Handgun Law
EDM number 136 in 1996-97, proposed by Austin Mitchell on 05/11/1996.
That this House urges Her Majesty's Government not to rush into ill thought out legislation on handguns of the type which has proved so messy on other issues, but to look more seriously at achieving its central objective more simply and straightforwardly by implementing the suggestion put forward by Lord Cullen in paragraph 9.112 of his report, that handguns should be disabled when not in use by the removal of the slide assembly on semi automatic pistols, or the cylinder on revolvers, so that one part can be kept securely on the premises of an approved club, the other taken home by its owner ensuring that working handguns are neither available nor usable outside the club premises, that thefts from gun club premises are futile because only parts are kept there, that massive compensation is unnecessary, and that those who enjoy the sport of shooting can continue to do so; and to this end the House urges the Government to reconsider its inaccurate dismissal of disablement as 'not a practicable proposition' for some kinds of handgun, when it can be done with all types because most weapons dismantle to clean and those which do not can be banned, and to draw up its legislative proposals on this basis as a more effective, less draconian, less restrictive and less expensive way of achieving the objective of stopping the use of, or carrying of, handguns outside licensed club premises to remove any possibility of repetition of the appalling tragedy inflicted on Dunblane by Thomas Hamilton.
This motion has been signed by a total of 29 MPs, 2 of these signatures have been withdrawn.
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