Poll Suggests Brits Want Handgun Ban Debate in Parliament

We Yanks like to give the United Kingdom a hard time every once in a while for the country's oppressive gun laws. While we have the inalienable right to own handguns for home protection, Brits aren't afforded that freedom.

But if we're to believe a recent poll by the British media, the Queen's subjects may be pushing for a change in the nation's firearms policies.

The British newspaper The Telegraph recently posted an online poll to determine which issue citizens would like to see debated in Parliament's House of Commons.

According to The Telegraph, "Under Commons rules, any MP can introduce a bill, but only a few are ever debated. The ballot to decide which members get time for such debates was held on Thursday. James Wharton, the MP for Stockton South, came top of the ballot. ... Now, it is over to you — vote below for the Bill you'd like to see debated in the Commons."

Rounding up a list of six ideas proposed by readers — including term limits on Parliament members, a flat tax and even a ban on spitting in public — is a repeal of the U.K.'s ban on private handgun possession, a result of the Firearms Act of 1997.

The reasoning sounds awfully familiar: "After all, why should only criminals be 'allowed' to possess guns and shoot unarmed, defenceless citizens and police officers?" wrote user Colliemum.

That's a good point, one we've heard countless times from Americans countering the latest wave of gun control proposals across the states.

So how was that proposal received across the pond? Better than you'd think, actually; as of this post, the proposal has garnered 8,174 of 10,095 total votes — that's 80.97 percent. While it's tough to say a majority of citizens in the U.K. want their guns back, these numbers surely indicate that the debate is one worth having no matter where you live.

We assume most of our readers don't reside in Great Britain, so be sure and read up on the best states for guns owners in the good old USA.

---