I wonder how long it will take liberal Britain to loosen their gun laws so a citizen can have one for self defense?
Check out the 'Republicans get the last laugh' thread to see why the British aren't citizens. Firearms will never be licensed for use as tools for self defence, since carrying any kind of weapon for personal defence has been illegal in Britain since the 1950s. Britons can also be prosecuted for defending themselves.
The British government slowly erodes the rights of its subjects since there is no written constitution. The laws on firearm ownership were first tightened shortly after the Russian revolution because the ruling classes were scared of a communist insurrection. It is obvious that the British aristocracy have never been comfortable with their subjects owning firearms and so they have used every incident as an opportunity to further erode that right.
Because the number of firearms held by criminals in Britain has actually increased by almost a third since all handguns were prohibited, then another massacres like that at Dunblane could occur. I don't think that encouraging Britons to carry firearms for personal defence would be a solution to our crime problem. But I do believe that the government has immorally seized on events over the years to destroy an activity they have always been uncomfortable with.
Never. That will never happen. The government is willing to arm the police because the police are a part of government; the citizenry is not. No need to arm potentional enemies when you can keep them dependant on the state to solve all their problems.
Tuor