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8.23 pm
Mr. Martyn Jones (Clwyd, South-West): Like other hon. Members, I have read the Cullen report. Reading the account of how Hamilton committed his atrocious act, I was moved to tears--as, I am sure, were other hon. Members. I am not ashamed to admit that. They were tears of anger, disbelief, horror and pity for those poor children.
Against whom should the natural human reaction of anger be directed? The anger of the children's parents and others has been directed against the means that Hamilton used to commit the atrocity--the handgun; more specifically, the repeating full-bore weapon. The motive must be anger; otherwise logic would dictate banning all guns, especially shotguns, which are the firearms most often used in crime and murder.
Taken to its logical extreme, however, this natural reaction is unworkable. Some firearms are used as legitimate tools. Many categories of firearm that would be encompassed by such a reaction are plainly harmless to public safety, such as antiques and even the nail guns used in construction work.
This time, unlike the aftermath of the Hungerford tragedy, we had a public inquiry conducted by an erudite judge who had the advantage of having all the information to hand and the time to consider every aspect, including school safety and control of firearms.
Back in 1988, we debated the response to the dreadful events in Hungerford perpetrated by Michael Ryan, who supposedly possessed legally held firearms--but in dubious circumstances. In that debate, I suggested three measures that were not taken up by the Government. First, I asked for controls on the shooting gallery style of club which exercised no control over its members. That at least was implemented about two years later, although I was not given the credit for it--not that that worries me.
My second suggestion was for a statutory examination of a firearm applicant's health and social security records. Thirdly, I suggested a reduction in an applicant's grounds for appeal against a police decision to refuse an application.
Taken together, those measures might--might--have prevented Thomas Hamilton from possessing legal firearms. Of course he could still have tried to obtain one of the estimated 1.5 million illegal firearms in this country. I take no pleasure in saying, "I told you so," but I did.
There followed the even more horrendous incident at Dunblane in March this year; yet, despite an inquiry costing more than £1 million, the Government are entering on the same course of action as they did after Hungerford. At least this time they are tightening up on the ownership of firearms by agreeing to Cullen's 23 well-considered recommendations in that regard, but they should not ignore the 24th, to which I shall come later.
The Firearms Consultative Committee, which was set up in 1988 and of which I recently became a lay member, has recommended at least 38 minor changes to the law; it
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What is needed is not a hasty amendment to the--already much amended--1968 Act but a root-and-branch review of the whole issue; otherwise, we are in grave danger of another equivalent of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, now widely acknowledged as unworkable.
At least this time an in-depth inquiry was held and Lord Cullen recommended 24 worthwhile ways of improving the system--23 of them are rightly being implemented, but why are we not considering setting up a national licensing board that would be party to all the information that the police could obtain, co-ordinating inquiries on a standardised basis? If such a body had existed, it would have taken away the onerous responsibility on the police to check up on the membership of the clubs of which Hamilton claimed to be a member. It seems that there is evidence that those clubs were not appropriate to the sort of firearms which he was granted permission to obtain.
Going back to Lord Cullen's 24 recommendations, in paragraph 9.112 he recommended that firearms should not be kept in one place as workable firearms. The Government suggested that that was not a feasible option. I strongly suggest that it is. Virtually all firearms can be stripped down to their component parts. In the case of self-loading pistols, the slide mechanism could be taken home. It is not possible to obtain a duplicate slide without a firearms certificate endorsement. There is therefore no possibility of circumvention of that rule. The same applies to revolvers; the cylinder could be taken home.
The cause of public safety would be much better served. The sport of full-bore target shooting could continue, but if that is not the Government's wish, the proposal could be applied to .22 pistols. That has many merits, not the least of which is that the tiny minority of shooters who are driven by some kind of American-style macho image would have nothing to posture with at home. Equally, criminals and terrorists would have nothing to steal from target clubs.
The Government again insist on legislating against one type of firearm. They must compensate not only those people who will lose their often valuable firearms, but dealers who will lose their hobby and their livelihood.
Mr. Michael Colvin (Romsey and Waterside):
The House will, I am sure, acknowledge the expertise of the hon. Member for Clwyd, South-West (Mr. Jones). When it comes to firearms, he knows what he is talking about, unlike some hon. Members who have spoken in the debate.
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The hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) was the first person speaking today to say that the use and ownership of firearms was a privilege, not a right. That is important. We all have the right to apply for a firearms certificate, but it is a privilege to be granted one.
I have experienced that privilege for most of my adult life. It is also a privilege of mine to be a co-opted member on the executive council of the National Rifle Association and to be the president of the Palace of Westminster Rifle Club, which includes a pistol range. The range has three .22 pistols, which will continue to be legal if the Bill is passed as drafted, and one .32 revolver, which will have to be surrendered. I hope that the club will comply with the clause 16 provisions for licensing, which may be too onerous for some other clubs to meet. To hon. Members who would like to know more about firearms and their use, let me say that the club is always open for those who want to visit it.
We all reacted in much the same way to the horrible events in Dunblane on 13 March: horror at the shooting of 17 innocent people; incredulity that a man like Hamilton could possess and use firearms, apparently legally; immediate and continuing heartfelt sympathy for the families bereaved at the school and in the community of Dunblane; and lastly, a determination to do everything possible to reduce the chances of such a thing ever happening again.
I join in commending Lord Cullen for his inquiry and his report. I find little fault with his conclusions and recommendations.
Initially, after Dunblane, my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary rightly said that he would resist a knee-jerk reaction to the tragedy, unlike some people. He said that the Government would wait for Lord Cullen's report and give serious consideration to his proposals for changes in the law. Unfortunately, having resisted the initial knee-jerk, he has knee-jerked to the Cullen report. He would have done better to enact the Cullen recommendations, as he is doing, and to publish a consultation paper on anything further that he might do, rather than being caught up in the continuing tidal wave of emotion whipped up by the media.
Why did Hamilton possess weapons and ammunition, apparently legally? Had he lived in my county, Hampshire, there is no way that he would ever have been granted a firearms certificate, or, if he had, it certainly would not have been renewed. There might even have been a civil case to revoke it. I am glad that the Bill provides for the revocation of certificates.
Hamilton was investigated by the police seven times and no action was taken against him. He obtained his firearms certificate by deception. He did not belong to or attend a gun club.
Following the Hungerford shootings and the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1988, the United Kingdom has had some of the toughest gun laws in the world. Some may say that they are still not tough enough, but I say that they are not enforced adequately to prevent a psychopath like Hamilton from slipping through the net. Those shortcomings have been addressed by Lord Cullen, and my right hon. and learned Friend is right to seek to implement almost all his recommendations, but I think that my right hon. and learned Friend goes too far, too soon in the Bill.
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It is unnecessary to ban all large-calibre pistols, leaving only the .22 rimfire, which is to be stored and used at club premises. The way that the provisions will be implemented is unjust. They will result in 57,000 law-abiding citizens being made to look guilty and being wrongly deprived of the privilege of continuing their sport of pistol target shooting.
Our postbags are a litmus test of public opinion. In my bag, the proportion of letters opposing the Bill is 5:1. We have all been impressed over the past few weeks by the lobby of Parliament and visits to our constituency surgeries. We have seen the admirable people whom we will deprive of their sport.
Last week, when the gun lobby came to Parliament, I wondered whether the Royal British Legion, rather than shooting sportsmen, had come to see us. Those people were decent, patriotic and well turned out. They were wearing their blazers, badges and regimental ties. There were young and old among them. They were the sort of people whom we saw on parade on Remembrance day and who observed the two-minute silence yesterday.
If the Bill proceeds, the compensation proposals will compound the injustice. If law-abiding citizens are to be deprived by Parliament of lawfully held assets, they must be properly and fully compensated: anything less would be legalised robbery. The fact that the Home Office believes that only £25 million to £50 million is required for compensation shows that it is either hopelessly ill advised or determined to act unjustly.
The realistic figure, with weapons valued at about £500 each, is closer to £150 million. If, as is now proposed, dedicated accessories are added--including holsters, ammunition-loading equipment, spare magazines and other pieces of equipment--the total compensation figure could approach £500 million. That money could be far better spent on the police and enforcement of the firearms laws. That figure allows nothing at all for the 100 or so pistol clubs, which will almost all have to close, or for the 2,000 dealers and gunsmiths who may be put out of business by loss of assets, if not by clause 16.
Unless the Bill is radically amended, it will do nothing to enhance the reputation of Parliament. It seems as if my right hon. and learned Friend has considered only one side of the debate. As John Stuart Mill said:
"There is always hope--when people are forced to listen to both sides; it is when they attend only to one, that errors harden into prejudice. The quiet suppression of half the truth is the formidable evil."
Perhaps the House will decide that 57,000 law-abiding citizens are a small enough minority to be used as a scapegoat and sacrificed to the god of populist opinion. I was not elected to Parliament to sacrifice my judgment to the opinion of the majority. We are here to defend the rights and privileges of individuals and minorities, which is why we should support the reasoned amendment.
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