UK’s gun ban after mass killings provides lessons

The 1996 massacre of 16 kids aged 5 and 6 in the tranquil Scottish town of Dunblane may provide some insights to the recent mass killing of similarly young kids in Connecticut, US. After the Dunblane gun violence, Britain passed the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, making registration mandatory for owning shotguns and banning semi-automatic and pump-action weapons. UK lawmakers also passed a ban on the private ownership of all handguns in mainland Britain, giving the country some of the toughest anti-gun legislation in the world. The British public generally supported ban, with most saying they saw no need for guns. Data showed the ban initially appeared to have little impact as the number of crimes involving guns in England and Wales rose heavily during the late 1990s, but since then the offenses and handgun-related crimes have fallen.


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