Thank goodness for a really sensible letter (March 30) about handguns from Graham Barton of Battle Orders Ltd.

Thanks to our do-gooders and trendies, a stupid government banned legal handguns a few years ago and all of them have gone underground.

Some towns are awash with guns now and anyone can buy one on the black market. More come into the country every day - some all-plastic and undetectable - and no one need bother with a licence.

Batty judges have suggested that imitation guns, if not banned, should be painted green.

Any yob can make an imitation handgun, even if he does not have a real one, and anyone threatening with one should be treated as the criminal he is and, if need be, shot by the police - who may soon need to be regularly armed themselves.

Gun crime has gone up enormously since the handgun ban - by 100 per cent in London. Doubtless, criminals feel they have a monopoly on them now and even small-time burglars carry them.

Moral for our do-gooders and trendies: If it ain't wrong, don't try to fix it.

-Richard Halfpenny, New Road, Rustington