Legally held weapons

I am pleased to note that Mr M. Fitzgibbons agrees with us that legally held weapons do not pose a risk and that he supports our claim for a just weapons law that gives due recognition to legal activities.

In Malta we have had two official amnesties in which bona fide owners registered their guns with the police. These guns, many of them prestigious collectors` items, are now safely recorded, in good hands and out of the criminal pool.

He does not seem to be aware of this and I do not blame him for this as he lives abroad. However, Mr Fitzgibbons`s claim that British citizens were afforded the opportunity of an `amnesty` may mislead the Maltese public (his own countrymen know better!). What happened in the UK is that all owners of legal handguns were forced to hand in their guns to have them confiscated and destroyed.

It is only the honest, law-abiding shooters and collectors who lost out - there were no criminals to be found queuing to hand in their guns! Is Mr Fitzgibbons claiming that this had the approval of the electorate or that it was unanimously approved by members of parliament? He should ask former Labour Minister of Sport Kate Hoey what her opinion is, and not just rely on the original hysterical response of the British tabloids. Today, even the latter are starting to realise that the confiscation of legally held handguns has had a negative impact on armed crime.

If one takes the Swiss model as an example, where every household must have a fully automatic assault rifle, and compares it to the British one, where a quasi total ban on firearms exists, one finds that these two countries are at the opposite ends of the armed crime spectrum. Switzerland probably has the lowest incidence of armed crime in Europe.

Mr Fitzgibbons`s first letter contained sweeping accusations that made no distinction between legally and illegally hand guns. To add insult to injury, he labelled our country as the `reincarnation` of the Wild West!

I ask him, would he walk alone at night in most UK towns and cities and feel as safe as he would here? Is he seriously expecting us to believe that the UK is much safer now after all legally held weapons have been confiscated?

No, thanks, Mr Fitzgibbons, I and many other Maltese enthusiasts have no intention of following your country`s `example`. That is why we shall continue to insist that our new law should fully respect our rights as law abiding citizens and enthusiasts.