As our friends in the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex never tire of telling us, all we need to do to save lives in this country and reduce “gun violence” is to enact more “common-sense” “gun safety” laws. We have to get “military grade” weapons off of our streets because no one needs to own “weapons of war.”
Once we finally accomplish that, we’ll all live in the safe, secure gun-controlled nirvana we’ve been dreaming of.
Except real world examples of states and nations that have done just that don’t really support the gun-grabbers’ utopian hypothesis. Take the UK, for example.
You’d think an island nation with ultra-strict gun laws would be an ideal laboratory for the effectiveness of virtual firearms prohibition. Here’s the latest from The Guardian, Police struggle to stop flood of firearms into UK:
Chief constable Andy Cooke, the national police lead for serious and organised crime, said law enforcement had seen an increased supply of guns over the past year, and feared that it would continue in 2019. …
Another senior law enforcement official said that “new and clean” weapons were now being used in the majority of shootings, as opposed to guns once being so difficult to obtain that they would be “rented out” to be used in multiple crimes.
No matter how hard politicians try, they can’t repeal the laws of supply and demand. Where there’s a demand for firearms, there will always be people who will supply them, whether that’s through home-made weapons or, as seems to be increasingly the case, by smuggling them into the country.
Cooke said more are coming in from eastern Europe and the western Balkans and also component pieces are being smuggled in via the fast parcel system, hidden among a growth in packages because of the explosion of internet shopping.
Guns are being bought on the dark web and the UK is also seeing weapons designed for sports shooting being smuggled in, as well as blank firing weapons bought for just £100 being converted in the UK. Criminals have also obtained high end automatic weapons such as an AK47.
We’ve had our own shining examples of the failure of gun control right here in the colonies as well. Take, for example, Bill Clinton’s 1994 “assault weapons” ban.
…[E]ven gun control advocates acknowledge a larger truth: The law that barred the sale of assault weapons from 1994 to 2004 made little difference.
It turns out that big, scary military rifles don’t kill the vast majority of the 11,000 Americans murdered with guns each year. Little handguns do.
It was nothing more than political theater that allowed Clinton and the Democrats to say they’d done something about “gun violence.”
Democrats decided to push for a ban of what seemed like the most dangerous guns in America: assault weapons, which were presented by the media as the gun of choice for drug dealers and criminals, and which many in law enforcement wanted to get off the streets.
This politically defined category of guns — a selection of rifles, shotguns and handguns with “military-style” features — only figured in about 2 percent of gun crimes nationwide before the ban.
Nothing has changed to this day. Long guns represent a tiny fraction of firearms used in crimes in this country. But the few times they are used have been more sensational and newsworthy involving suburban white movie-goers or school children. The weekly body counts in Chicago, Baltimore, and Detroit never seem to draw as much attention.
So UK-style prohibition doesn’t work and the “assault weapons” ban was a failure. How about ending private gun sales and requiring universal background checks? Surely that would be a step in the right direction.
Well, no. As one of the nation’s most ardent advocates of gun control reported . . .
A study of firearm homicide and suicide rates in the 10 years after California simultaneously mandated comprehensive background checks for nearly all firearm sales and a prohibition on gun purchase and possession for persons convicted of most violent misdemeanor crimes found no change in the rates of either cause of death from firearms through 2000.
As the Foundation for Economic Education notes . . .
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the findings—which run counter to the conventional wisdom that gun control saves lives—have received almost no media attention.
Count us among the un-surprised. Here’s more recent news about guns in the US that somehow wasn’t prominently featured by NBC, CNN or the AP: crime and murder rates, even in most of America’s largest cities, are declining in 2018.
A new report from the Brennan Center for Justice shows the murder rate fell by almost 6 percent between 2017 and 2018 in the 30 largest U.S. cities. Violent crime overall dropped by about 2.7 percent in cities where data was available, while the overall crime rate declined 1.8 percent.
“This is a trend starting in the early ‘90s, where crime has been plummeting,” said Inimai Chettiar, director of the Brennan Center’s Justice Program. “We are at all-time lows for crime. We’re not in the middle of a crime wave.”
We’ll repeat that one more time for Michael Bloomberg, Shannon Watts, Ladd Everitt, and David Hogg: “We’re not in the middle of a crime wave.”
Once final numbers are calculated by the FBI next year, the overall crime rate across the country is likely to have fallen to the lowest level since 1990, the Brennan Center estimated.
Over the last quarter century, as the number civilian owned guns in the US has increased by more than 50%, the violent crime rate has plummeted to historic lows and continues to drop.
Do you know what else happened during that same time period? Gun laws were loosened across the country allowing for millions more Americans to own and carry firearms for self-defense. Correlation does not equal causation and all that, but you draw your own conclusions about the relationship there.
So please, tell us again how gun violence is a pressing public health issue in the US that requires immediate, drastic restrictions on civilian firearm ownership and Second Amendment freedoms. And while you’re at it, explain how gun control laws now being proposed — “assault weapons” bans, universal background checks, “red flag” laws — will be any more effective than all the other laws that have already been tried and failed, both here and in other countries.
We’ll wait.
Convention wis-dumb…how many times have I heard Dumbocrats in Chiraq blame Indiana for their shootings?!? Yet Indiana has a much lower homicide rate. Even in Gary(many legal gun owner’s in NW Indiana). Bought my last handgun out of Westforth in rural Gary.
Doncha know that Indiana has a lower murder rate because they are shipping all of their handguns to Chicago? It’s true it’s true!
obviously you’re not as restrictive as they would like you to be…they expect you to save them from themselves!
To be fair UK cops are too busy dealing with unlicensed television watchers and rampant social media hate speech. It took several departments months to get that bastard nazi saluting dog off the street. Once all these real crimes are under control they can waste time on those organized gangs.
Never knew that the Crown’s subjects in the UK have to have a “TV Licence” to watch or record television. A (roughly) $1,300 USD fine if discovered by the TV Licence enforcers executing a search warrant in your home looking for un-licenced watching…holy crap, what has happened to the tough little Limey’s that fought Hitler to a standstill in the Battle of Britain? Orwellian insanity rules the UK.
After WWII, there mostly only pooftahs and assorted weaklings and cowards left as most of the MEN were killed or wounded. Not all but enough to change the balance because there were still all the women left to vote.
Same thing happened in this country but the percentage was less so we retained our manhood for a longer time but it’s now catching up to us.
brits seem to love being told what to do…guess that revolution was a good idea…..
Good one.
lol if that was the case here in commiestralia then my partner may not watch TV removing one thing that gets me pissed off. About all i watch is the occasional movie. Most of the rest just pisses me off because of the Authoritarianism and anti gun and pro big govt and big pharma etc BS on most programing.
Toni,
Apparently up until 1974 the inhabitants of Oz had to pay for the privilege of watching their televisions.
In England there are detection vans that cruise about monitoring the Wi-Fi signals (and other RF emissions) from homes for, ostensibly, illegal TV watching / streaming. The sheep people of England, Wales, both Irelands, Isle of Man and Scotland all accept this un-warranted invasion of their privacy as normal, legal….even desirable. After all, it takes a lot of money for a Socialist government to provide those “free” services they use to enslave their subjects.
i was born in 74 so it was not an issue i had to deal with however it is probably just included in the price of the TV here. licensing for TV’s could in a way be a good thing though especially considering the level of leftist brainwashing that is on the IDIOT BOX. those who cant afford the licensing cost cant get brainwashed as much 🙂 sadly they would just go to a friends place that had one for the most part.
It’s true that in 1945 Nazi Germany was defeated by the allies, but don’t kid yourself if you think that the “Nazi’s” in England were beaten. They weren’t and took over there.
Traffic offenses are also a major priority as it brings wealth to the crown.
If you look at some of the ridiculously light sentences they hand out you’ll see why being a good in the UK pays well.
The TV license was to fund The BBC, so when you watched Top Gear, Real football, or the old British comedy shows thank the people that paid.
The pic in the upper left corner looks like some sort of jacked up sub machine gun with the way the magazine is placed. Probably no accident. The scarier looking, the better.
That is a spar magazine.
CZ75 full auto pistol. The spare magazine is attached to the front of the frame by design.
I think The Guardian pictured the same gun in the upper left and the lower right for effect.Anybody know what the hell the picture in the lower left depicts?
Now the brits are falling all over themselves to put draconian “anti-drone” laws in place. Let’s help them…no drone can have a locking blade longer than three inches…It’s not about guns, it’s about control. When drones are outlawed, only outlaws will fly drones…and these people had an empire? -30-
They still haven’t figured out one simple truth. Laws cannot prevent criminal behavior. Laws serve to punish after the fact.
Or in the case of us honest folks, just to cost us money and annoy us.
I would bet that most of those guns are headed for the No Go Zones.
I’d love to have that select fire CZ. Very few of them are here
Of course, there is no such thing as a criminal being stopped by a gun ban. They always find ways around.
Just a few points.
British police, starting with London Metro PD, started out unarmed over public fear the monarchy would use the new force against the people. It wasn’t because they were anti-gun.
There have always been some armed police on Britain’s forces. It has evolved greatly over time but always in the direction of more armed cops, not less. Even before they created armed response teams they kept guns in a vehicle that could deliver them to officers.
About the USA, the most impressive data to me is the enormous increase in guns compared to the huge drop in crime over 30 years. If guns were the cause offline, those graphs would move upward together, instead of opposite like they do.
the only gun I saw in britain….other than the guards at the palace…was an armed guard walking alongside an armored truck down by Harrod’s…appeared to be a nickle-plated magnum…did kid the beefeaters over at the tower about whether or not they were “packing” under those funny-looking outfits…[probably are]…lot of “ice” in that place!
How about they just pass a single law that correctly describes the end goal: everything’s illegal unless we say so.
I wonder if it’s the guns in the U.S. that’s resulting in a lower crime rate or perhaps its better law enforcement? Now delete.
Guns are a component of lower crime. Cell phones and video cameras are too. A lot of factors come together at once but gun contro isnt one of them
I’d never thought of the cell phones and camera’s, that does make sense.
Crimes are recorded and documented in ways they never did 30 years ago . It creates a deterant while speeding up reporting and prosecution
We also have crime that is less violent but pays better. Identity theft was unheard of in 1990 for example. Pays better than bank robbery.
Freakanomics credits abortion for a 60 percent reduction while ignoring these other ,obvious factors. For every unborn criminal we had an illegal alien replacement so demographics remained fairly constant.
Gun ownership depressed crime for sure but how much is a flexible point.
What I want to see is some high level leftist caught on camera saying something like the following:
“It doesn’t matter about the crime; that’s just a reason for more cops. More cops is one of the primary goals. What matters is that we take away the ability for actual Americans to effectively resist us when we finally go full-on communism. I don’t care if some gang-banger in Chicago has a .32 he can drop in his undies, because that’s no threat to our agenda. I desperately DO NOT WANT a working man from Georgia or Utah or any other Red state to have a rifle, of any kind, period, because that is a very real threat to our agenda.”
That’s what we need to have on tape, becauseTHAT is why they are focusing on Semi Auto Rifles. The FACT that medical malpractice is the leading cause of premature death in the U.S. is a fact that shall remain ignored when talking about safety. The only safety a politician is EVER focused on, is their own.
In 86 or 88 the company I worked for gave us a small bonus, first one I’d ever had, I purchased a Rem 7400 with that money, it’s basically been a closet queen, sighted in and put up. It has sentimental value, I would truly hate to be forced to relinquish that firearm. I do believe “they” are going to go after semi-auto , or self loading firearms in the future. Hope I am wrong because some people probably won’t just give up like me.
Keep your eye on Pittsburgh. Mayor Peduto is calling for major gun control laws, and is asking other mayors around the country for support. You know, ‘you never let a tragedy go to waste,’ and we recently had our tragedy with the synagogue shooting.
There is a protest planned for Monday, January 7, 2019.
Any law or ordinance the mayor enacts (which include 10 round limits, an AR ban, i.e., the usual suspects), will violate Pennsylvania state law, which has a firearms preemption statute. But it will take a private lawsuit to enforce that law, because the pro-gun control Governor certainly will not direct the AG to intervene. (Or so I’ve read; I don’t live there.)
Wolf is a piece of work and his admin will work overtime to bring gun bans to PA.
They reelected him so they deserve what happens next.
wolfe was a known commodity…although these liberal types tend to push it hard in their second term…his opponent, however..was a total jerk,,,and unelectable…the repubs should have run somebody better….I like my guns…but I like my pension more….
Yeah Josh Shapiro is a piece of shit, he definitely won’t intervene. I don’t see more gun control being passed in the Commonwealth anytime soon, though. Wolf may be governor, but Harrisburg is controlled by Republicans and pretty much always has been.
that “rainbow warrior” is gonna’ fail….and cost the city some money if they don’t reign him in….we all feel bad about that shooting…but, except for that jerk…there has been very little call for gun control…
Gun control laws in the UK, like everywhere else in the world, are largely symbolic gestures designed to represent desired values rather than accomplish their stated purpose. Once in place, those in charge can look to the laws and reassure themselves that they’re still in charge because, well, just look at all the shiny new laws they can pass . . . That said, an Island nation like the UK is a smuggler’s paradise. As the multitudes of coastal “fishing” communities can attest, England historically had more and better smuggler’s than just about anybody. It comes as no surprise that the guns showing up now are new purchases. If you want a firearm in the UK, just about anything you might desire is available. All you have to know how is where and how to look.
Bans never work…tried with alcohol and failed
failing with drugs…
does not work for guns, either…
“Well, no. As one of the nation’s most ardent advocates of gun control reported . . .”
Zimmerman was fudging. The regime in California recently admitted that despite their ever more draconian legislation, legislation that makes the state an anti-gun leftist wet dream, murder with guns rose 18% for the years 2014-2016. That’s 14 points above the national average for the same time frame. It’s simply more proof that gun control legislation doesn’t work. So what does the left want to do? Take the useless California legislation national. It’s said that the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing and hoping for a different result. It would appear that the entire state of California should be turned into a mental institution.
The solution is so simple, why hasn’t anyone thought of it before?
All we have to is get rid of any metals or other materials that can be used to make weapons.
While we’re at it we should just get rid of any machine tools that can be used to make these weapons.
(Heavy sarcasm)
One a serious note – For any who deny that the gun grabbers are serious about gun confiscation, take note of the more than 70 instances in the past few years when they have demanded gun confiscation:
The list of Leftists demanding gun confiscation
May 2018
Esquire: Okay, Now I Actually Do Want To Take Your Guns
Ban assault weapons, buy them back, go after resisters: Ex-prosecutor in Congress
April 2018
Observer: Is It Time to Repeal the Second Amendment?
Vox: Why an assault weapons ban can’t address America’s gun problem
Miami Herald Repeal the Second Amendment — it’s not a crazy idea
Emma González [March for our Lives]: Removing the assault and semi-automatic weapons from our Civilian society, instituting thorough background checks and mandatory waiting periods (and raising the buying age and banning the production of high-capacity magazines) are the ways to stop shootings in America.
March 2018
Paste Magazine: Repeal the Second Amendment, Idiots
USA Today: Repealing the Second Amendment isn’t easy but it’s what March for Our Lives students need
New York Times – John Paul Stevens: Repeal the Second Amendment
The Charlotte News: Ban military-style assault weapons for the sake of our children
Vox: What no politician wants to admit about gun control “taking a huge number of guns away from a huge number of gun owners”
NAACP President OPINION: Gun Safety Is about Freedom [Australian style gun confiscation – making gun owners an offer they can’t refuse ]
February 2018
Maine Voices: It’s time for a gun abolition movement
We need to stand up to the NRA and push for what is so desperately needed: a complete ban on firearms.
Mercury News – Eugene Robinson
Robinson: Arming teachers is absurd — ban military-style assault rifles
PSMag: Repeal the Second Amendment Already
The Star: Want to end gun violence Mr. President? Get rid of guns
La Times: No one becomes a mass shooter without a mass-shooting gun
It’s Too Late. You’ve Lost Your Guns.
Democrat and Chronicle: Let’s repeal the Second Amendment
New York Times -To Repeat: Repeal the Second Amendment
November 2017
Splinter news: BAN GUNS
Redhawks Online: Guns must go
Boston Globe: Hand over your weapons
News-Press – USA Today Editorial Board: Renew ban on military-style assault weapons
October 2017
Dan Pfeiffer: What to Bring to the Gun Fight [national gun registry, Tracking and limiting purchases of ammunition and a national gun buyback program]
Eugene Robinson: Gun control should include buyback program like Australia’s
Washington Post: President Trump, end this ‘American carnage’.
[Members of The Washington Post Editorial Board]
The Week: Ban guns
New York Times: The Cancer in the Constitution
New Boston Post-Connecticut Professor: Repeal the Second Amendment
The New York Times: Repeal the Second Amendment
Plan A Magazine: Ban Guns. Amend the Constitution.
(CNN) Sachs: Ban semiautomatic assault weapons and save lives
Forget about ‘gun control,’ let’s repeal the Second Amendment
Prospect magazine: Dear America: it’s time to grow up and ban guns
August 2017
Mike the gun guy [A Magazine With News and Notes From Both Sides About Guns.]
What Guns To Be Safe? Get Rid Of The Guns.
December 2016
Huffington Post: Domestic Disarmament, Not ‘Gun Control’
June 2016
Rolling Stone: Why It’s Time to Repeal the Second Amendment
Washington Post – Eugene Robinson: Assault weapons must be banned in America
January 2016
W. Kamau Bell [CNN]: I want Obama to take away your guns
Huffington post: Can’t We Just Put the Damn Guns Down?
Anderson Cooper:”Speaking only for myself, watching Obama get repeatedly accused of wanting to take people’s guns away makes me sort of wish he’d just do something to earn that accusation. May as well!”
The Daily Beast: President Obama Isn’t Taking People’s Guns—But Maybe He Should.
December 2015
New Republic: It’s Time to Ban Guns. Yes, All of Them.
The New York Times: End the Gun Epidemic in America [First Front Page Editorial In 95 Years]
This editorial published on A1 in the Dec. 5 edition of The New York Times. It is the first time an editorial has appeared on the front page since 1920.
Salon: The Second Amendment must go: We ban lawn darts. It’s time to ban guns
November 2015
The Daily Beast: Yes, They Want to Take Your Guns Away
October 2015
Hillary Clinton: “In the Australian example, as I recall, that was a buyback program.”…..“I think it would be worth considering doing it on the national level”
Vox: Becoming a gun-free society would be hard. But we should still try.
Daily Kos: Effective Gun Control – A National Semi-Auto Ban
Washington Post: A gun-free society
Baltimore Sun: Repeal the Second Amendment
Obama: “We know that other countries, in response to one mass shooting, have been able to craft laws that almost eliminate mass shootings. Friends of ours, allies of ours — Great Britain, Australia, countries like ours. So we know there are ways to prevent it.”
September 2015
Grieving mom of two slain sons: Get rid of the guns!
January 2015
Tallahassee Democrat – Stop the insanity: Ban guns
June 2014
Obama: A couple of decades ago, Australia had a mass shooting similar to Columbine or Newtown. And Australia just said, well, that’s it — we’re not seeing that again. And basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws.
May 2014
La Times: You say gun control doesn’t work? Fine. Let’s ban guns altogether.
April 2013
Huffington Post: Gun Control? We Need Domestic Disarmament
February 2013
America Magazine: Repeal the Second Amendment
January 2013
New York Times: [John Howard] I Went After Guns. Obama Can, Too.
Vanity Fair – Kurt Eichenwald: Let’s Repeal the Second Amendment
December 2012
Daily Kos: How to Ban Guns: A step by step, long term process
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo: “Confiscation could be an option. Mandatory sale to the state could be an option. Permitting could be an option — keep your gun but permit it.”
Detroit Metro Times: Ban all guns, now
Opinionator – New York Times: Why Gun ‘Control’ Is Not Enough
House Dem: ‘Turn in your guns’
Huffington Post: It’s Not About the Constitution [Getting rid of the Second Amendment]
Eugene Robinson: First, Get Rid of the Guns
Economist The gun control that works: no guns
July 2012
Huffington Post: Get Rid of the Damn Guns
Mar 2012
Yes conservatives, we want to take away your guns…
February 2011
Arizona Daily Star: Reinstate ban on military-style assault weapons
April 2007
Salon: Repeal the Second Amendment
December 1993
La Times – Taming the Monster: Get Rid of the Guns : More firearms won’t make America safer–they will only accelerate and intensify the heartache and bloodshed
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