Quote:
Originally Posted by MT2008
As an American gun owner, I think that your proposal is entirely reasonable. As Predator pointed out, the system you have suggested already exists for conceal-carry in many states. Also, what exactly is wrong with licenses like those issued in the U.K.? The system that the Brits had before the Hungerford massacre in 1987 seems to have been a reasonable one to me.
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The UK licensing system works here, but there are a couple of parts that would never be accepted in America. First and foremost is the fact that in the UK, self defence is not an acceptable reason to own a firearm which would make a lot of Americans very unhappy. Secondly, in the UK you need to obtain permission for each new firearm you want to acquire (with the exception of regular shotguns or antique weapons), and give justification for why you want it. There are a few other parts which I think the USA could benefit from adopting, such as the requirement that firearms are locked up with only the license holder having access to them, along with limits on the amount of ammunition that can be stored, or purchased in one transaction.
Any changes in legislation that come in the following months need to be well thought out and reasoned, and not the knee jerk over-reactions that followed Hungerford and Dunblane massacres. The Firearms Amendment act of 1988 which followed Hungerford was baffling, banning all semi automatic rifle above .22 regardless of purpose or capacity, along with pump action rifles above .22 calibre but doing nothing about lever action rifles. The first Firearms Amendment act of 1997 which banned all handguns above .22 was over the top but understandable, but when Labour came ino power and followed up with a second act banning .22 pistols as well this was ridiculous. The only reason it happened was as a popularity move based on a petition which only got so many signatures as it was one of the first things of its sort distributed over the internet, and was signed by a large number of people with no knowledge of the subject (likely not realising that there was already a ban on the kind of weapons used in the Dunblane massacre) fuelled by emotion rather than logic.