WRITING in a national newspaper today Tony Blair reiterates what we have stated in these columns: no-one can legislate against madness or evil.

But what we can do is make it as difficult as possible for unbalanced and evil people to get their hands on guns. Ahead of the conclusions of the Cullen inquiry, Labour has announced it would ban hand guns.

While we do not disagree with such a ban, we think that Ministers should await the Cullen inquiry's outcome before legislating. New gun laws must be carefully examined before they are implemented. There must not be any mistakes.

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