UKIP leader Nigel Farage has insisted legalising handguns would not see a return to the dark days of 'Gunchester'.
Speaking during a walkabout with the party's candidate in the Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election – where UKIP are widely expected to come second – he said responsible, licensed handgun ownership would have no impact on the number of firearms offences in the city .
Mr Farage made international headlines after calling yesterday for a reversal of the ban introduced after the Dunblane school massacre in 1996.
Today he sought to play down the comments, insisting they had been sensationalised.
But he insisted there was 'almost no link' between legalised gun ownership and crime.
“If you look at gun crime it's really interesting,” he told the MEN.
“We bring the ban in, in the late 1990s. In the first five or six years after we ban handguns, gun crime virtually doubles across Britain, proving there is no link between sensibly, legally held handguns.
“Mercifully since 2007 there has been quite a big fall in gun crime, including in Manchester.
“So what I am saying to you is, there is almost no link between sensible, decent people – under a registration system – holding handguns for sporting and shooting, and crime on the streets.”
Asked whether the move could turn the clock back on gun crime trends, which have seen firearms offences in the region plummet from 146 in 2007 to just 11 in the six months to October, he said: “Of course not.
“Because to qualify to have a handgun you've got to show that you are a responsible person, that you haven't got a record and all the rest of it.
“But I think frankly it is a tiny issue... would it be a priority for UKIP to reverse the law? No.”
Other senior UKIP members at the walkabout – in Sale town centre – suggested Mr Farage's original gun comments were not party policy, at least for the moment.
Deputy leader Paul Nuttall said he had only read them 'this morning', adding that UKIP policies are currently in development ahead of the general election.
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