UK political parties - Gun ownership policy comparison

[Admin]

New Labour


- Upon taking power in 1997, Labour ammended the Firearms Act to include a complete ban on all handguns, including .22 pistols used in Olympic events.

- Introduced a mandatory 5 year minimum jail sentence for possession of an illegal firearm, no matter if intent to harm was present.

- Entirely opposed to relaxation of laws on firearm ownership.

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Conservative Party

- Introduced the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997, which in effect banned most pistols. This ban exluded .22 rimfire pistols used in Olympic events.

- No plans to repeal any laws regarding ownership of firearms.

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Liberal Democrats

- Pressured for a complete ban on all handguns. Continues to be vocal in favour of more restrictions.

- No plans to repeal any laws regarding firearm ownership.

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UK Independence Party

10. Nigel Farage of UKIP was asked about the UK's gun laws and said,

"We have not got it right. It was knee-jerk reaction. Hungerford was awful, Dunblane was quite horrific and just like the Dangerous Dogs Act, we overreacted, we put in place a piece of legislation which means our Olympic pistol team have to go to France to practice, they are not allowed to practice in the UK. It is because politicians think that if you see a problem if you put a piece of legislation that will solve the problem. Clearly it doesn't."

"I am not against a proper licensing system; that is sensible and that is what we should be doing.

"But to bring in a total ban and for Mr Blair to stand up in the Commons and say that by doing this gun crime would be brought under control, well we know that gun crime is far worse now than it was before handguns were banned."
"I do not think we are complacent. I have a son at school in south London and he is very conscious that guns and knives are out there on the streets in very big numbers. Legislation is not the answer, but having real police on the beat might just be."

Householders’ Right of Defence - 2010 Manifesto

UKIP is concerned that a number of householders have been charged after physically
confronting intruders entering their home. UKIP would reiterate the fact that
householders should always presumed innocent when defending themselves, their family
or their property from criminals. In addition, UKIP would require all intruders to prove
that they had good reason for being in the property in question, and if this was not the
case, then this would also be taken into consideration if they were then confronted by the
home owner and a court case followed. UKIP deplores the fact that the Conservatives are
only prepared to give householders who defend their properties with vague promises of
„greater protection‟. This statement means nothing without specific guarantees. Despite
years of debate, they still have no innovative solutions on how to deal with a crime wave
which is blighting the lives of millions of people across the country. This is why it is
UKIP who are now the party of law and order and not the Conservatives.

- No policies outlined with regards to repealing any firearms laws, although normally in favour on the issue.

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British National Party

http://bnp.org.uk/2010/04/where-the-bnp-stands-7-civil-liberties-and-constitutional-reform/

- Allow victims of crime full freedom to defend themselves and their property (From http://bnp.org.uk/policies/law-and-order)

- Some members in favour of the Swiss model of keeping a military issued rifle and ammunition at home as part of National Service (Not set in policy).

Quote from BNP 2010 Manifesto Page 41:

" The Right to Bear Arms
The right to bear arms is encapsulated in the 1688 Declaration of Rights. Firearms do not kill people; criminals kill people — especially when the innocent people do not possess firearms with which to defend themselves.
The BNP would restore to legitimate and law-abiding sportsmen the right to possess and use those weapons curtailed by the 1968 Firearms Act and subsequently restricted by later legislation."

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Green Party of England and Wales

Tough licensing on guns, cutting off the gun supply to the UK and banning the sale of replica guns will bring down violent crime. We need solutions that work, not political posturing: we don't care about looking tough, we only care about stopping people being injured and killed.

- Opposed to any relaxation of laws regarding firearms

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UK Libertarian Party

Front line policies include:

- Complete legalization of the carrying of 'non-lethal' self defense weapons.

- Complete legalization of muzzleloading firearms.

- Repeal of the handgun ban

- Allow firearms to be purchsed for self defence purposes

http://lpuk.org/pages/manifesto/law-and-order.php
Firearms Legislation

The Libertarian Party stands by the right of peaceful citizens to defend themselves against violent attackers and burglars within the law, and will make it a priority to bring the laws on self defence back into line with common sense.

When seconds count, the police are just minutes away. The police are not your bodyguards. They can outline you in chalk, they can break the news to your family, they can maybe catch whoever did it after the fact, but they cannot protect you. It will take police anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to reach you, if they even bother to come at all. An attacker can break in and search your entire house in under three minutes or travel 100m in under 15 seconds.

As one of our first steps to reduce the violent crime rate, a Libertarian Government will immediately move to repeal the ban on the ownership and carrying of non-lethal defensive weaponry by law-abiding people. Muggers, rapists and racist thugs make a habit of carrying knives and other lethal weapons in order to prey on the innocent. For too long the law has prevented their intended victims from protecting themselves using the non-lethal technology which is available to the citizens of most civilised countries.

This long-overdue reform is not a charter for vigilantes, but will have the effect of shifting the balance of power on the streets back towards peaceful citizens, where it belongs.

We will amend the Firearms Acts to repeal the pistol ban, which has both completely failed to reduce armed crime and crippled our country's ability to compete in the pistol shooting events in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, while depriving law-abiding householders of the ability to defend their homes with one of the most suitable weapons available. We will also remove the legal anomaly that requires antique-patterned muzzle-loading firearms to be licensed and registered as if they were modern weapons, when the originals can be bought over the counter. Since the technology is long obsolete, we will follow the path of most European countries by removing this bureaucratic requirement.

We will amend the 1988 Criminal Justice Act to prevent law-abiding people from being prosecuted for the simple act of having sharp or pointed objects in their possession. This Act has led to perverse court rulings resulting in innocent people being convicted for carrying the tools of their trade and other non-weapons, and it has done nothing to reduce violent crime.

Throughout our first term in office we will work to further reduce and eliminate bureaucratic and legal barriers to lawful self-defence and peaceful participation in the shooting sports.

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English Democrats

- No policies to repeal any laws regarding ownership of firearms.

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This list will be constantly changing. If you have additional information regarding any UK political party, please send a PM or post here.

[bones weep tedium]

This is the problem with politics. All these different parties, all offering the same thing the same choices.

As a member of the LPUK, it's disheartening to be in the same group as the BNP. The phrase "I'm not a member of the BNP, but..." is gonna be less funny for me from now on.

[Citizen Stuart]

As a member of the LPUK, it's disheartening to be in the same group as the BNP.

Hardly.  The BNP are opportunists, they'll try to associate themselves with any campaign that they think will attract support.  I remember they did some leafletting at one of the Sportsman's Association marches, but I've never known them to come out unambiguously in favour of liberalising the weapons laws.  In any case, I imagine under a BNP government the licensing authorities would be pretty "selective" about who they issued FACs to - god help you if you're not a white, Christian, BNP sympathiser!  Not that it would make any difference to me, I'd probably already be in a boncentration bamp by that point anyway.

[Cattle]

Being opposed to gun control is not fundamentally right, left or any other wing, but it suits the antis to have it portrayed as something associated only with fringe/extreme political parties.

[Microbalrog]

There's nothing wrong with being extreme.

The question is, what are you extreme about?

[Cattle]

There's nothing wrong with it per se, but you see what I'm saying.

[Admin]

As a member of the LPUK, it's disheartening to be in the same group as the BNP.

Hardly.  The BNP are opportunists, they'll try to associate themselves with any campaign that they think will attract support.  I remember they did some leafletting at one of the Sportsman's Association marches, but I've never known them to come out unambiguously in favour of liberalising the weapons laws. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcrYTuPOaBw&feature=related

Skip to around 0.25 in the video. Pro gun? Maybe not..

[ST101]

The Libertarian Party is what I support in the US. If you're Libertarian Party has the same platform, it's what needs to be supported if you're for a man being able to control his own means.

I hate our Democrat and Republican choices, and I hate both parties platform.

Economically I'm as right wing as they come, socially I'm as liberal as they come. In other words, Gov't stays out of everything.

[Makarov]

Do you have a British version of the Constitution party? Which pretty much is based on returning a country back to its original constitutional boundaries.

[3070dan]

Do you have a British version of the Constitution party? Which pretty much is based on returning a country back to its original constitutional boundaries.

Not from what I know. There is only two parties that I like.

1) The British national party,
2) The libertarian party of the UK.

[ST101]

Do you have a British version of the Constitution party? Which pretty much is based on returning a country back to its original constitutional boundaries.

Don't let those people fool you Makarov, the Constituion party is guided by religion. Now, no disrespect at all if you're apart of that religion, but political policy need to be secular and impartial if we're supporting true, unbiased liberty.

The Constitution Party have stated that they would like to establish a moral code, redefine the first amendment around that(this REALLY turned me off bad), ban pornography and generally censor things, ban all forms of abortion and promote the Christian faith as a state model while regulating how people can act in public through that redefinition of the 1st amendment....

Even if you agree with most of that, you can see that's not Libertarian, nor is it realistic for the modern climate. They want to make Gov't small, but want to morally control people... doesn't add up.

The Libertarian Party has all of the same qualities of reducing Gov't, budget, throwing things before the Constitution before passing them, but also socially wants Gov't to stay out of people's lives entirely.

If the UK Libertarian Party is of that model, it is the model that UK citizens seeking a re-establishment of Liberty should support, and make it grow to be a large presence like we should with our Libertarian Party.

2 and 3 party systems can burn.

[Ashhow]

Would the UK libertarian party allow SLR's or fully auto's on FAC's? I ask due to my ongoing membership on the BNP, and it's actuall intentions regarding relaxing of laws.
Methinks I need to have a more policy orientated discussion with Nick Griffin next time I chat.

[Makarov]

Would the UK libertarian party allow SLR's or fully auto's on FAC's?

My friend you have great taste , and to somewhat answer your question. In  the US the libertarian party does want to keep SLRs and full autos legal. So I'm guessing its the same for the UK Libertarians.

[Ashhow]

My friend you have great taste , and to somewhat answer your question. In  the US the libertarian party does want to keep SLRs and full autos legal. So I'm guessing its the same for the UK Libertarians.

let's hope so 'ey, at some point I plan on doing free lancing, and with that money, I want myself a Hind and a Panther, god help the burgular who tries to rob my house

[Makarov]

Honestly though, you probably handled the L85A1, what opinions do you have on it. I.E. Recoil, ergonomics, etc.

[Spike]

 

It just has to be asked. What the heck are you doing with your left hand? Is it legal?

  Spike.

[Ashhow]

Yeah we use the L85A2, my rifle is number 15, I think... dam I forgot it again.
The upgraded version is pretty good, low recoil, good handling, especially with the new foregrips. Very reliable. Stupidly accurate. It's problems are it's right handed only, and it was made using a stampted manufactoring proccess, so it's not as strong as you'd like. If htey made a new one and actually put money into it, it would be the dog's bollocks, sadly they have will.

[Ashhow]

It just has to be asked. What the heck are you doing with your left hand? Is it legal?

  Spike.

Do you mean me, if so, I do everything but write with my right

[Makarov]

From what I've heard its a great rifle, the only issue I have with it is that its in 5.56 NATO. Not a horrible round, but the 7.62x51 NATO is better in my opinion. Not, to mention the USMC is thinking of going back to the 7.62x51 NATO.

[Ashhow]

Yeah sometimes 5.56mm dosen't give enough penetration, which is a real issue. I personally think we should convert and adopt the 6.8mm, more penetration, enough stopping power to kill in one.
7.62 nato is too powerful, produces too much recoil for a battle rifle and halfves the amount of ammo you can carry.

[Makarov]

I'll be honest, I have no experience in the military like you or many others have. So, just be warned that what ever I say, I say from a no nothing civilian stand point, and thus I will sound like I'm talking out of my @$$.

The problem with the 6.8 round is that most of NATO (and non NATO to boot) don't have anything design for use around that caliber. Like the .308 or .223, and thus would have to redesign their whole armories.
The 6.8 I think should be issued to M249 gunners, or soldier/Marines who have to carry a lot of ammo. While the 7.62x51 should be used by the individual rifle man. Also that the individual rifleman should (no offense to you) have more rifle training like that of the USMC. Where every Marine is trained as a rifleman first.

Just my 2 cents.

[Spike]

 

Oh boy now I am angry!
Before the SA80 plastic rifle, Brit troops carried the FN SLR in 7.62 for many years. Prior to that it was the Enfields in .303. So. Sorry for all you wimps, but the 7.62 IS BACK. The MOD now has a "new" sniper rifle and guess what? 7.62! Why? Because the 5.56 or .223 just cannot defeat good body armour, cannot reach out, and hey, most units have transport. So ammo isn't the big problem. After all most units have 50 cal support!

Spike.

[Spike]

 

And yeah I meant you. In your pic you look like your left hand has been photoshopped!!!!!!

Spike.

[Ashhow]

Going to try and compile three replies in one go.

Firstly for Makarov, you are dead on the money, there are no current rifle designs that all NATO countries have for 6.8mm. However in the US, they simply use an AR15 will a different barrell and reciever, that's all you really need to do, handling wise it's almost the same as 5.56mm so the characterists of the rifle woulden't need to be changed. Just because use use a different calibre, dosen't mean it can't change. We used to use 7.62 and before that .303.
As for infantry training, as a Royal Engineer, and indeed in any wing of the British Army, we are all trained as soldiers first. Engineers arn't xombat trained to say the level of USMC but every British infantry regiment, plus the Parachute regiment, Royal Marines and RAF regiment, are trained far superior to than the USMC.
As for spike and his admiration for the SLR (you old git ) the SLR wasn't that great, it's was long, had huge recoil, you could only really carry 120 rounds normally. The SA80 family was absolute shite, thanks to the lovely thatcher and her cost cutting, but it no longer is held together with black nasty, and it actually shoots stuff now without having a blockage every 2 rounds.
Oh and yeah as for my left hand, it is an inside joke, basically I coulden't get served with my MOD90 so I just posed with the beer I should of had 

[Spike]

 

Hey! You know me already?

I am an old git! Very very old git!

Maybe we were just better built back then. Young whipper snapper you.

Spike.

Still, cannot see a beer either, sure it's not imaginary?.......................