But it is a nonsense to say, as the gun lobby does, that only criminals endanger the public - that we are safe from gun-owning, law abiding citizens. In the Finland School shooting - on 7 Nov 2007 - nine people were killed. The gunman's weapon had been legally obtained and registered to the killer. He had no criminal record and was a member of the local shooting club.
And closer to home, in 2009 a manslaughter case went to court where a boy had accidentally shot and killed his friend with a shotgun he found in his father’s closet. That gun had never served a useful purpose - yet, it utterly destroyed two families.
The reality is, guns kill. Basta.