Theresa May Says UK Gun Licence Applicants May Have To Have Approval From Spouse

Firearm Licence Applicants May Have To Gain Partners Permission

People who want to apply for a UK gun licence may have to get the written approval of their spouse or partner in an attempt to curb domestic violence.

In a letter published on Wednesday, home secretary, Theresa May, outlines proposals being considered to tighten firearm controls.

One of the suggestions is to replicate "the Canadian practice of consulting the partners of firearms applicants" as "it is not appropriate to issue a firearm or shotgun certificate where there is a history or successive reports of domestic abuse"

May, wrote the letter to MPs shortly after the Sandy Hook gun massacre in America in which 28 people including the shooter was shot dead.

Gun ownership in the UK is already tightly controlled.

Automatic weapons like that used in the Sandy Hook massacre are banned outright and most types of handguns were banned in the wake of the Dunblane school massacre.

Applicants are already strictly vetted but the new proposals aim to add a extra layer of legislation to protect the victims of domestic violence.

The letter is a supplement to a report on gun controls commissioned by the Home Affairs Committee after Derrick Bird killed 12 people in a rampage across Cumbria in 2010.

A heated policy debate is currently raging in America between those who demand stricter gun controls to prevent further shootings and those who refuse to give up their second amendment rights to bear arms.

Brit Piers Morgan has become the unofficial spokesman of the anti-gun lobby engaging in a number of often ferocious television debates.

He has even become the subject of a petition from gun enthusiasts to have him deported.

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