from yesterday, about Dunblane:

" Within a very short time, and despite the protestations of the gun-loonies, the government banned the types of weapons used in that shooting. "

I answered a post about Dunblane earlier.... but one-more-time.
It IS a fine idea to ban such weapons here... and ammunition and more.
The issue is you in the UK have a very different way to DO banning!!!! You can have a simple national referendum and vote in Parliament and it's done! We don't. There are various reasons for this, some of which were not a serious problem until gradually, in the 1960s thru now, they suddenly were.
It's like a lobster in a pot of water with the temp slowly rising... it becomes evident that there is a problem, but even if he realizes he is in water that is too hot, he can't reach the rim to get out! There are people with big sticks pushing him back. THEY are in control. THEY are the NRA, the local legislators, and those who are damned well gonna have lobster for supper.

Laws about tobacco are only tangentially relevant. We have severely limited many tobacco issues, but that took ages because of lobbyists and addictions. There is nothing that is quite like firearms, as it 'seems' to be protected by the Constitution.

Getting around this means fighting political, economic, psychological, cultural, emotional and judicial issues... all at the same time.

We are not just sitting on our hands and acting like wimps, as some would like to suggest. We are in a pot of hot water, trying to dodge sticks and reach the edge. Can't even bite the fingers holding the sticks very often.