Jane 2001,

Thomas Hamilton (he of the Dunblane Massacre) obtained his firearms and retained his firearms because the police failed to do basic checks on his application form and failed to follow the advice of one of their own officers. When applying for his license to own full-bore handguns he claimed to be a member of a shooting club in Hamilton (you have to prove you have an approved place to use the weapons you own). This should have stopped him getting the weapons on two counts: firstly, he wasn't a member of the club and secondly, the club wasn't approved for full-bore pistols. The club in question is run by the police social club in Hamilton, so it should have been easy for the police to check whether he was a member.

When his licence came up for renewal (about a year before the massacre) the police constable who interviewed him as part of the renewal process recommended to his superiors that the application be refused as he did not believe he was a fit person to hold a firearm; his superiors overruled him and granted the application.
To me it seems very clear that the police were negligent in their duties and the problem is not with the vast majority of gun club members.
Personally speaking, I was quite happy when full-bore handguns were banned in the UK as I fail to see where they fit into the sport of shooting as a test of accuracy and discipline. When New Labour gained power and banned small-bore handguns I feel they made a big mistake. Many of the shooters who had to surrender .22 pistols now legally own .22 semi-auto sport rifles, which are more accurate than the pistols they replace and almost as easy to carry about. In other words, if the aim of the law was to increase public safety then it failed. However, I believe Labour made that law as a political statement rather than for safety.
Another interesting fact is that the incidence of armed crime in the UK has gone up since handguns were banned. Another indication that the change in the law failed to achieve the stated aim of increasing public safety.
Sorry for the length of this post, but a raw nerve was touched.

Scott