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paul,

does any law abiding citizen in the UK own a personal firearm? Handgun?

Shotguns are still legal, although apparently it's becoming increasingly difficult to get a permit for one. A friend and neighbor has one, but he's owned it and carried the appropriate firearms certificate since the 1960s. If he applied now, he would probably be refused for "insufficient reason."

Handguns? Forget it, unless you want to see what Dartmoor Prison looks like from the inside. The already draconian laws were tightened up even further a few years ago, so that even those who owned pistols for target shooting at recognized clubs would be turned into criminals if they kept their guns. I understand that quite a number of them in the south sent their guns over to clubs in France and now go over there regularly to use them.

Of course, we all know the new laws must be working, because gun crime is the highest it's ever been. [Linked Image]

A couple of links for you:
http://www.parker-hale.com/law.htm
http://www.tsra.com/Lott112.htm

That's probably about as far as I should go on this topic, but for the record, you might have gathered that I'm definitely a 2nd Amendment proponent.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 03-04-2006).]