Britain Tightens Gun Laws Further
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Oct. 5, 2000
See Britain and Gun Control: Neither Liberty nor Safety
LONDON (UPI) – Britain is tightening its strict gun laws and putting even more limits on the
ownership of firearms, including imitation firearms for youngsters, the Home Office said
Wednesday.
"Our overriding concern is to ensure public safety, and we believe that strong controls on firearms
are absolutely essential to achieve this," Home Office Minister Charles Clarke said.
"Our firearms controls are already among the strongest in the world, and these new proposals will
increase their effectiveness."
Britain was shocked into action against gun ownership after a 43-year-old man, Thomas Hamilton,
gunned down 16 children and a teacher at a Scottish primary school on March 13, 1996. The
shooting at Dunblane injured 12 other children and two teachers and ended only when Hamilton
killed himself.
A ban on handgun ownership followed and spurred Parliament to seek other ways of controlling
guns.
Clarke said the new package of measures would include better controls on shotguns, tighter
restrictions on the use of guns by young people, firm action against the misuse of air guns and
would work to tackle the use of illegal guns in crime.
"We realize that this is an emotive subject, with strong feelings on either side," he said.
"We have sought to strike a balance and to target our controls fairly and proportionately." But he said
some of the measures unveiled on Wednesday would help curb the development of a "gun culture"
in Britain.
The announcement of tougher gun control came despite British successes in the recently ended
Olympic shooting events in Sydney. Richard Faulds won a gold medal in the men's shooting double
trap, and Ian Peel won a silver in the men's shooting trap.
The new rules are the government's response to a parliamentary committee report on gun control,
which recommended tough new measures, including a ban on the sale of imitation firearms to
those under 18 years old.
Clarke said new controls would require those wanting to own a shotgun to demonstrate a good
reason to have one.
But the government held back from introducing a total ban on people less than 16 years old using
guns and rejected a licensing system for Britain's 4 million airguns, arguing that it would be too
cumbersome, costly and difficult to administer.
Clarke said the government decided against a total ban on gun use by minors because that would
hurt Britain's ability to compete in future shooting events.
"If we simply banned young people under the age of 16 from handling guns then we could end up in
the position of simply not having sporting activity in this area at all in a few years," he said.
The new controls were attacked as too harsh by the pro-shooting lobby.
British Shooting Sports Council Secretary Pat Johnson said the tougher laws would "make it more
difficult for us to produce another Richard Faulds by making it harder for youngsters wanting to take
up shooting."
Clay Pigeon Shooting Association said the regulations were a smokescreen for a government that
was not tackling the real problem: more criminals gaining access to firearms. Executive Director
Emilio Roduna called the tighter controls "arbitrary and without justification that would penalize
law-abiding people."
Police sources, however, said they were disappointed the controls did not go far enough in banning
airguns. http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/10/4/202649
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Oct. 5, 2000
See Britain and Gun Control: Neither Liberty nor Safety
LONDON (UPI) – Britain is tightening its strict gun laws and putting even more limits on the
ownership of firearms, including imitation firearms for youngsters, the Home Office said
Wednesday.
"Our overriding concern is to ensure public safety, and we believe that strong controls on firearms
are absolutely essential to achieve this," Home Office Minister Charles Clarke said.
"Our firearms controls are already among the strongest in the world, and these new proposals will
increase their effectiveness."
Britain was shocked into action against gun ownership after a 43-year-old man, Thomas Hamilton,
gunned down 16 children and a teacher at a Scottish primary school on March 13, 1996. The
shooting at Dunblane injured 12 other children and two teachers and ended only when Hamilton
killed himself.
A ban on handgun ownership followed and spurred Parliament to seek other ways of controlling
guns.
Clarke said the new package of measures would include better controls on shotguns, tighter
restrictions on the use of guns by young people, firm action against the misuse of air guns and
would work to tackle the use of illegal guns in crime.
"We realize that this is an emotive subject, with strong feelings on either side," he said.
"We have sought to strike a balance and to target our controls fairly and proportionately." But he said
some of the measures unveiled on Wednesday would help curb the development of a "gun culture"
in Britain.
The announcement of tougher gun control came despite British successes in the recently ended
Olympic shooting events in Sydney. Richard Faulds won a gold medal in the men's shooting double
trap, and Ian Peel won a silver in the men's shooting trap.
The new rules are the government's response to a parliamentary committee report on gun control,
which recommended tough new measures, including a ban on the sale of imitation firearms to
those under 18 years old.
Clarke said new controls would require those wanting to own a shotgun to demonstrate a good
reason to have one.
But the government held back from introducing a total ban on people less than 16 years old using
guns and rejected a licensing system for Britain's 4 million airguns, arguing that it would be too
cumbersome, costly and difficult to administer.
Clarke said the government decided against a total ban on gun use by minors because that would
hurt Britain's ability to compete in future shooting events.
"If we simply banned young people under the age of 16 from handling guns then we could end up in
the position of simply not having sporting activity in this area at all in a few years," he said.
The new controls were attacked as too harsh by the pro-shooting lobby.
British Shooting Sports Council Secretary Pat Johnson said the tougher laws would "make it more
difficult for us to produce another Richard Faulds by making it harder for youngsters wanting to take
up shooting."
Clay Pigeon Shooting Association said the regulations were a smokescreen for a government that
was not tackling the real problem: more criminals gaining access to firearms. Executive Director
Emilio Roduna called the tighter controls "arbitrary and without justification that would penalize
law-abiding people."
Police sources, however, said they were disappointed the controls did not go far enough in banning
airguns. http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/10/4/202649