The 1988 and 1997 acts did not prevent the recent spree killings in Cumbria nor has it in most peoples opinion caused an increase in violent crime. Legal firearms ownership has actually increased though public opinion is now set against hand gun ownership though fairly ambivalent in regards to long guns. The police in the UK seem relaxed about suppressors and .50's but object strongly to any relaxation on hand guns. http://www.fcsa.co.uk/uk_suppliers.htm Lucrum its the United Kingdom government that legislates on firearms England has no government and Scotland and Wales cannot legislate on firearms.
Are the US/ET anti gun liberals reading this? But your violent crime rates are up aren't they, despite the handgun ban? Not saying I don't believe you and so far as I know I have no reason not to believe this statement. I did however see a video of an English man telling us Americans to "never let your guns be taken away as you'll never get them back" (paraphrased) Obviously it was just that one guys opinion. From a UK web page concerning sound suppressors: Why use a full-bore rifle suppressor? To save your hearing and, if you use a rifle for work, to comply with the UK Health and Safety legislation...Reflex Suppressors do reduce the sound pressure at the shooter's ear to well below the British Health and Safety Executive's "peak action level" of 140 dB. Above this level, HSE regulations require employers to reduce workers' exposure as far as reasonably practicable by means other than ear protectors. This legal requirement also extends to self-employed persons. Interesting, in that UK law essentially requires sound suppressors where as here in the US we have to pay a $200 tax per suppressor for the privilege of exercising our right to own one. Or face 10 years and and a $10,000 fine. (Are you fucking idiots in Washington reading this?) It is curious to me anyway that the police or the public for that matter are still opposed to handguns, despite the increases in violent crime since they were banned. My mistake, and I'll admit I was under the impression Scotland had more independence and or autonomy than that. Here are some of the stats I'm basing some of my comments on: Britan has the highest rate of violent crime in Europe, more so than the United States or even South Africa. They also have the second highest over all crime rate in the European Union. In 2008, Britan had a violent crime rate nearly five times higher than the United states (446 vs. 2034 per 100,000 population) 67% of British residents surveyed believed that ââ¬ÅAs a result of gun and knife crime [rising], the area I live in is not as safe as it was five years ago.ââ¬Â U.K. street robberies soared 28% in 2001. Violent crime was up 11%, murders up 4%, and rapes are up 14%. This trend continues in the U.K in 2004 with a 10% increase in street crime, 8% increase in muggings, and a 22% increase in robberies." Given your opinion on the matter you may (or may not) find this interesting. "Comparing crime rates between America and Britain is fundamentally flawed. In America, a gun crime is recorded as a gun crime. In Britain, a crime is only recorded when there is a final disposition (a conviction). All unsolved gun crimes in Britain are not reported as gun crimes, grossly under counting the amount of gun crime there. To make matters worse, British law enforcement has been exposed for falsifying criminal reports to create falsely lower crime figures, in part to preserve tourism."
You can bet if there had been a decrease in crime or gun crime in the UK in the wake of handgun confiscation, we'd be hearing about it nonstop. The irony here is that liberals and anti-Second Amendment groups in general don't appreciate that the more they push for controls, the more determined it makes the rest of us to resist any compromise, no matter how small. We see how extreme the democrat party has become and know any compromise is just another step down the slippery slope. The one industry Obama can legitimately claim to have helped is gun manufacturing. Fear of Obama and Pelosi drove preople to buy guns in record numbers.
You mean, drove a certain type of person to buy guns. Which is normally of a certain ethnic group and a certain gender. This type is geopolitically known to have a certain proclivity to violence. In fact, it composes most of their short history.
The police have in the large never been in favour of private handgun ownership and the Police Federation had voiced concerns for some time before the ban. Since self defense with a handgun has never been an option post 1903 the connection between crime against the person and carrying a handgun is somewhat lost on your average Brit. Our ban on assault weapons (semi auto large caliber rifles and carbines) post Hungerford came at a time of growing social unrest on mainland UK, there was a notion of a certain panic at the Home Office over an armed and unhappy populace. Its worth mentioning that the first of these draconian crack downs on personal firearms ownership was instigated by a Conservative government led by a leader fond of quoting von Hayek's Road to Serfdom, go figure on that one. Yeah its a quote taken from Gun Facts by Guy Smith a fairly badly written and often simplistic guide for those wishing to defend the 2nd, he has endless non-relevant scalpelled quotes and this one was not proven as fact in regards to officers committing statistical fraud to protect tourism.
You mean the tragedy that not enough people had guns or the tragedy that too many people have been cowed into NOT using them for fear of prosecution or the tragedy that is the "land of cheese". You decide.
I mean the tragedy of yet another gun tragedy in another USA city. I've decided what needs to be done. Have you?
Are less people dying due to advances in medical attention? Are less people dying because shooters are poor shots?