It was obvious that changing the law wasn't going to cut gun crime. Tinfoil hat time - i'm sure governments don't like an armed society as they worry they may revolt one day
It is a complex subject. The anti gun lobby will state that had the law not changed the increase in gun crime would have been even worse. I think there have been some positive changes over the years as well as the obvious negatives like the pistol ban. I am a native of NI and I find it hilarious that I can still have pistols there but in England I can't (well done Mo Mowlem) I think the fact that shotguns are recorded on certificate is important so that it can be shown that those recovered from crime scenes are not legally held. The old certificate and the rules that allowed you dispose of a shotgun to a certificate holder but were not obliged to discuss who that certificate holder was, was a system open to abuse.
I have also seen a positive change in some licensing departments. My local one appears to be exceptionally understanding and helpful. I never thought I'd hear the words "can I interest you in a firearm certificate" when visiting their stand at a game fair after telling the FEO that I was engaged in vermin control.
The only time constraint in getting my FAC was my lack of availability to have cabinet inspected. Very impressive.
It was obvious that changing the law wasn't going to cut gun crime. Tinfoil hat time - i'm sure governments don't like an armed society as they worry they may revolt one day
Its all about control of the majority. If you can control, you can collect revenue. The minority (criminals) will always have the tools to be criminals with. Its win-win for the law makers. (government)
I have noticed that more and more of these lord it over us law making government demons are being exposed as criminals.
It is possible, that if everyone had a firearm, then the future gene pool may eventually become rich with individuals who don't want to kill themselves, or others and the criminals wouldn't want to advertise their status by having a fake limp.
Also, my ZZR1100 is only capable of 69mph.
A thorny subject as illustrated by the number of posts.
An interesting statistics would be how many gun crimes were carried out using LEGALLY held fire arms?
I speculate, very few in comparison to the overall figures.
One of the corespondents summed it up very well, " People kill people not guns" Folks get killed with all manner of objects from Kitchen knives to sledgehammers from syringes to chainsaws. This world of ours is full of sharp, heavy, pointed, and the ubiquitous blunt instruments, which in the hands of so minded people will get the job done.
But we the law abiding gun owners are an easy target for the anti gun lobbyist and Politicians alike, inspite of the fact they are aiming at the wrong target. Excuse the pun!
This is our gross to bear but we must continue to vigorously defend our sport.
Interesting and surprising figures - thanks for sharing
shelly
Make it difficult enough to own a firearm legally and only criminals will have guns.
If we lived in a free country I rather doubt I'd find a reason to buy an airgun. Pests in your yard? Pop down to Walmart to pick up a .22 LR.
That's surprising! I suppose that if people saw these stats they would still believe the media!
We live in a place full of PC do gooders who want to give away what was the best place in the world to live.
According to the NCA half of our illegal firearms are being posted from the US. With criminals taking advantage of the lax security at UK Borders.
First post so be gentle with me...
Stats can be SO misleading...as can be used and misused by whomever for each's individual desire or cause!
I've lived and worked in the US and for a while was resident in Miami, you'd think there'd be lots of gun crime etc but to be honest there was more active gun crime when came back to the UK and living in Nottingham (then nicknamed "Shotingham") than there was in Miami; by active I mean "first hand experience" not just media-biased reporting.
I had a colleague who was travelling on the tram and experienced a gunshot going "thru-and-thru" the tram from one side to the other luckily without hitting anything substantial other than metal skin of the tram at the time.
Recently been travelling back and forth to the States to visit my wife in St. Louis, Missouri. A lovely beautiful city though not without its issues or problems as do most major cities in the US or for that matter across the world.
But its recently been named "The Most Violent City in America" - surpassing Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.... all from stats and possibly the recent upsurge of violence coming from the Ferguson Riots after the shooting of an unarmed but potentially violent felon sometime previously.
I personally never witnessed any of these events whilst there and travelled all over the city, mostly on my own whilst my Wife was at work.
So stats need to be taken at best 'with a pinch'... Dunblane and other such incidents in the UK were terrible events in both our own Nation's history but also that of the Shooting Community, who as we are aware were vilified afterwards despite the majority being the most law abiding members of the community. Political bias took control and many of us (especially after Dunblane who lost our legally held and used Section One Firearms) suffered.
We need to remain strong and unified to ensure such things don't happen again as a weak community makes for an easy target.
Education and openness work wonders on the ignorance of the majority who have never handled weapons of any kind... which at the end of the day are only tools doing a job.
Hope this isn't too much for a first posting??
Regards
The_Rapscallion
Another badly thought out plan of the Governments!!
wow i thought licence holders would of went up