Following Michael Atherton’s new year killing spree in Peterlee, Channel 4 News looks at the laws on gun possession.
Atherton shot dead his partner and two other women before turning his gun on himself. He held licences for rifles and shotguns, but it is not clear if he used one of these weapons.
What we do know is that in 2008, Durham Police had “minor contact” with his family. Police were contacted after claims that Atherton was threatening to harm himself.
Easington MP Grahame Morris said on Tuesday that parliament should consider the gun laws in the wake of the tragedy. But David Cameron’s official spokesman said legislation in Britain was “amongst the toughest in the world” and there were no plans to make changes.
Mr Morris said questions remained about whether Atherton should have had his shotgun licence revoked after the 2008 incident, when “concerns were raised about his mental health”.
He added that “there are issues about whether we need to have some professional input and assessment where concerns are expressed about a person’s mental health, and whether someone suffering from depression should have, as a matter of course, their shotgun or firearms licence revoked”.
Durham Police revealed on Tuesday night that they had confiscated Atherton’s guns in 2008 because of worries about his mental health. He then applied to have them returned, which they accepted after he told them he had no intention of harming himself.
A force spokesman said normal procedure was followed. “If there was no gounds for the revocation of a firearms licence, the guns would be returned to the firearms licence holder,” he said.
So how many firearms and shotguns are legally held and what do the laws say?
Home Office figures for England and Wales show there were 141,775 certificates for rifles, and 580,653 for shotguns, at the end of March 2010. Police revoked 302 firearms licences and 1,076 shotgun licences in 2009-10.
The vast majority of new applications and renewals for a firearms or shotgun licence are approved.
The laws have been tightened in recent years. After Michael Ryan’s killing of 16 people in Hungerford in 1987, semi-automatic weapons were banned. Handguns were also prohibited following the Dunblane massacre.
In 2010, MPs on the home affairs select committee said gun users who received suspended prison sentences, like the Cumbia killer Derrick Bird, should lose their licences.
But the government rejected this proposal, along with another recommendation that anyone receiving a custodial sentence should be banned from owning firearms for life. The Home Office argued that courts were already able to strip people of their firearms licences if they thought this was necessary.
People seeking gun licences have to satisfy their local police force that they have good reason to own weapons, and are subjected to background checks to ensure they do not pose a threat to public safety.
Those applying for permission must declare any criminal records and relevant medical conditions, including previous treatment for depression or mental illness.
People sentenced to more than three years in prison are banned from owning firearms. Those sentenced to between three months and three years are banned from owning a weapon for five years from the date of their release.
Licences are valid for five years and must be renewed.
In its response to the home affairs select committee, the Home Office said it welcomed an agreement between the Association of Chief Police Officers and the British Medical Association “that the police will put in place within six months new arrangements to notify a GP of the grant and renewal of a firearms and/or shot gun certificate”.
In other words, in future, police officers and doctors will work more closely on applications for gun licences.
Revoking licences
For decades, the police have had the authority to revoke licences if they have concerns about someone’s mental health. They had these powers in 2008, when Durham Police confiscated Atherton’s guns.