Review of Firearms and Self-Defence Laws Needed
The Libertarian Party calls for an evidence-based approach to firearms ownership and self-defence laws in the UK.
Firearms are an important issue and one that garners controversy in the political landscape in the UK, which has some of the strictest firearms and shooting laws in the world.
The Libertarian Party notes, however, that the strictness of law only affects law-abiding gun owners and doesn’t prevent illegal guns falling into the hands of those wanting to do harm to others, as evidenced by continued shootings on British streets using illegal firearms.
The Libertarian Party is sympathetic towards those arguing for greater rights to self-defence, recognising the cold comfort in the saying ‘when seconds count the police are only minutes away’. However, while the Libertarian Party has not called for gun laws that expand gun ownership for the purposes of self-defence, it does call for an evidence-based review of the current state of legal firearm ownership.
Mike Lindsay, Libertarian Party Firearms Spokesman, said, “much of firearms policy appears to be a knee jerk reaction for political point scoring, which invariably follows the same course of curtailing the civil liberties of law-abiding gun owners and sporting shooters, but making little impact on criminals. An evidence-based approach would allow policy to properly balance the rights of the law-abiding while protecting individuals from those who intend to do harm.”
Dan Liddicott, Libertarian Party Home Affairs spokesman, said, “the Libertarian Party remains strongly critical of laws which place victims at a disadvantage against armed criminals who seek to harm them, by denying them any legal effective means of self-defence. It is morally wrong to create laws which deny people the right to defend themselves against those who ignore the law.”
Dan Liddicott added, “the Libertarian Party calls for a review of the law as it relates to self-defence, with a view to redressing this imbalance by legalising effective self-defence measures such as pepper-spray, which is more commonly available on the continent but in the UK currently classed as a Section 5 weapon and illegal for the general public to own.”
The Libertarian Party calls for reviews of firearms law and self-defence law, that are long overdue and would be the starting point for creating a fair and evidence-based approach to firearms ownership and self-defence in the UK.
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