Cameron warns against 'knee-jerk' gun crackdown

David Cameron vowed today that everything possible would be done to prevent a repeat of the Cumbria killings.

The British Prime Minister said the people of the area where Derrick Bird carried out his murders had been through “appalling suffering”.

But, speaking at Downing Street, he cautioned against “knee-jerk” demands for tougher gun laws.

Mr Cameron, who is visiting the county tomorrow with Home Secretary Theresa May to meet senior police officers, said he wanted to ensure they had everything they needed to complete their investigations.

“All of us should be thinking of the people of West Cumbria, of the appalling suffering that they went through yesterday,” he said.

“We must do absolutely everything to complete this investigation, to make sure that everything is done to make sure that events like this cannot happen again in our country, and to help bring those communities back together.”

Mr Cameron acknowledged that there would be a debate on whether the gun laws needed to be changed in the light of yesterday's events, but cautioned against any rush to judgment.

“The right thing to do is of course to look at all of these issues and have an open mind,” he said.

“But we should be clear that in this country we have some of the toughest gun control legislation anywhere in the world and we shouldn’t make any knee-jerk reaction to think that there is some instant legislative or regulatory answer.”