IMHO and MHO only

i believe all homes should have the absolute right to have a shotgun in the home for home protection

maybe then someone could have shot the barsteward …

I don't really think it's practical to keep guns in a central lock-up. Not very practical for shooting game.

Or you could argue the converse, no homes should have a right to have a shotgun and he wouldn't have been able to shoot people.

unless his gun was illegal of course

But it sounds like it wasn't. By all means, why not, give eveyone a frickin' gun. Jeez half of them try to kill me with their half-witted driving why not give them a shotgun to have a proper go with.

Seems to work in the States....

My point being you have a situation where nobody is allowed to hold a gun, legally. So its only the bad guys who end up with illegal guns and no way for anybody to be able to protect them selves.

Like I say, if you let everyone have one we'll end up like the States.

Honestly, people who can't even tie their shoelaces would get hold of them then, that would make me worried about guns, unlike now where they're never generally an issue.

I don't think there should be any change to the gun law, I especially don't think you should go to either extreme of a complete ban or giving everyone guns purely out of a sense of fear.

Not everyone needs one or even wants a gun. though they are not really a defensive weapon for the majority of people unless you have been trained.

I don't mean one central location, I mean a limited number of secure locations which meet certain criteria which make the weapons hard to steal. It's perfectly possible for such a location to be on a country estate where game shooting happens. Then when going out for a day's shooting, people meet at that location and the weapons are handed out and signed for, under supervision from someone who has legal responsibility for accounting for them. It's a system the police seem to manage with and they need their firearms at much shorter notice than grouse shooters. I just don't see the logic that requires anyone to have a gun in their home all the time. What are you going to do, shoot the plaster ducks off the wall?

Jon

Yes but such a system will not get past parliament. Think of how this will kill of the grouse hunting if implemented. Those are all tory voters and backers. It will be political suicide. Plus how often does a person with £60 000 Purdey's go on the rampage? Never. So why chase a target that does not exist.

I can't see how it would damage grouse hunting at all. The grouse are still there. People who want to shoot them still can.

Yes but if they banned shotguns completely then it would become a problem. The real issue is how to get people to resolve their problems when things happen. Better access to mental health services can help considerably. Though if all it does is get the police to seize the guns then it will do nothing at all.

Absolutely, then all they have to do is make it illegal to shoot strangers in the street, and then we're all lovely and safe.

I feel really sorry for the people of Cumbria and the fact that the media are still camped there.

How many other random suggestions will they come up with as to why he did it? We've had just about everything now.

It's a hell of a restriction, when this sort of thing happens only rarely.