Q: When did tight gun control start in England? Does anyone other than the police and the military own handguns? What type of paperwork does a hunter have to file before they can own a rifle for hunting in England?
—William McKee Jr., Flowery Branch
A: Britain passed the 1988 Firearms (Amendment) Act and then enacted the 1997 Firearms (Amendment) Act.
The 1988 law, which banned burst-firing weapons and high-powered semi-automatic rifles, and made it tougher to own pump-action shotguns, came a year after Michael Ryan killed 16 people and wounded 15 others in Hungerford.
In 1996, 16 students and a teacher were killed in Dunblane, Scotland, leading to the 1997 act that practically banned handguns.
It also put into place “an onerous system of ownership rules involving hours of paperwork, criminal reference checks, and mandatory references designed to reduce as far as possible the likelihood of guns falling in the wrong hands,” the Christian Science Monitor wrote.
Obtaining a firearms license is “a long and complicated business” and the “criteria are tougher for firearms than shotguns because weapons that fire bullets must only be used for specific purposes in specific places,” the BBC wrote.
There are separate certificates for owning firearms and shotguns, and they must be renewed every five years.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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