Letter: Jill Dando

Sir: The murder of Jill Dando has been reported as being carried out with a 9mm semi-auto pistol. How can this be correct? All handguns were banned and surrendered over a year ago. The only people who are allowed to own handguns are the police and armed forces. John Stalker said shortly after Jill Dando's death: "Handguns are freely available in any large city." Why, therefore, was there a ban on legally held handguns? This ill-conceived legislation has not worked and was never going to work.

BRIAN HOWLING

King's Lynn, Norfolk