Handguns

EDM number 488 in 2002-03, proposed by Martyn Jones on 09/01/2003.

That this House notes the recent Home Office Statistical Bulletin which reported that handgun crime has risen by 35 per cent. over the past year; further notes that the 1997 ban on handguns which resulted in 50,000 law abiding people handing in their firearms, has clearly had the reverse effect of its aim to reduce gun crime; recognises that the perpetrators of the recent horrific shootings in Birmingham used an automatic weapon, which have never been legal in this country, and given this fact considers it ludicrous to ban replica handguns that can be indistinguishable from children's toys and could have the effect of creating criminals out of children while playing on the streets; warns against legislating in haste; and that this ban could have the same effect as the Dangerous Dogs Act by wasting the valuable time and resources of the criminal justice system to no good effect; and urges the Government to recognise that the way to tackle gun crime and so-called gun culture is to tackle the causes of disaffection and drug-abuse amongst young people.

This motion has been signed by a total of 21 MPs, 1 of these signatures have been withdrawn.