By Randy Stearns
ABCNEWS.com
Sept. 30 — In the biggest surrender of private property in Britain since the late Middle Ages, Britons today handed over thousands of handguns in the hours before a new firearms bill took effect at midnight.
Spurred by last year’s massacre of 16 schoolchildren in Dunblane, Scotland, the government has made possession of any handgun larger than a .22 caliber a crime punishable by 10 years in jail and fines of as much as $7,500.
Scotland Yard recently mailed more than 9,000 letters reminding London gun owners and dealers of the impending deadline. The Home Office warned those who hadn’t yet complied that they could miss out on compensation of more than $200 per gun.
Britain has always been a relatively gun-free society, and the new rules were intended to keep it that way. Government officials hailed what they describe as among the toughest firearms rules in the world.
Some politicians predict even tougher restrictions lie ahead.
“Parliament wanted an end to the importation of American handgun culture,” Conservative Minister David Mellor told ABCNEWS’ Nathan Thomas. “If a small number of people continue to flout the will of Parliament by moving off into other weapons, the Parliament will have to revisit the matter.”
A Legacy of Dunblane
The new ban was introduced on a wave of popular revulsion after Thomas Hamilton, a licensed gun owner, burst into the Dunblane Primary School in March 1996 brandishing four handguns. H e murdered 16 5- and 6-year-olds and their teacher, then killed himself.
Parents of the slain children became a powerful political force in the wake of that massacre when they pressed for a ban on handguns.
John Crozier, whose 5-year-old daughter Emma died in the massacre, said at the time: “My daughter’s right to live is more important than anybody’s right to shoot guns.”
Shooting clubs opposed the ban, saying they were being made scapegoats for the actions of one crazed loner. Some gun owners say they plan to use the compensation money to buy new, legal weapons like .22 caliber pistols.
Other sport shooters say they’ve shipped their handguns to foreign countries and plan to travel abroad just to practice.
“All of a sudden I’m looked on as a criminal, not allowed to do the sport I’ve become quite good at,” said Nigel Shemmings, a gun-club shooter.
Grudging Compliance
But though the surrender has been slow to date, most gun enthusiasts are expected to comply with the law, which covers an estimated 160,000 legally-held weapons.
“There is certainly no intention by the shooting community to make a protest by withholding them,” said Mike Yardley of the Sportsman’s Association.
Only a few days before the deadline, some experts estimated 40,000 guns were still being held by their owners.
Legislation to outlaw even smaller guns is being reviewed by Parliament, despite protests by gun enthusiasts.
“I understand that many law-abiding gun owners feel they have lost their sport, but I am glad to see so many of them have cooperated with the police and handed in their weapons,” said Alan Michaels, a junior Home Office official.
Loopholes and Criminals
Police, however, acknowledge the new law has a loophole: Registered gun owners may buy carbine rifles that fire the same bullets as handguns. In the wrong hands, such weapons could cause the same damage as the newly outlawed pistols.
The new anti-gun law is also expected to have little impact on another source of potential danger—the estimated four million guns owned illegally in Britain.
Reuters contributed to this report.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/britguns930/index.html
