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How laws change over time - Coggle Diagram
How laws change over time
Homosexuality
Changes over time
Homosexual acts between males aged 21 or over were legalised in England and Wales in 1967, in Scotland in 1980 and Northern Ireland in 1982 (lesbian acts had never been illegal).
The age of consent was reduced to 18 in 1994 and then equalised with heterosexuals at 16 in 2000.
In the UK, all homosexual acts between men were made a crime in 1885, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The British introduced many laws into their colonies during the period of the British Empire. For example, in 1861, they introduced a law in India making homosexuality a crime. This law was struck down by India's supreme court in 2018 and homosexuality is no longer an offence.
Reasons why the law changed
Politicians
Politicians such as Roy Jenkins supported the campaign for change and as Home Secretary he introduced the necessary legislation in 1967. Others since have introduced further legislation such as the Equality Act 2010 which outlaws discrimination of grounds of sexual orientation.
Campaigns
The Homosexual Law Reform Society, made up of leading public figures, successfully campaigned for the change in the law that legalised gay sex in 1967. Further campaigns by Stonewall and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality led eventually to equalising the age of consent to 16.
Human Rights
In India the main reason for the change in the law was the decision of the Supreme Court that the state has no right to control citizens' private lives. In the UK this concern with equal rights also underlies changes in the law on homosexuality.
The Wolfenden Report
After gathering evidence from police, psychiatrists, religious leaders and gay men (whose identity had to be concealed), the committee's report published in 1959 recommended that homosexual acts in private between consenting adults over 21 be legalised.
After WW2, there was an increase in prosecutions of gay men and by 1954 over 1,000 were in prison. Following several trials of well-known figures, the government set up a committee under Sir John Wolfenden to consider reform of the law.
Gun control laws
Reasons why the law changed
The Gun Control Network
Set up by lawyers, academics and parents of victims to campaign for tighter gun control laws.
The Snowdrop Campaign
Started by Bereaved Dunblane parents and their friends, organised a petition and collected 750,000 signatures calling for a change in the law.
The main reason for the change in the law was the public outcry following Hungerford and especially Dunblane.
Changes over time
John Major's Conservative government introduced an act banning all handguns except .22 single shot weapons.
Following Labour's victory in the general election later that year, Tony Blair's government introduced a second Firearms (Amendment) Act, banning the remaining handguns as well.
The law was tightened in 1997 following a government enquiry led by a senior former judge, Lord Cullen.
Apart from some historic and sorting weapons, it is now illegal to own a handgun in Great Britain.
In the UK, laws governing access to firearms changed following two mass shootings:
In 1996, 16 children and one teacher were shot dead at Dunblane primary school near Stirling in Scotland by Thomas Hamilton, an unemployed former scout leader.
In 1987, Michael Ryan, an unemployed antique dealer, shot and killed 16 people in Hungerford, Berkshire.