The Firearms Act 1997 was introduced by the Conservative Government of John Major

John Major

Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...

 following the Dunblane Massacre

Dunblane massacre

The Dunblane massacre was a multiple murder-suicide which occurred at Dunblane Primary School in the Scottish town of Dunblane on 13 March 1996. Sixteen children and one adult were killed by Thomas Hamilton before he committed suicide.-Timeline of events:...

.

It effectively banned the possession of all handgun

Handgun

A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....

s other than those chambered for .22 Rim-fire cartridges by civilians in most of the United Kingdom by making them subject to Section Five (Prohibited Weapons) of the Firearms Acts.

Tony Blair's Labour Government followed later in the year with the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997

Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997

-Reaction to the ban:The pistol ban makes very few exceptions for people to own a cartridge handgun legally. This has resulted in the near complete cessation of recreational and competitive target shooting with handguns in Great Britain; Britons who wish to participate in these activities must now...

which banned .22 handguns.