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Gordon Brown: Guns are completely unacceptable

Gordon Brown states his unilateral opposition to guns in the UK.

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Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, second right, listens to Mike Giffin, right, Chairman of Surrey National Farmers' Union (NFU), during a meeting at the NFU Headquarters in London, Friday, Sept. 14, 2007. Bown attended the meeting to discuss the foot and mouth outbreak with farmers in the infected area in Surrey and the south east of England. The British government said Friday cattle slaughtered on a second farm southwest of London have tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease. (AP Photo/AKira Suemori, Pool)

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated this morning that in the UK guns are “completely unacceptable”.

He made the comment during a live interview broadcast this morning on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. In the interview, in which he discussed a range of issues including the economy, crime and the prospect of an autumn election, he stated categorically: “In the 21st century there is a huge set of cultural issues that I think you ask what’s the right boundary between what’s acceptable and what’s unacceptable? In America guns are acceptable. In Britain they’re completely unacceptable.”

His comment came in advance of his anticipated announcement, at this year’s Labour Party conference, of further proposals to curb gun crime in inner city areas. His uncompromising position on guns has caused commentators to react with concern over the likelihood of yet more legislation to impact on legitimate gun owners and users.

Mike Yardley, spokesman for the Shooting Sports Trust told www.shootinguk.co.uk: “It disturbs me greatly that he made such an unqualified comment to that effect, particularly with the prospect of a ban of some sort on airguns in Scotland on the horizon. I believe the shooting community is far more vulnerable from legislation than it would like to think at the moment. We’re beginning to see the return of the sorts of unguarded and hostile comments against guns that we saw 10 or 20 years ago after Hungerford and Dunblane. In my opinion, it means there’s anti-gun legislation on his mind.”