A Brief History of British Gun Control
Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 2:57 pm
Not sure if this has been posted before, but it's the first time I've seen it. Written in 2010, so perhaps nicolas can give us an update.
https://ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle558-20100221-07.html
https://ncc-1776.org/tle2010/tle558-20100221-07.html
A Brief History of British Gun Control
(or, How to Disarm the Law Abiding Populace by Stealth)
by P.A. Luty
www.thehomegunsmith.com
Attribute to The Libertarian Enterprise
In 1900 the British government trusted the people with firearms and to be their own guardians. Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, the Marquess of Salisbury said he would "laud the day when there was a rifle in every cottage in England". However in 1903 Britain passed its first ever "gun control" law, a minor one requiring a permit to carry a handgun and restricting the age of purchasers. It was the first toe over a slippery slope towards complete firearms prohibition.
In 1919 the British government, in fear of communist insurgents and domestic and foreign anarchists, passed its first sweeping anti-gun laws (under the smokescreen of crime control) even though gun related crime was almost non existent in the England of the day. British subjects could now only buy a firearm if they could show "a good reason" for having one and the firearm certificate system that we have today (implemented and abused by police) was introduced. The 1920 gun control act was the beginning of the end for private firearms ownership in England. So much for Robert Gascoyne-Cecil's remarks of "a rifle in every cottage in England" being a laudable goal.