THIRD SECTION

DECISION

AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF

Application no. 37684/97 by ACCURACY INTERNATIONAL LIMITED AND 13 OTHERS against the United Kingdom

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section) , sitting on 26 September 2000 as a Chamber composed of

Mr J.-P. Costa, President ,

Mr W. Fuhrmann,

Mr P. KÅ«ris,

Mrs F. Tulkens,

Mr K. Jungwiert,

Sir Nicolas Bratza,

Mr K. Traja, judges ,

and Mrs S. Dollé, Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application introduced with the European Commission of Human Rights on 26 August 1997 and registered on 5 September 1997,

Having regard to Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11 to the Convention, by which the competence to examine the application was transferred to the Court,

Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicants appear to be engaged in the wholesale distribution of firearms. A list of applicants is annexed to the present decision. They are represented before the Court by Edwin Coe, Solicitors, London. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

The applicants refer to, and adopt, application no. 37683/97 brought by Ian Edgar (Liverpool) Limited (“Ian Edgar”), without providing any factual material to support their individual claims.

Controls on firearms in Great Britain, including controls on the possession of pistols, revolvers, rifles and the ammunition for them, were introduced for the first time in 1920. In 1934, fully-automatic weapons were prohibited, and in 1962, airguns and shotguns were made subject to restrictions for the first time. The controls were consolidated in the Firearms Act 1968. In 1988, semi -automatic and self-loading rifles were prohibited, and in 1992, disguised firearms were prohibited.

In March 1996, an individual entered a primary school in Scotland and shot dead a teacher and 16 children, and wounded 13 others. He had with him four handguns and 743 rounds of ammunition. The Government subsequently established a public inquiry chaired by the Hon. Lord Cullen, which presented a report to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in October 1996 (“the Cullen Report”).

Following the presentation of the Cullen Report, legislation was passed in 1997 prohibiting the possession of handguns, and schemes were set up for the payment of compensation to private individuals and to dealers in firearms in respect of handguns the possession of which was prohibited.

By the beginning of 1999, approximately £22 million had been paid out to some 1,500 dealers under the schemes, of a total of some £67 million which had been paid out to individuals, dealers and others. The Government estimate the total costs which will be involved in paying compensation under the schemes to be some £120 million.

COMPLAINTS

The applicants complain that the prohibition on handguns imposed by the 1997 Amendment Acts amounts to a substantial interference with the peaceful enjoyment of their possessions or a deprivation of their possessions for which they have received no compensation. They allege a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1. There is no effective remedy available to the applicants in the domestic courts to claim compensation and they therefore also allege a violation of Article 13 of the Convention.

THE LAW

The applicants refer to, and adopt, application no. 37683/97 brought by Ian Edgar (Liverpool) Limited, without providing any factual material to support their individual claims. The Court considered application no. 37683/97 on 25 January 2000, concluded that it was manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention and declared it inadmissible (Dec. 25.1.2000, Section III). On the basis of the information before the Court, the present application is materially indistinguishable from application no. 37683/97.

It follows that the application is manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court, unanimously,

DECLARES THE APPLICATION INADMISSIBLE .

S. Dollé J.-P. Costa Registrar              President

LIST OF APPLICANTS

Accuracy International Limited

BW(UK) Limited

Conjay Arms Co Limited

Bill Hulse (trading as Edgar Brothers)

Frank Kay (trading as Framar Hammerli UK)

Frank Dyke & Co Limited

Inpower Limited

G R Howe (trading as Modern & Antique Firearms)

N Waite (trading as Norman A Waite Sales Agencies)

Parker Hale Limited

Peter Brown (trading as Peter Brown Sporting Arms)

Springfield Firearms Limited

World Wide Arms Limited

John Smith (trading as York Guns)