Tougher gun laws pledged

After the massacre: Government reforms may fall short of MPs' call for ban

Changes to the gun laws in the wake of the Dunblane massacre were promised last night after John Major assured MPs on all sides that the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, was carrying out his own review.

But the changes, which will be delayed until after the Cullen inquiry into the killings, are likely to fall short of the demands by some MPs for a total ban on private possession of hand guns.

There could be cross-party backbench moves to take more radical action, pre-empting the changes in the law being privately promised by the Government after consultation with the Opposition parties.

One of the most likely changes could make it easier for the police to turn down applications for gun licences after Tony Blair, the Opposition leader, threw his weight behind calls for the rules to tightened. The Labour leader said the review should consider tightening the law on hand guns in private possession.

He also supported George Robertson, Labour's Scottish spokesman, who lives in Dunblane, in a call to reverse the presumption on the police to grant a gun licence unless they find strong reasons why it should be withheld.

The law could be changed to allow the police a presumption to refuse the licence, unless the person seeking to own a gun can prove they are fit to do so.

Mr Blair and Mr Major gave a clear signal at Prime Minister's Question Time that they want to make progress with cross- party consent.

But some MPs, led by David Mellor, the former minister, believe the gun lobby will seek to water down the proposals, and they are expected to step up demands for a ban on hand guns.

The Prime Minister told Mr Blair that Lord Cullen would be asked to consider rules governing the possession of handguns and invited Opposition parties to submit their views to the Home Office. Full terms of reference for the public inquiry are now being drawn up but Scottish Office sources said a formal announcement was expected around Thursday.

Officials at the Home Office and the Scottish Office will consult the Firearms Consultative Committee - which has a rolling brief to update gun regulations - as part of a detailed consideration of the lessons to be drawn. The findings of the review will then be passed on to the Cullen Inquiry.

Mr Blair, who accompanied the Prime Minister on an emotionally charged visit to Dunblane last Friday, said: "It would be sensible to begin at least examining these issues now on an all-party basis.

Mr Major told him: "I know the Home Secretary would welcome the views of other parties . . . to make a decision after we have the evidence on which to base that decision in its entirety."