Gun Free Zone: British Violent Crimes Now 4 Times That In The US

[BlandFood]

Thankfully neither Harry nor William look like that amiable doofuss Charles.

Since Harry isn't his the odds would be remote.

[Omaha Beach]

... except that I can show you dozens of places with strict gun control, and very high violent crime rates in the U.S. and the U.K. but you can't show me a single one where gun control laws demonstratably reduced the violent crime rates at all.

90% of this Country has progressed, and is now shall issue, and the most violent places here are those that are still clinging to the past, failed policies of the leftists who place more trust for their individual safety in an indifferent, uncaring local government than they do themselves.

In April of 68 I was 8000 miles away from home(Baltimore) stationed on Guam with the Navy. Because of that I missed the riots that happened after the killing of MLKJr. Large areas of downtown Baltimore were set ablaze and looted by thugs. One place downtown that was not subjected to that was Little Italy. The men who lived there, I was told, armed themselves, patrolled the streets of that community and even got up on rooftops to see if trouble was headed their way. They made it clear that any looters or arsonists entering their community would be met by bullets and buckshot. No looting or arson occurred there.

[BlandFood]

Good ethnic groups like the Italians and Koreans don't put up with the silly crap perpetuated by some of the others.

[Terry K]

And you miss the point that guns have nothing to do with crime.

There are plenty of low crime areas where guns are banned and plenty of high crime areas where guns are legal.

It's not rational to think that crime will go away if you take guns out of the picture

Yeah, criminals don't care whether guns are legal or not......gun laws generally hinder the law biding citizens.

We agree that "It's not rational to think that crime will go away if you take guns out of the picture". In fact, it is likely crime will increase. You are starting to sound like a gun rights advocate!

[SalisburySage]

"You think about a big, distant government bureaucracy that's going to make all the rules for schoolhouse security. That's going to be as effective as the big government bureaucracy that failed on 9/11, and the big government bureaucracy that had Special Forces an hour away in Italy but couldn't get anybody to Benghazi. In the end, the lessons of Benghazi, of 9/11, of Newtown, and of Virginia Tech are the lessons of the Second Amendment. It is the self-reliant citizen, the freeborn men and woman, who is called upon to act in those situations." -Mark Steyn

[soulflower]

Yeah, criminals don't care whether guns are legal or not......gun laws generally hinder the law biding citizens.

We agree that "It's not rational to think that crime will go away if you take guns out of the picture". In fact, it is likely crime will increase.

Yet crime is declining in most major US cities and it's not because more people are packing...

[Hexexis]

...United Kingdom is the violent crime capital of Europe ...

Filed under, "Taking a time-out from dear old 2d Amendment to find more complex if less-convincing arguments from forn. lands for gun ownership here in the US of A."

Thank you, Piers "The Shadow" Morgan, Jr. Chesterton was right: we always find the irrational more appealing.

[WKDWZD]

One thing I do not get over excited about is your so called Royal family. Except for beautiful Princess Kate the rest are a mix of Greeks and Germans maquerading as British. Biggest welfare famiy in the World.

LOL, I've noticed.

[NOTAGUNNUT]

Yet crime is declining in most major US cities and it's not because more people are packing...

Your own words;

Correlation doesn't equal causation

Using your logic I could argue that the decline in violent crime in the US is caused by the decline in gun ownership

Gun ownership is on the rise, not declining.

[Grindelwald]

Yeah, criminals don't care whether guns are legal or not......gun laws generally hinder the law biding citizens.

This is such BS... what laws hinder gun ownership of law abiding citizens?

[NOTAGUNNUT]

This is such BS... what laws hinder gun ownership of law abiding citizens?

Really? Are you honestly that uneducated?

The Constitution doesn't talk only about owning... does it?

[Grindelwald]

Really? Are you honestly that uneducated?

The Constitution doesn't talk only about owning... does it?

Feel free to take a stab at my question any time. Or continue to dodge.

[soulflower]

Gun ownership is on the rise, not declining.

Not in America:


Crime is down -- and so is gun ownership

As Egan notes, the percentage of Americans who report owning a pistol or shotgun, the weapons most often used in crime, is now down to 1 in 5, about half what it was in the 1970s.

Of course, hardened criminals aren’t likely to respond to the GSS survey, so there’s probably some under-reporting going on. But that was true 30 or 40 years ago, too, and isn’t likely to have affected the overall trend.

The major point is that the American “culture of gun ownership” that one often hears about has been strikingly on the wane for the past generation. A similar decline has taken place in the number of Americans who hunt, now about 5% of the population.

With a decline in the percentage of Americans who own guns and the percentage who hunt, one might have expected support for gun control to go up. Instead, it has gone down. As polling analyst Mark Blumenthal recently showed, data from Gallup, the Pew Research Center and the Washington Post/ABC News polls all show the same trend of declining support since at least the early 1990s, except for a brief spike after the Columbine school shootings in Colorado.

No doubt, the vigorous efforts by the National Rifle Assn. and other pro-gun groups have something to do with that shift in public opinion. But two other factors may play a significant role. One is the decline in crime; the other is the rise in political partisanship.

The drop in public support for gun control has happened at the same time that crime has dropped. Perhaps that’s coincidental, but the parallel nature of the two trends is striking.



http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul...rship-20120722


Chart of the Day: Gun Ownership is on a 30-Year Decline
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-dru...0-year-decline

[NOTAGUNNUT]

Feel free to take a stab at my question any time. Or continue to dodge.

Ask a relevent question and I will. The quote you attempted to address in your post doesn't mention ownership.... does it?

[Grindelwald]

Ask a relevent question and I will. The quote you attempted to address in your post doesn't mention ownership.... does it?

Suit yourself... How do gun laws hinder law abiding citizens?

[NOTAGUNNUT]

Not in America:


Crime is down -- and so is gun ownership

As Egan notes, the percentage of Americans who report owning a pistol or shotgun, the weapons most often used in crime, is now down to 1 in 5, about half what it was in the 1970s.

Of course, hardened criminals aren’t likely to respond to the GSS survey, so there’s probably some under-reporting going on. But that was true 30 or 40 years ago, too, and isn’t likely to have affected the overall trend.

The major point is that the American “culture of gun ownership” that one often hears about has been strikingly on the wane for the past generation. A similar decline has taken place in the number of Americans who hunt, now about 5% of the population.

With a decline in the percentage of Americans who own guns and the percentage who hunt, one might have expected support for gun control to go up. Instead, it has gone down. As polling analyst Mark Blumenthal recently showed, data from Gallup, the Pew Research Center and the Washington Post/ABC News polls all show the same trend of declining support since at least the early 1990s, except for a brief spike after the Columbine school shootings in Colorado.

No doubt, the vigorous efforts by the National Rifle Assn. and other pro-gun groups have something to do with that shift in public opinion. But two other factors may play a significant role. One is the decline in crime; the other is the rise in political partisanship.

The drop in public support for gun control has happened at the same time that crime has dropped. Perhaps that’s coincidental, but the parallel nature of the two trends is striking.



http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul...rship-20120722


Chart of the Day: Gun Ownership is on a 30-Year Decline
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-dru...0-year-decline

The National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) is the firearms industry lobby group that keeps track of everything gun business related. As you can see from the chart above, August firearms sales were up relative to any year over the last ten years. More specifically, “The August 2011 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 815,858 is an increase of 13.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 718,971 in August 2010.” Make the jump to see the 2008 “Obama surge” that set the pace for 2011. If Americans re-elect The One in 2012, it’ll be chocks away for the U.S. gun and ammo biz. Again

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http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=fi...yword_rollover

[soulflower]

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http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=fi...yword_rollover

More guns are being sold but there is a lower percentage of Americans who own guns today compared to 30 years ago. Not a difficult concept if you factor in population growth.

Is crime declining because gun ownership is declining or is gun ownership declining because crime is declining? hmmm...

[NOTAGUNNUT]

Don't forget that 90% of the Country is now shall issue as opposed to about 20% 30 years ago. Hmmmm indeed.

[NOTAGUNNUT]

Suit yourself... How do gun laws hinder law abiding citizens?

Can I excercise my Constitutional right to bear arms without being harrased by the State of Maryland?

[The Shadow]

UK Considers Banning Kitchen Knives

We joke about it here in the U.S. that maybe the UK should ban kitchen knives since they can be used to kill someone. It looks like the UK may have taken those jokes a little too seriously because they’ve been considering banning long, pointed kitchen knives for the past several years. Researchers from West Middlesex University Hospital found that crime in their country was on the rise, and that kitchen knives were used in as many as half of all stabbings.

At least they’re being consistent. They thought guns were dangerous, so they banned guns. Now, they’re acknowledging that knives have taken the place of guns and are dangerous and should also be banned. BBC News reported:

“The researchers said there was no reason for long pointed knives to be publicly available at all. They consulted 10 top chefs from around the UK, and found such knives have little practical value in the kitchen. None of the chefs felt such knives were essential, since the point of a short blade was just as useful when a sharp end was needed. The researchers said a short pointed knife may cause a substantial superficial wound if used in an assault – but is unlikely to penetrate to inner organs. In contrast, a pointed long blade pierces the body like ‘cutting into a ripe melon.’”

Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/8721/uk...#ixzz2GJAKUU9M