This article explains the origins and application of the Firearm Act of 1920 and with it, the principal legal framework for British gun control up to the present day. The Act, which gave police wide powers to regulate gun sale and ownership, emerged at a moment of uncertainty and fear in the immediate wake of World War I, during which guns flooded the British market and Irish nationalists clashed openly with British authorities. This article will explore how World War I, the unrest in Ireland, as well as class and industrial interests shaped British gun control policy.
