Cumbria shootings ‘prove gun laws need a shake-up’
BRITAIN’S gun laws need a complete overhaul in the wake of the shootings, a military hero said yesterday.
Doug Beattie, who won the Military Cross in Afghanistan, called for gun owners to undergo an annual psychological assessment.
He said: “There should be a fundamental look at the ownership of any weapons. I do not see any requirement for gun ownership except for specific businesses.
“Sporting guns should be held in a centralised location, such as a sporting club. Anyone who does have a gun should have a psychological assessment each year.”
In the UK, applicants for gun licences are interviewed by the police or firearms licensing authority before they acquire a weapon. Licence holders must provide doctors’ reports, disclose any criminal convictions and state why they want a gun, a process that takes about eight weeks.
It is not known if Derrick Bird held a licence. Nearly 600,000 people in the UK legally own a shotgun and 100,000 own a firearm – a rifle or pistol.
However, firearms expert Michael Yardley, who gave evidence to the inquiry into the Dunblane shootings, said that the same numbers own a shotgun or firearm illegally.
Simon Clarke, of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said the UK’s licensing system was among the toughest in the world.