Could the Virginia Tech massacre happen in Britain?

Probably not, is the conclusion of Magnus Linaker.

This might be an opportune moment to ask ourselves whether Britain's gun laws actually work. Whilst massacres such as Dunblane are extremely rare, such events generate far more publicity than the gun crime carried out on Britain's streets each and every day. Much of it rarely makes it into the newspapers.

Ten years have passed since the handgun ban was introduced. In that time, gun violence has more than doubled, whilst little has been done to crack down on the perpetrators.

Watching the Virgina Tech tragedy unfold on our TV screens, we may smugly congratulate ourselves over our gun laws and tell ourselves that such a thing could never happen here, but we have no cause for complacency.