WE are all parents of children who were killed in the Dunblane massacre. We were horrified when we viewed the Channel 4 programme, Undercover Britain - Gun Law on Tuesday. It showed how gun club members have been able to purchase and use guns as easily concealable, as powerful, and as rapid-firing as any of the handguns banned by recent legislation.
These people can do so because of loopholes in the law that exempted certain types of historical weapon from the ban. They did more than that. One gun shown in the programme, a muzzle-loading revolver, was certainly not an antique; it had been imported new from the USA. Another was a carbine, a short-barrelled rifle as easily concealable as most handguns.
We urge the Home Office to give this matter its top priority. By flouting the spirit of the legislation and the will of the majority of the people, these guns enthusiasts are jeopardising public safety because of their dangerous obsession to fire powerful guns.
We also invite all concerned members of the public, and especially those who supported the Snowdrop Campaign, to write to their MP and the Home Secretary to ask for urgent action.
Charlie Clydesdale, John Crozier, Martyn Dunn and Barbara Dunn, Jenny Hasell, Isabel MacBeath, Duncan McLennan and Liz McLennan, Kathryn Morton and Les Morton, Mick North, Ellen Petrie and Sandy Petrie, Pam Ross and Kenny Ross, Kareen Turner.
Dunblane. May 22.
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