Thread: UK gun laws?

Originally Posted by jockeys

as redstaters like you and I are fond of saying : "God created men, but Sam Colt made 'em equal!"

I wish I was in a red state but we're solidly blue, thats why we've got a "one state recession" going on for the last four years.

Originally Posted by jockeys

just the criminals, huh?


but, in all seriousness, this just sort of strikes me as an odd thing to say. must be the cultural difference. where I am, roughly 1/4 of the adult male population carries guns and almost no one cares or thinks it's a big deal. it's always interesting to see other people's perspectives, though, thanks.

Despite the fact that we share a common language, it is transparently obvious that we are divided by much more than the Atlantic. It is one of the many reasons I like this forum so much.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

I simply don't worry about it. I assume everyone I deal with is carrying a firearm and is able to use it, it keeps me polite when I actually think about it at all.

Besides in the UK you should worry about which man is carrying a gun, he's a criminal you should also worry about which guys might have a knife, or be stronger than you, or your wife. You have no equalizer when dealing with the evil in the world.

That is hilarious. No really it is. I treat every person I meet with respect & courtesy as if they are a civilised & intelligent member of society. It so rarely fails that it pales into insignificance. Why denigrate it into fear & loathing?

The likelihood that you will become a victim of a violent crime, in this country, is miniscule. Most people happily travel their entire existence without ever coming into even fleeting contact with that fetid underbelly. As I said before on another thread, most criminals do not carry guns. It is seen as a sign of weakness to "pull your tool" & an admission of fear & failure. Why on earth would an "equaliser" be required? If someone were to produce a weapon in front of me, I would simply kick him, or her, very hard in the knee & break it. You can not be tough when you are lying screaming on the floor. I have resorted to this tactic on several occasions.

The main thing that most people are afraid of is fear itself, it would appear. You repeatedly say that I should be worried about some nebulous criminal threat to my & my family's safety. I know that that threat does not exist & I live in one of the least pleasant neighbourhoods of my city. It has been said that if you project fear, you attract aggression, whereas if you project strength, you prevent conflict.

However this doesn't always work. I was attacked thirty eight times & stabbed three times in my tens years as an ER nurse but it is or was known to be the most dangerous employment in this country. That is when my black belt was useful. I simply do not feel the need for a weapon in my hand to make me feel like a man. What are you so frightened of that you do?

+1 on what he said. I dont have to fear being a victim as I pass every person in the street. I can go to my local pub at 11pm and the worst i've ever had is a few drunken heckles from drunken ladies. We are very lucky in the UK Spike.

SpikeJ
Im confused,If violent crime is so miniscule in the UK,Why have you had to break peoples knees on several occasions after they produced weapons.It also sound as though your patients,were less than miniscule in their criminal persuits.Good thing you have a black belt(no use at all against a prepared determined man)sounds as though you need one over there to survive.Best Regards Gary

Before this thread descends into a my country is better than your country match, I would say that US gun laws are the business of US citizens, it is the US public who votes for the politicians who pass the laws and it is then up to them to represent their constituents to the best of their ability, same goes for us in the UK.
Also I think most of this comes down to a basic cultural difference, US comedians will always make fun of our lack of a gun culture and UK based comedians will always have plenty of material based on the percieved ease of obtaining a gun in the US.
That being said the current laws surrounding gun ownership in the UK is simply a case of bolting the stable door after the horse had bolted in the light of the Dunblane massacre; the POS responsible had been refused a gun license in the past, it is the idiot who finally approved his application that shares the blame for that tragedy not the hundreds of legitimate gun owners who were penalised afterwards. The laws were passed to placate the public after the fact, and earn some brownie points for the politicians who passed them.
I'm not saying I favour a free for all policy when it comes to gun ownership, but I would much rather live in a society where it was closely regulated, rather than simply outlawing guns and burying your head in the sand when it creates a profitable black market where anyone determined enough can pick up a gun illegally.
For those members who posted about their lack of violent experiences in the UK, I couldn't be happier for you, it is a wonderful thing to know that the gun and knife crime that has become rampant in so many parts of the country isn't everyone's experience. However it is a serious problem in many parts of the country. I hail from a tiny market town in Oxfordshire named Bicester which has a nationally recognised problem with violent crime and heroin usage, thankfully I left there a long time ago and soon I'll be leaving the UK altogether. My experiences with the sleazy underbelly of today's youth are markedly different than yours. To say that it is seen as a sign of weakness to carry a weapon these days couldn't be further from the truth, most teenagers who go out armed say they do so because no one will respect them otherwise, and many people I know I have paid the price for the ease with which todays youth acquire weapons and with which they are prepared to use them. I have had a number of good friends stabbed, and I myself was stabbed twice in the back in a local nightclub.
The real problem stems from the hand-wringing, PC organisations who are so vocal when it comes to protecting the rights of terrorists, violents offenders and other degenerates. These types of people seem so much more willing to protect the criminal than the victim. So much so that you are scarcely able to protect yourself if you have been attacked for fear of being charged with assaulting your attacker. Whilst there are people willing to champion the cause of murders, paedophiles, rapist and terrorists it will always be the victims who suffer; and this brings us to the fundamental point of the whole argument, people the world over are basically the same, everyone has a right to protect themselves, if in the US that means having a gun then that is the business of US citizens; but to traveller who says it seems like you need a gun just to survive over here, I would say that is not the fault of of thousands of decent hard working people who just want to live their lives without being harassed, it is down to a small, but unfortunately vocal, group of politically correct miscreants who favour the rights of the criminal over the victim of crime. The vast majority of people in this country want things to change when it comes to how violent crime is treated by the judiciary, but while these PC thugs are willing to champion the cause of criminals, there will always be criminals who are willing to exploit that.
Kind regards,
Alex

A S, great post, it s the politicians who excaberate the problems, its true in the US as well as anywhere else. The greater they allow the problem to become the more you need them to solve it, but if they solve the problem, you dont need them, so they dont, they merely grandstand, and pointfingers at the other party,
and the last thing they want is for you to solve it yourself, hence the rules protecting the degenerates, of course at your expense. Through taxation on one end, frustration with the unsolved problem at the other.
There is no true leadership any more, no Churchills or Trumans, merely managers making sure that you are in your place, so they can maintain theirs. Power for the sake of power and money for the sake of money. The world be damned.
BTW: My country is better than yours! Though probably not for much longer.

Another great discussion on gun rights completed.