Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Labour fury as inquiry rejects handgun ban

Jason Bennetto Crime Correspondent
Thursday 25 July 1996 23:02 BST
Comments

An inquiry by MPs into the issue of firearms, set up after the Dunblane massacre, has refused to recommend the banning of handguns, causing an outcry from Labour members.

The decision by the majority section of Tory MPs on the House of Commons home affairs select committee will be greeted with anger and dismay by relatives of people killed at Dunblane and Hungerford who have been campaigning for handguns to be outlawed.

Labour MPs on the committee attempted to get the final report, which will be published on 12 August, altered on Wednesday but were voted down by Conservative members.

Instead, it is understood that the inquiry will call for tighter licensing laws and closer vetting of gun clubs. Among the recommendations are believed to be calls for new powers to enable police to make more detailed checks on applicants for gun licences. The Conservative members believe an all- out ban is too Draconian a measure and is unlikely to prevent another tragedy such as Dunblane.

The MPs' investigation was launched after Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 children and their teacher at a Scottish primary school in March. Since the tragedy the police, from rank and file members to chief constables, have called for a ban on handguns, which would cover an estimated 250,000 weapons.

Labour MPs, who make up five of the 11 members of the select committee, also support a ban. They want all handguns to be made illegal except in special cases, which would be decided on merit. This would include sports and gun clubs which could prove they had tight security and that all members were properly scrutinised.

A series of amendments was tabled on Wednesday afternoon, the last day before the Commons finished for the summer, at a meeting of all the committee members. Chris Mullin proposed the tougher recommendations on behalf of the Labour MPs but they were rejected by Tory members led by chairman Sir Ivan Lawrence.

Neither Mr Mullin nor Sir Ivan was available for comment yesterday, although Labour MPs are expected to speak out publicly against the committee's final recommendations and their rejected amendments will be included in the published report.

The gun lobby is bound to seize upon the committee's findings and use them as ammunition against any recommendation for a ban on hand- guns by Lord Cullen, whose inquiry into the Dunblane massacre is expected to be published in September.

Gill Marshall-Andrews, co-ordinator of the Gun Control Network, which includes relatives of people murdered in Dunblane and Hungerford, said: "The network will be deeply concerned if the report contains anything less than proposals for radical reform of the gun laws, including the banning of handguns."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in