I have been following the correspondence between Michael Fitzgibbons and Noel Azzopardi (secretary AAMS) in the light of the publication of a White Paper which I have also read and compared to our present law.

Statistics quoted by the police clearly indicate that, for obvious reasons, it is illegal firearms that are used in crime. In the few cases where the firearms used were licensed, there appears to be serious doubts as to why the licence was issued in the first place, had proper checks been carried out on the character of the applicants. I have always believed that the proper order of things would be to:

Enact reasonable laws that give ample room to properly-licensed individuals who have a valid reason to keep firearms (target shooting, collecting, hunting etc) within pre-defined and internationally acceptable parameters. Current owners should be accommodated as long as they conform to proper and reasonable safeguards while any new applicants would be properly screened (not just by the police, but also by the gun clubs they apply to join);

Remove as many illegally-held weapons from circulation by declaring an amnesty to owners after the proper checks have been carried out. It is highly improbable that individuals with criminal intent will be queuing up for the amnesty but, at least, honest individuals who have come into possession of a firearm would be given the opportunity to regularise themselves.

The present law is indeed a relic of colonial times (whether Mr Fitzgibbons likes it or not) and gives wide discretion to the commissioner. Nothing is prohibited but then the commissioner seems to be in a position to choose as he deems fit. This is obviously not the right way to move ahead with the times, especially if we look to Europe for inspiration.

I was therefore enthusiastic about the prospect of a new law and rushed to get a copy of the White Paper. But I was sorely disappointed since we are now being presented with proposals that give even wider discretion to the commissioner and the police! Not only that; most terms are so vague that I doubt whether those who drafted the White Paper could define them if confronted in court.

Having read the protests by enthusiasts` bodies and realising that true experts were not properly consulted, I fear that if such legislation were to be enacted, we would head in the same direction as the UK.

Mr Fitzgibbons would very much like us to follow his country`s ways in gun laws which are basically prohibitionist and punish the law-abiding. God forbid! I do not need his assurances that the UK is now a safer place to live in! Statistics show otherwise. Ever since the UK enacted its knee-jerk gun laws we have been seeing an escalation in the trafficking of illegal guns and their use in crime.