This is good because simply banning stuff tends not to work.

If you look back, the bans that were implemented after the last two major UK shootings did not prevent the next one.

After Hungerford – where Michael Ryan gunned down 16 people with a semi-automatic rifle – they were banned.

But nine years later Dunblane happened.

Handguns were then banned but in the meantime it feels like there’s been an escalation in criminals using guns on our streets.

Huddersfield has been hit by numerous shootings in the three years I have worked here. So will shotguns and rifles be next?

According to the most recent figures for England and Wales there are 138,728 people certificated to hold firearms and they own 435,383 weapons.

There are 574,946 shotgun certificates which cover 1.4 million shotguns.

Most of those owners will never go on a four hour killing spree.

Even if all guns are banned, people who one day "flip" will find a way to harm those they consider deserve it, whether it be with a knife or an illegal weapon.

Following the Colorado school tragedy, film-maker Michael Moore attempted to shed some light on why people commit shootings in his movie Bowling For Columbine.

In the film Moore attempts to contrast the American attitude to crime to that of Canada where he states gun ownership is at similar levels.

In the States there are roughly 11,000 gun-related deaths per year, but in Canada just 165.

Why? Well apparently Canadians are much less concerned about crime and so are far less likely to shoot each other.

The reason for the US obsession with firearms?

It’s their media according to Moore. Whereas in Canada the news is mainly about forest fires and bears wandering into town – I can vouch for this as I also lived in Canada – in the States people are bombarded with horrific tales of armed home invasions, street shootings and fears about invaders from overseas.

Early reports in the national press are that Derrick Bird was a loner with an alleged grudge over a will, who also happened to legally own guns.

Before we do anymore banning perhaps we should first look at the amount of undiagnosed mental illness in our society and perhaps improve the psychological monitoring of gun owners.