United Kingdom

4 posts

The Reverend Keeps It Real

In a recent interview, it was pointed out to Al Sharpton that gun regulations may not bring an end to violence in our country. His response? We should then consider regulating knives.

Then you deal with knives. The same thing as if you have a head cold and the same thing you do if you have a head cold and the cold is gone and you have a headache. Then you take headache medicine. The job of society is to deal with whatever problem confronts it.

Just like England. Because their gun bans work so well.

Skipping past Sharpton’s implicit admission that gun bans aren’t the answer, we come to the real question: at what point does creeping incrementalism sink to pure absurdity? Should we expect bans on pillows and sacks of quarters soon after?

Perhaps I should start hoarding hedge clippers. They’ll be worth eleventy billion dollars at the next lawn and garden show.

False Idyllism?

One of the arguments I frequently hear in favor of gun control is that Europeans enjoy lower crime rates as a result of more stringent gun laws.  A recent Italian study [pdf] appears to contradict that.

Contrary to common perceptions, today both property and violent crimes (with the exception of homicides) are more widespread in Europe than in the United States, while the opposite was true thirty years ago. We label this fact as the ‘reversal of misfortunes’.

Indeed.

Total Crimes, Europe
Notice that merry old England appears to be leading the uptick. It gets worse when violent crime is factored in.

Violent Crime, Europe

Look at them around 1997, pulling right ahead of the pack. Lest we forget, that was the year they passed the Firearms Act, banning almost all handguns in the country. It was later amended to ban all handguns in the country.

Across the Atlantic

Last Friday, I had a very interesting conversation with a war correspondent from the UK Daily Mirror. He’s been embedded with the SAS in Afghanistan. He’s seen his share of guns, and he’s done some shooting.

Personally, he’s not fond of them, but nor is he hostile. In fact, he mentioned that gun crime is on the rise in London, and he wondered aloud if England’s strict gun laws might be the cause rather than the solution.

This was going to be a very interesting conversation, indeed.

Yobbery in the UK

News comes this week that Gun crimes in England have doubled over the last decade.

In Lancashire alone, the rate has risen by nearly 600%.  London police are breaking with age-old  tradition by sending out routine armed patrols, armed with Glock 17’s and H&K MP-5’s.  Previously, the only armed officers in the Metropolitan area were the CO19 tactics units.

By all accounts, the United Kingdom should be relatively unscathed by gun violence.  The English government has been abridging its citizens’ rights to firearms ownership by increasing degrees since the 1903 Pistols Act.

Following the 1996 Dunblane Massacre, English gun control efforts came to their peak.  The Firearms Act of 1997 outlawed nearly all functional firearms in civilian hands, and English citizens were left with no choice but to turn in their guns.  The result was the largest peacetime confiscation of firearms I can recall, and it resulted in the complete annihilation of what was once a thriving gun culture.

Continued...