[Politics] Gun control in the UK

[Chicken Run]

Nope

Sorry wrong again

Absolutely correct.

Your winner's prize is in the post and you will get it in the next 3 days to 6 months time, once you've paid the import tax, VAT and handling charges

Apparently, he's not a journalist anymore, he negotiates things these days

Well done for bringing this breathtakingly scary article to our attention [emoji122]

 

[Live by the sea]

I suspect in reality gun control certainly in England is much better than we think . If it wasn’t difficult to get illegal firearms then I’m sure all the violent gangs especially in London & Birmingham would be using them as their weapon of choice rather than knives .

 

[Motogull]

Gun control in the UK? Yes please. I have no idea how accurate this is regarding guns and the US, but it is worth a read:

https://twitter.com/ioangrillo/status/1375100511473463297

 

[mikeyjh]

This month is the 25th anniversary of the Dunblane massacre that resulted in a new wave of Gun control across the UK.

One year after the massacre, a British journalist wrote the following

“Nanny is confiscating their toys”

“The men – and they are virtually all men – come in two at a time. They have aluminium suitcases, safes, plastic bags and set expressions. Nanny is confiscating their toys. It is like one of those vast Indian programmes of compulsory vasectomy. It is as if the state had decided to round up all the model train sets or the stamp collections, an operation causing immense distress to thousands of innocent enthusiasts, and just about as pointless.

Thanks to a sweeping ban on handguns introduced here in the wake of the Dunblane, Scotland, massacre of school children last year, law-abiding gun-owners are now handing over their weapons here at a rate of 50 to 60 a day. An entire pastime will have been exterminated. Britain will be the only country in the world where it is forbidden to practise for an Olympic sport. The British taxpayers will have to cough up about one billion pounds in compensation; and still the shooters will receive 25 per cent less than the full value of any improvements to their weapons.

It is no use the shooters protesting that this will do nothing about the myriad of illegal weapons, or legal shotguns; or that the existing law should have ensured that guns were taken away from Thomas Hamilton, the loner who killed 16 small children in a moment of madness at Dunblane last March. The owners of all the 160,000 handguns are penalized for the dementia of a couple of their number, and because no one, in the current climate, dare speak for them.

Any guesses to the journalist ?

You almost have to admire old tw@tchops' ability to fit in a bit of casual racism and to mock those who may be unfortunate enough to suffer from dementia in to such a short article. Bravo.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I don't think it's outrageous to take that viewpoint, especially at that time. And the OP is very anti-Tory (which I am mostly) but it seals a desire to make a point.

I'm not sure that banning legally held guns which were owned under tight legislation has prevented massacres. He is also right about the illegal trade.

So I'm presenting my view as it not being an unreasonable article. Conversely, I think he is wrong overall though. The less guns we have here the better. It shouldn't be encouraged.

I think the the main reason we have so little gun crime is how hard they are to get hold of. But much of that will be because importing is harder as we are an island. If we had been in the centre of Europe there would still be a problem.

Sorry to be pedantic, but I am not anti-Tory at all, having voted for them a significant number of times over the years. I believe there are some very good principled, intelligent, knowledgeable, experienced and hard working Tory MPs currently in the house. Strangely though, despite this, not a single one is in the current Cabinet.

What I am very anti is lying, lazy, selfish, over-indulged, philandering, narcissistic, racist, homophobic, islamophobic, unprincipled ****s of any political persuasion, particularly when they use these particular traits to get into positions of power at the exact time that real leadership is required for the health, safety and economic stability of the nation.

Hope this clears things up

 

[Whitechapel]

I suspect in reality gun control certainly in England is much better than we think . If it wasn’t difficult to get illegal firearms then I’m sure all the violent gangs especially in London & Birmingham would be using them as their weapon of choice rather than knives .

A lot of them do.

 

[GoingUp]

Making handguns a lot harder to obtain and the severe punishment if caught with one has certainly lowered amount of gun crime and potential massacres. Although gun crime is still a problem in the UK but thankfully nothing like America's.

It's hard to compare the UK and USA though, as firearms are ingrained into their history and culture, the 'right to keep and bear arms' is second on their Constitution....... if they stormed Capital because Ronald Rump was voted out, taking away their guns would most likely cause another Civil War.

Out of curiosity, how bad was gun crime pre Dunblane? Were there any other massacres?

 

[SeagullinExile]

I suspect in reality gun control certainly in England is much better than we think . If it wasn’t difficult to get illegal firearms then I’m sure all the violent gangs especially in London & Birmingham would be using them as their weapon of choice rather than knives .

It really isn't that difficult if you know the right people, still rare though. But if you think these gangs you talk of don't have access to firearms, you're very much mistaken.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Out of curiosity, how bad was gun crime pre Dunblane? Were there any other massacres?

There has always been gangland shootings but baddies shooting other baddies never seems to bother too many and I don't recall them being massacres.

The only one I recall was the chap in Hungerford in 1987 who shot 16? before shooting himself.

 

[jakarta]

Work for Hants, Surrey and Sussex in their Firing Ranges so get to speak to a lot of Officers who are tooled up as part of their role. The vast majority have never discharged their weapon in anger. Confirming above, with the exception of the odd nut job it is teenage gang bravado going one step beyond a blade. With the vast decrease in 'over the pavement' armed robberies also no need for professional robbers to carry one.

 

[Harmyar]

There has always been gangland shootings but baddies shooting other baddies never seems to bother too many and I don't recall them being massacres.

The only one I recall was the chap in Hungerford in 1987 who shot 16? before shooting himself.

Michael Ryan

 

[drew]

Making handguns a lot harder to obtain and the severe punishment if caught with one has certainly lowered amount of gun crime and potential massacres. Although gun crime is still a problem in the UK but thankfully nothing like America's.

It's hard to compare the UK and USA though, as firearms are ingrained into their history and culture, the 'right to keep and bear arms' is second on their Constitution....... if they stormed Capital because Ronald Rump was voted out, taking away their guns would most likely cause another Civil War.

Out of curiosity, how bad was gun crime pre Dunblane? Were there any other massacres?

Michael Ryan at Hungerford!

 

[GoingUp]

There has always been gangland shootings but baddies shooting other baddies never seems to bother too many and I don't recall them being massacres.

The only one I recall was the chap in Hungerford in 1987 who shot 16? before shooting himself.

Ahh I didn't recall the Hungerford shooting.

We will never eradicate guns and gangland shootings but the fact we can't pop down to Tesco Express and buy FA machine guns and cheap ammo definitely helps prevents massacres such as Dunblane and Hungerford.

TBF though, New York has strict guns laws. I believe it's almost as impossible for civilians get legal handgun permits in NY State, so if other states (mainly the southern ones) followed suit it may help cut the amount of mass shootings.

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

TBF though, New York has strict guns laws. I believe it's almost as impossible for civilians get legal handgun permits in NY State, so if other states (mainly the southern ones) followed suit it may help cut the amount of mass shootings.

It does. I think some States have realized stricter gun laws are not going to happen at a Federal level so it's up to them to try and reform things at a State level. Whether things change under the Biden Administration remains to be seen, I'm not holding my breath. Michael Bloomberg, the ex mayor of NYC, has donated millions to gun law reform causes.