ENGLAND'S CIVILIAN DISARMAMENT LAW
LEADS TO 100 YEAR HIGH MURDER RATE
Failure of British Gun Ban Illustrates Folly of
California Gun Control Efforts
Newly released statistics reported October 13th show that since the British
government passed one of the most stringent gun bans in the world in 1997,
Britain's murder rate has risen to its highest level since crime records
began being kept 100 years ago.
The number of murders in the first eight months of this year has risen by as
much as 22% in some of Britain's biggest cities, which account for the
majority of homicides. This builds on a 4% rise in the murder rate in the
year to March, and is 20% higher than the total for 1997, the first year of
Tony Blair's government and the year that strict new gun bans were imposed.
Police say random killings are rising. Official figures show the proportion
of murders in which the victim is not known to the killer has nearly doubled
in the past decade to 31%. The British Home Office reports that handgun crime
is at its highest since 1993, while overall gun crimes have never been
higher. Since the draconian 1997 gun ban was passed, criminal misuse of
handguns has jumped by 40 percent. As in California, much of the gun violence
is related to urban youth gang warfare and the illicit drug trade. But petty
criminals in Britain are now using guns during common street crime. London
has surpassed the crime rate of New York City. Robberies in which criminals
use or threaten violence have gone up by 35 percent in the past year. In
fact, Chris Fox, vice-president of the British Association of Chief Police
Officers, said the rising murder rate put Britain out of line with America,
where it has fallen 12%, and France and Germany, where it has dropped 29% and
27% respectively since 1995.
Under the 1997 gun law, law abiding British citizens were forced to give up
their handguns. Pistols that had been in families for generations, including
priceless antiques and Olympic pistols, were confiscated by the government
for a fraction of their value, all in the name of public safety. Yet on
October 13th, the London Sunday Times reported that Commander Andy Baker, who
is in charge of more than 900 detectives investigating all murders in London,
blames drugs and a greater availability of guns for the increased violence.
And according to the London Sunday Times of March 10, 2002, it's easy to buy
an illegal gun on the streets of London. According to Associated Press: "Dave
Rodgers, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the ban
made little difference to the number of guns in the hands of criminals." He
acknowledged, "The underground supply of guns does not seem to have dried up
at all." Since the ban didn't work, Tony Blair's government is now calling
for a ban on replica firearms, gun shaped cigarette lighters, and air
pistols.
In California, similar past and present efforts to expand gun control laws
have been equally ineffective. For many years Los Angeles, Oakland, and San
Francisco have passed every ill-conceived gun control scheme that was
suggested by the gun ban lobby. Despite promises from the promoters of these
ordinances, these tried-and-failed schemes have not slowed the rising violent
crime and murder rate in those cities.
The gun ban lobby â€" in England and California â€" won't acknowledge that
banning guns doesn't stop criminals from misusing guns. But as England
vividly illustrates, gun control laws typically increase violent crime by
shifting the balance of power to the criminals, who ignore the laws.
Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens deter crimes and save lives. #
# #
Failure of British Gun Ban Illustrates Folly of
California Gun Control Efforts
Newly released statistics reported October 13th show that since the British
government passed one of the most stringent gun bans in the world in 1997,
Britain's murder rate has risen to its highest level since crime records
began being kept 100 years ago.
The number of murders in the first eight months of this year has risen by as
much as 22% in some of Britain's biggest cities, which account for the
majority of homicides. This builds on a 4% rise in the murder rate in the
year to March, and is 20% higher than the total for 1997, the first year of
Tony Blair's government and the year that strict new gun bans were imposed.
Police say random killings are rising. Official figures show the proportion
of murders in which the victim is not known to the killer has nearly doubled
in the past decade to 31%. The British Home Office reports that handgun crime
is at its highest since 1993, while overall gun crimes have never been
higher. Since the draconian 1997 gun ban was passed, criminal misuse of
handguns has jumped by 40 percent. As in California, much of the gun violence
is related to urban youth gang warfare and the illicit drug trade. But petty
criminals in Britain are now using guns during common street crime. London
has surpassed the crime rate of New York City. Robberies in which criminals
use or threaten violence have gone up by 35 percent in the past year. In
fact, Chris Fox, vice-president of the British Association of Chief Police
Officers, said the rising murder rate put Britain out of line with America,
where it has fallen 12%, and France and Germany, where it has dropped 29% and
27% respectively since 1995.
Under the 1997 gun law, law abiding British citizens were forced to give up
their handguns. Pistols that had been in families for generations, including
priceless antiques and Olympic pistols, were confiscated by the government
for a fraction of their value, all in the name of public safety. Yet on
October 13th, the London Sunday Times reported that Commander Andy Baker, who
is in charge of more than 900 detectives investigating all murders in London,
blames drugs and a greater availability of guns for the increased violence.
And according to the London Sunday Times of March 10, 2002, it's easy to buy
an illegal gun on the streets of London. According to Associated Press: "Dave
Rodgers, vice chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said the ban
made little difference to the number of guns in the hands of criminals." He
acknowledged, "The underground supply of guns does not seem to have dried up
at all." Since the ban didn't work, Tony Blair's government is now calling
for a ban on replica firearms, gun shaped cigarette lighters, and air
pistols.
In California, similar past and present efforts to expand gun control laws
have been equally ineffective. For many years Los Angeles, Oakland, and San
Francisco have passed every ill-conceived gun control scheme that was
suggested by the gun ban lobby. Despite promises from the promoters of these
ordinances, these tried-and-failed schemes have not slowed the rising violent
crime and murder rate in those cities.
The gun ban lobby in England and California won't acknowledge that
banning guns doesn't stop criminals from misusing guns. But as England
vividly illustrates, gun control laws typically increase violent crime by
shifting the balance of power to the criminals, who ignore the laws.
Firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens deter crimes and save lives. #
# #
Matey
