up for five years over a ‘loft luger’ help?
http://guncontrolnetwork.blogspot.com/2010/05/grandmother-faces-five-years-for-80.html
No.
Roman
‘Did handgun crime go down after pistol shooters had their hobbies destroyed and guns confiscated?’ Actualy handgun crime went up in UK after the ban, by a significant amount. Crooks dont care, they still get thier guns from black market or you can make guns at home if that desperate. Gun control does nothing but infringes rights of other people to participate in hobbies like sport shooting or hunting or the right of self defense. Gun control only breaches liberty of law abbiding citizen to private gun ownerhsip, thats all it does
mike
but should convicted criminals own guns ???
is this the Coalitions new big Democracy issue
As for taxes on drink no doubt the new governmnet will remove them ??
or maybe people will use their local pub, shop, post office or simply let free market forces close them
close public transport on the same basis
Let the free market rule – stop big brother
every criminal a gun every drug user drugs (even Mr cameron and his Eton friends
Stephen
but should convicted criminals own guns ???
In general no but it depends what the criminal offence is and whether it suggests that someone is likely to be a danger to the public. I am sure that it will come out in the Inquiry but Bird’s criminal record was a minor criminal conviction for theft. The question the Inquiry will have ask is whether that conviction could have predicted his later behaviour. I’d say not. Most thieves are not violent – despite what some right wing loons might say. The fact that this one turned out to be a mass murderer does not alter the truth of that statement.