I think you'll find very few British gun owners from '96 that will recognise that as an accurate depiction of the reaction to the Dunblane massacre. The hysterical kneejerk response orchestrated by the Labour-supported Snowdrop bandwagon Petition at the fag-end of a very weak Tory government resulted in the wholesale stripping of rights from British shooters, whilst leaving gaping holes in the legislation which would still allow those unsuitable to get a gun if the wished.
I have no problem as a FAC holder and regular shooter in abiding by whatever legislation is put in place to allow me to shoot, but to pretend that the dog & pony goatfcuk following Dunblane was anything but a rushed and botched over-reaction is pure fiction.
For the record, I don't like AR-style rifles. Just a personal thing, I prefer Lee Enfields.
Well, I never owned a gun, so didn't affect me in the slightest. Of course gun-owners were going to be upset, but I don't remember widespread marches on Parliament. Happy to be corrected.
For the record, I love shooting. The times on the ranges when I wore green were the happiest I spent in the army. If I lived in America, I'd probably have half a dozen guns and would be teaching my children to shoot.
I think that for most non-gun owners, the tragedy at Dunblane was too shocking. Sometimes the needs of the few are outweighed by the greater good.
I know that there have been shootings since, Derek Bird springs to mind, but I think about the yoofs of London and muslim extremists and I'm pretty happy with giving up any claim on gun ownership I may've had.
Think about how bad Manchester Arena would've been if the perpetrator had an RPK and a couple of drums of ammo.