The Government have now published the Firearms Bill but are still refusing to allow a freevote - a vote without parties' whip being used. It is of great regret to me that the Torieshave taken this position, particularly when calls for a free vote have increased from allquarters, including MPs from all parties.

The issue of public safety is one in which every Member of Parliament should be able toexercise his or her judgement, without fear or favour. Disarray in the Tory Party's ranksshows just how wrong the Government are to deny the House of Commons a free vote and let MPsvote with their conscience.

The resolve in Scotland for a complete ban is as strong as ever. Not even the gun lobbysupport the Government's muddled and ill-thought out proposals. The only just and workableoption is a complete ban, and the SNP will be working extremely hard along with others inthe House of Commons in order to win this vote and I remain optimistic that the Governmentcan be defeated if they insist on trying to push their uneasy compromise through by usingparty whips.

The Scottish National Party's position is well known - we support a total ban on allhandguns. We believe that the case for a complete ban has been well made by the Snowdroppetition and others in recent months, and that a majority exists in the House of Commons forsuch a measure. Some issues should be decided on conscience not party lines, and this is onesuch issue.

Banning 80% of handguns, as the government want to do, would still leave a potential 40,000handguns of 0.22 calibre in existence, including multi-shot guns. Such a compromise wouldfail to lay to rest the fears and anxieties of those directly affected in Dunblane, andindeed people throughout the UK, about the possibility of a future outrage.

Japan, on the other hand, has a complete handgun ban. To quote from a Japanese governmentdocument: "The regulations on handguns are particularly strict, with firearms licenses,except in the case of police officers and Self-Defence Force officers, almost never issuedto the general public." In 1995, only 58 authorised handguns were in existence in Japan -0.1% of the guns which may remain in the UK under the Government's proposals.

A free vote is the only way to ensure that the debate is not reduced into purely becoming aparty political argument. It is an issue which should rise above party politics, and whichmust be decided by the popular will and the conscience of MPs - not party whips. I amconfident that in a free vote, the position of a complete ban on handguns would carry theday.

Roseanna Cunningham MP
SNP Justice and Equality Spokesperson
Scottish National Party


Roseanna Cunningham is the Member of Parliament for Perth and Kinross, she is also the Home Affairs Spokeperson for the Scottish National Party.

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If you would like to know more about the SNP and HELP SCOTLAND contact snp.hq@snp.org.uk or visit the official the Scottish National Party web site.

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