One of the sticking points with the handgun ban here in the UK was to 'prevent' gun-crime by forcing legitimate sport/target/club shooters with (at the time) legally held and certificated firearms to give up their weapons/sport.
As is evidenced by a number for very public shootings in nottingham and elsewhere in the UK, it is obvious that the only people who are inconvenienced by the current handgun ban are those who were members of shooting clubs and private licenced firearms holders. The criminal elements the ban was designed to curtail have carried on much the same as before - shooting eachother and various innocent persons who just happen to be in the way.
Way to go with the knee jerk reaction and media scaremongering on this issue, just think of all those FAC (firearms certificate) holders who now will not have the opportunity to suddenly loose all of their marbles and go on a bloody shooting rampage through whatever quiet, sleepy village they happen to reside.
I own a couple of airguns which I use fairly regularly - a .177 pistol and .22 rifle both spring guns and I am currently looking at a PCP (pre-charged pneumatic) rifle to add to this. None of these require a firearms certificate - yet - though with the bad press and misinformation bandied about in the media, largely drawn from the irresponsible actions of a very few individuals with tragic consequences. There is talk of restricting the sale of airguns to face to face transactions only at a RFD (registered firearms dealer) as opposed to the thriving mailorder business that many sport shooting purveyors now indulge.
Most people who, like myself take shooting fairly seriously, are members of various official organisations like BASC (british association for shooring and conservation) etc which offers up to 5m liability insurance (amongst other things) to its members. It's not without cost, but to some extent further legitimises my indulgence - PC plod is more likely to be relaxed about me shooting (with the proper permissions and documentation) as a member of BASC as opposed to some grotty little oikk who has just gone to their equivelent of JB-Sports and bought a nasty cheap chinese airgun and has decided to turn it upon the local feline population, fireman or toddlers or whatever.
Blanket bans do nothing to solve the problem of irresponsible use of guns here in the UK; all it does is demonise the large majority of persons who conduct themselves in accordence with the stipulations of the law regarding the use, ownership and conduct of firearm or airgun possesion.
This is possibly the only area where I feel you americans have a good thing going as compared to us brits- is seems from here that just about anybody can own a firearm for 'fun' or self defence - this is reflected in the apparent general attitude towards guns as something normal and not to fear: to not run screaming to the hills in fear of your life and of anarchy, to hastily throw together some BS legislature which is badly run and ill conceived from the outset.
Hey ho, the nanny state is very much alive and dusting the dinning table here in britain and looks to be having her hours extended and her contract renewed indeffinitely, not to mention the attractive rise in her salary and benefits
