SIR: I refer to your article of Thursday October 24, in which you quote Tom Sackville MP as saying that it is easy to hire an Uzi Machine Pistol for the night. Perhaps Mr Sackville is unaware that such weapons have been banned in this country since 1936.

Presumably 60 years of being illegal has had no effect on criminal use of these weapons, and surely only the most blinkered can believe that a ban on legally held fire arms will thin the numbers held in criminal hands.

The real issue here is whether targeting the law abiding users of legally held fire arms will have any affect on criminal usage.

A Schofield, Bolton

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