I was surprised to not see this discussed here. [url=]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/10229105.stm[/url]

Doesn't look good for the already strict gun laws in the UK.

Funnily enough I was thinking about how gun laws are going to get so much stricter (and my chance of owning one ever decreasing).

 

It's a sad event, but it's really unclear as to motivation (which we might never know, given that he killed himself).

It was a dispute over a will apparently, going by the fact that he shot his brother and the family lawyer this looks likely.

It was a dispute over a will apparently, going by the fact that he shot his brother and the family lawyer this looks likely.

 

I haven't read the news since earlier when they were saying that they didn't know the motivation, so thanks for pointing it out. I do remember reading the thing about his brother and the lawyer and thinking it was a bit suspicious.

 

I found it weird how on the radio they gave out some innocuous facts, like how he hadn't cleaned up before going out on his shooting spree.

I heard about it on the news

 

he killed like 12 people amd wounded at least 25

 

very sad indeed

Wow I'm surprised more people were injured/killed.

The disturbing thing is that apart from a very few, the majority of his victims were random people he came across on the streets. One news report interviewed a 15 year old girl he had shot at and missed because she ducked and said she felt the breeze go past her hair.

This was the first major shooting in what? 12 years?

 

I honestly fail to see how this could be used as an excuse to pass stricter gun laws; it wouldn't help much. This is an isolated incident, and there will be more isolated incidents. Hell, they don't even have to use a gun. They could use cricket bats and kitchen knives. Should those be banned as well? They kill people.

 

I don't understand British gun laws, but whatever.

There's a loophole in the gun license renewal system where it can be updated by post (e.g. in Cumbria) in certain areas, and not require a police visit (which is to assess the individual) or a checkup by a Doctor/GP. He had the gun license for 20 years, so he would have needed at least 4 checks in that time, whereas he had one initial one. I'm not saying that his breakdown would have been apparent or obvious, but it's still a loophole none the less.

 

From what I've read, this was a gradual thing building up to the shootings, rather than just one burst of rage.

The fact that this "doesn't look good" for UK gun laws never even crossed my mind. Keep them away from people.

We have some of the strictest gun laws in the world so I don't think they need anything major, just some small tinkering such as what hobgoblin said.

Very sad indeed.

If i recall correctly, this is the 3rd mass shooting in 20 something years in the Uk, with the Hungerford and Dunblane shootings being the other 2. I don't really think the gun laws here need to be changed all too much. I did read a fair few people complaining about the way the police handled the matter but i can't see what else the police could've done, the guy was gunning people at random.