sherlock

iTrader: (1)

19 August 1987, 20 years since this i can still remember this being reported as though it was yesterday.

Sherlock

Brun

I was only 10 at the time but remember it well

FlightMan

I drove through Hungerford 15 minutes before he started shooting.

SJ_Skyline

I was in Ohio at the time and remember the news being full of how common this sort of thing was in the states but how the Brits weren't used to this sort of violence... It's odd how that stuck in my mind all these years.

Of course if it were to happen now, can you imagine the media frenzy with in depth analyses, mini-web sites with full-colour close up and interactive route map...

Simon C

YUp, remember it well, and a classic knee jerk reaction by the govt.

Following that incident 1/2 the rilfes in the country got banned

Sonic'

crikey, doesnt seem like that long ago

sherlock

iTrader: (1)

Bloody hell that was close. My brother-in-law was an insurance assessor and had to go and sort out motor claims down there, i remember him saying it was horrible.

Leslie

It was an awful thing to happen. It must be very difficult to guard against someone in his mental state owning such a battery of weapons and the will to use them as he did.

Les

sherlock

iTrader: (1)

It was only full auto assult rifles that got banned wasn't it?

Phil

20 years ago

WOW

Time does fly

Simon C

Anything full auto or anything semi auto above .22LR

sherlock

iTrader: (1)

TBH it is a fair one, why would anyone need a full/semi auto rifle?

Simon C

Cos its fun

Semi and full were good for practical rifle, which is now a disapline which is now extinct in the uk. Semi auto's also have a place in hunting.

Then just under 2 decades later it all happened again at Dunblaine.


Both inquries after the incidents came up with the same conclusion, both perps should never have had FAC's issued.

sherlock

iTrader: (1)

I thought Dunblaine was pistols? But you are right both should never had fire arms!

swampster

iTrader: (1)

Didn't you know that prior to the ban it was common practise to go squirrel hunting in the nearby woods with a Kalashnikov AK-47

sherlock

iTrader: (1)

The thing is though we are talking of massacres 15 and 16 people killed and more than that injured! Not one person killed because he/she was in the wrong gang. Not that that's any better.

not really a newbie

Thank God (which ever one you support) theat the government at the time and successive ones have put in place strategies and deterrents to curb the further proliferation of guns in the hands of people who should not have them.

20 years on and the UK is a much safer place - my ****!

Hungerford was a sad day for the country.

SJ_Skyline

If we had gun laws here like the US, would you have your own gun? I would prefer not to so I guess I can be thankfull that our laws regarding gun ownership are the way they are.

andythejock01wrx

Remember it, despite only being a wee McJock at the time.
Was a real shocker.

Think we have our gun laws along the right lines (unlike the States).

[Davey]

Shame it pretty much killed club shooting in the UK..

not really a newbie

How odd, the only people who have guns are criminals, who, funnily enough would not have qualified for a licence prior to Dunbliane. Now the 1000's of handguns that where legally owned, licenced and securley stored by sensible club shooters are no more.

Whilst Hungerford and Dunblaine where terrible, it has not stopped or controlled the guns in the wrong hands by any means.

Criminals just carry on regardless and now kids can get guns from pretty much anywhere, note that hanguns where taken away from the public so they are not getting them from this source.

Jerome

It's a misconception that legal gun ownership is directly linked to gun crimes.

Canada has a similar ratio of gun ownership to the US but has a fraction of the gun crime (accounting for the smaller population etc).

Switzerland has the highest legal gun ownership ratio in the first world.

Drink drivers kill many many more people each and every year than have ever been killed with legal guns. We don't outlaw cars though.

Simon C

Another intresting point.

The shooting industry is trying to get the handgun ban overturned inlight of 2012.

As it stands no handgun comps can take place for the Olympics, unless the ban goes. The ironic thing is, GB still has a handgun team, they chose to give up their country rather than their sport!

[Davey]

The UK gunlaws are a JOKE! I collect replicas and de-act's (as I cant have the real thing anymore) and I could do 5 years inside if I took one out in public... And I could even have them all confiscated if one of my neighbours see's me holding one INSIDE my OWN house and decides he/she is alarmed by this sight... No time for explanations or talking, an ARU will kick my front door in, arrest me and take everything away to be destroyed then ask questions later.. WHAT A JOKE!

The poster who mentioned Switzerland has a good point, its basically law over there that young men who are doing national service must own a firearm, all ammunition is accounted for though.. Gun crime is at a bare minimum because anyone committing a robbery/burglary knows there is a massive chance that the victim will have a gun and know how to use it.

EddScott

This is true and (no commedy intended or implied) we'd have the BBC falling over thmeselves to blame terrorism.

They'd be asking what colour the person was and they'd start foaming at the mouth if the person wasn't white!

The way the news these days is reported is a bloody joke.

Like the Swiss idea. Don't try it on because you'll likely be shot. Think national service should be not enforced but grant extra incentives to those that do so. Might clear up a few social problems (or create trained killers depending what side of the political fence one falls)

rgv_stu

yup stupid country we live in. i get made to feel like a criminal everytime i renew my certificates there is nothing wrong with guns its only the owners!

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

Yip, gun laws are indeed a joke.

Those who want to enjoy sport shooting/hunting legally cannot do so.

Those who want to carry around a firearm to shoot up some rival gang can do so with very little real punishment (possession of an illegal firearm should, in my opinion, be classed as conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted murder - with the respective jail terms applied).

Gun laws in this country have done nothing to curb gun related crime. I'm not suggesting we should go the way of the US - keeping a loaded firearm in a drawer is particularly stupid - firearms and ammunition should always be stored in separate, fixed, lockable containers. But there is no reason why a correctly vetted, licensed and trained person should not be allowed to own a firearm.

Simon 69

Mini-Rifle is gaining popularity, mostly using Ruger 10/22s.

daddyscoob

those are illegal guns Hungerford etc were legal guns