British travel agents fear US gun policy could deter visitors
More than half of British travel agents fear relaxed gun control in the US will deter foreign visitors following the recent spate of civilian shootings.
TravelMole carried out a survey among its UK readership after three police officers were shot dead and three others wounded in Louisiana on Sunday by a former Marine who went on a rampage.
The killings followed the gunning down of five police officers in Dallas during a protest against the fatal shootings of two African-Americans in Louisianna and Minnesota. Seven others were wounded in the attack by a military veteran.
There have been repeated calls for tighter gun control in the US but successive governments have been reluctant to introduce stricter controls as ‘the right to bear arms’ is enshrined in the US constitution.
According to Wikipedia, an estimated 270 million to 310 million US civilians own a gun and 37% to 42% of households own a gun.
The TravelMole poll found 55% of those who responded believe the US’s relaxed gun control laws will lead to a reduction in inbound tourism.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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