Yesterday was the eighth anniversary of the Dunblane massacre. It is a time, naturally, when a lot of people will reflect on the awful events at that primary school. For me the thoughts and memories spread throughout the year, every year. One of the 16 children killed that day was my five-year-old daughter Sophie.

I wouldn’t have chosen this week to write this article, but there are some things that cannot go unanswered. Britain’s ban on handguns, introduced after Dunblane, was challenged last week by the frontbench Tory MP Patrick Mercer. His comments demand a response.

First, let me make one thing clear. Those of us who have burnt up a lot of emotional energy campaigning for tighter gun control did so not because we wanted to take revenge on shooters, nor as a way of dealing with our grief. We did it to lessen the chances of a gun massacre happening again.

We have a constant fight on our hands, and one that is arguably getting more difficult as the gun lobby, the countryside lobby and certain figures in the Tory party gain in confidence.

Mercer is the Conservatives’ spokesman on “homeland security”. His comments on guns, expressed at a party conference fringe meeting last weekend, came as no great surprise to me. The views were just another exasperating reminder that, when it comes to attitudes to firearms, many at Westminster, where all UK firearms laws are made, remain loyal to the shooters’ cause. Although Mercer later insisted his remarks were taken out of context, his comments came straight from a gun lobby list of favourite sayings.

The 1997 handgun ban was, he said, “nonsense” and “a knee-jerk reaction”. Gun crime “has exploded” since the ban. “It is clearly highly undesirable that people get killed on the roads by motor cars. But we don’t ban motor cars,” he added. “It is so much more sensible to train children to handle and have a respect for weapons than to simply ban them.”

Whether or not this was a deliberate piece of kite-flying, testing public reaction before official policy is made, it is safe to assume that there are plenty more MPs who would echo their colleague’s words.

Among certain Tories there is a particular attitude towards guns: it is the old-fashioned contention that owning weapons and knowing how to handle them makes a man of you. Gun ownership marks you out as someone to be respected. How else is it possible to explain the hysterical reaction of some gun-owners at having to part with what was a piece of sports equipment?

If the gun lobby and politicians can legitimise this link between gun ownership and respect, what do we say to disenfranchised kids in inner-city areas, who crave respect, when they also turn to guns? All are equally misguided. Public safety will always be the loser if these views prevail.

Recent years have seen a growth in the strength and influence of the countryside lobby and hunting fraternity, which have flexed their political muscle with massive public demonstrations and astute lobbying. This is a challenge to Michael Howard, the new Conservative leader. Will he respond to the Countryside Alliance and to gun lobby pressure and reverse the handgun ban?

To those of us who were campaigning for a handgun ban in 1996, Howard was the home secretary who appeared less than enthusiastic about the legislation he was introducing. He made it clear that he would not contemplate banning all handguns. If insiders’ reports are to be believed, it was only the firm stand of Michael Forsyth, the Scottish secretary, that pushed Howard into going as far as he did.

Now that Mercer’s comments have rekindled the debate the Tory leader should make clear what the official policy will be. If Howard, like Mercer, is tempted by the view that the solution lies in teaching more people to shoot, tempting more people with the excitement of firing guns and putting more guns into circulation, then he is being led along a dangerous path.

The gun lobby saw the handgun ban as an affront to its dignity and won’t let it rest. As long as there are politicians willing to listen and sympathise there will always be a risk that the progressive steps this country has taken against gun culture will one day be reversed.

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