“In 1900 the British government trusted the people with firearms and to be their own guardians. Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, the Marquess of Salisbury said he would ‘laud the day when there was a rifle in every cottage in England.’ However in 1903 Britain passed its first ever ‘gun control’ law, a minor one requiring a permit to carry a handgun and restricting the age of purchasers. It was the first toe over a slippery slope towards complete firearms prohibition. In 1919 the British government, in fear of communist insurgents and domestic and foreign anarchists, passed its first sweeping anti-gun laws (under the smokescreen of crime control) even though gun related crime was almost non existent in the England of the day. British subjects could now only buy a firearm if they could show ‘a good reason’ for having one and the firearm certificate system that we have today (implemented and abused by police) was introduced.” (02/21/10)