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World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
12 June 1997

BRITISH VOTE FOR HANDGUN BAN "STUNNING" SAYS WCC

Last night s decision of the British House of Commons to give a second
reading to a bill designed to ban all handguns is a "stunning action", says
Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser, General Secretary of the World Council of
Churches, in a letter to British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair.

The full text of Dr Raiser s letter follows:

"I wish to congratulate you and the House of Commons for the moral
courage and wisdom you have exercised in adopting by an
overwhelming majority the Firearms (Amendment) Bill extending the
earlier ban on large-calibre handguns, thereby outlawing all
privately-owned handguns in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Through this stunning action, you have not only kept faith with the
families of the victims of the tragedy of Dunblane, but have offered to all
the people of the land a new sense of security.
You have kept your promise to the people.  You have established a
political and moral precedent for the nations.

Through our newly established Programme to Overcome Violence, and
especially through our present global initiative, "Peace to the City", the 
long-standing opposition of the World Council of Churches to the
proliferation of weapons in society has been further strengthened. 
Around the world, inhabitants of cities, towns and villages are being held
hostage to the spiralling violence in society resulting in large part from the
presence of these weapons.

Your action offers hope to your own citizens, and to the world that
elected leaders are indeed capable of taking hard decisions in the public
interest.  We sincerely hope that your counterparts in other nations will
take courage from your initiative and follow your lead."

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 330, in
more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but
works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest governing body is the
Assembly, which meets approximately every seven years.  The WCC
was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is
headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church
in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Press and Information Office
Tel:  (41.22) 791.61.52/51
Fax:  (41.22) 798 13 46
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http://www.wcc-coe.org

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