Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997
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The Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 was the first significant piece of legislation introduced by the new Labour government of Tony Blair.
The act was created in response to the Snowdrop Petition following the Dunblane Massacre. The previous Conservative government had followed the recommendations of the Cullen Report on the massacre and introduced the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 that banned high calibre handguns, greater than .22 calibre. But this new (No. 2) act banned the private ownership of all cartridge ammunition handguns, regardless of calibre.
The only handguns to escape the ban were:
- Antique and Muzzle-loading black powder guns
- Guns of historic interest whose ammunition is no longer available ('Section 7.1' weapons)
- Guns of historic interest with current calibres ('Section 7.3' weapons)
- Guns which fall outside the Home Office definition of "Handguns" (e.g. NSRA "Long Arms", and Long-Barreled Handguns both Small- and Full-bore), where their dimensions - usually barrel length, but also overall firearm length, rules them out of the Home Office definitions, so for legal purposes, they are treated as Rifles.
Guns of historic interest are ones typically manufactured before 1919. Since Section 7.3 historic weapons use currently available ammunition, they must be kept at a secure designated site such as the Bisley camp.
The UK government has been heavily criticised for delays in implementing the firearms register under the Act – the register had not been created nine years after the passing of the act[1]. However, the complete ban on private ownership of handguns has been fully implemented and strictly enforced.
