“Nearly 3,000 guns were lost by or stolen from people registered to hold them in the past five years, according to figures obtained by the BBC,” Auntie Beeb reports. Uh, well, the category “guns” includes barrels, “sound moderators,” muskets and a cannon. Not to mention “slaughtering instruments” and “humane killers” (livestock-related products one hopes). More data crunching after the jump, revealing the percentage of lost or stolen firearms compared to the total. [Hint: it’s less than one percent.] Meanwhile, the Gun Control Network (“Working towards a gun-free environment”) is miffed. Chrissie Hall reckons “People lose their glasses and they lose their umbrella but to lose their gun is unbelievably irresponsible.” What part of the word “stolen” doesn’t she understand? In other words . . .
“We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that rural crime is rising and that is doubtless going to have an effect as opportunist criminals target lonely houses, farmhouses where they suspect there may well be firearms and look for them there.”
God forbid the registered gun owners use their registered guns to stop criminals from stealing registered guns. There’d be hell to pay, mate. Besides, the guns have to be in a locked container bolted to the wall in a discreet location. Bad guy at the door? Run Forrest run!
Anyway, that’s Bill Harriman, director of firearms for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (currently fighting the Royal Mail’s plans to refuse to transport firearms or firearms parts). Mr. Harriman had a look at these numbers . . .
“There are nearly two million licensed firearms in the UK and 3,000 represents a tiny 0.15% of that figure,” Mr Harriman opined. “Generally my experience of people who shoot in the UK is that they are very careful and very responsible people.”
Unless they’re bad guys. Oh look, here’s a firearms-related homicide dated August 24. I wonder where they got their gun from? And whether or not [both] legal UK gun owners are responsible.
Question: how many of those lost guns were lost by the police? Based on the UK’s prohibition of civilian ownership of handguns, and the incidences in the US of LEOs leaving handguns in restrooms, I’m betting that ALL of the pistols & revolvers were lost by UK cops. and what the #$*$ is an “other”?
I was thinking the same thing, what the heck is an other?????
I thought the UK was a gun free utopia though??? I a shocked someone actually got shot in the UK! Well not really..
Most folks prefer to use knives, and other implements of death to kill their victims there. Remember the London bombings??
Sanchanim – I’m sure it must have been painful when somebody was shot in the UK (what part of the body is that?). Did he survive?
i’ve made this point before, if a badguy breaks into my house and steals my gun why is it my fault and not his. if a badguy steals my toyota and runs down someone with it who’s at fault, me or the badguy? antis keep trying to put the blame on the victem and not the bg.
+1!
Since the UK is a lost cause hardly worth mentioning, let me just say really neat pic.
Am I the only one who is sick and tired of hearing that the UK is a lost cause concerning gun rights? Honestly, the only reason that people are so anti-gun in the UK is because of all the propaganda (lies) sent out by the GCN.
don’t let the nay sayers get to you p.g.b.. so long as one is still telling the truth the cause is not hopeless.
Keep educating your populace. Keep your head up. It’s an almost impossible struggle ahead of you, but perseverance and resistance to the government’s boots will eventually get the rights stolen, restored once more.
I don’t speak for all, but in general, the US view of the UK’s police state is that they are beyond the point of no return.
The “lost cause” part hardly stops at the UK’s gun ownership laws. It’s a symptom of a greater problem, much like Chicago or California. Keep fighting the good fight, more power to you, but change has to come from a fundamental level, and that’s a behemoth of a force to fight. To say that propaganda is the “only reason” the country is like that is to belittle the immensely powerful weapon that propaganda truly is.
what’s the alternative to the fight, run? regardless of where my street address is i’m going to be in this fight.
You’d think they’d be well aware of the concept, given the rife thievery in the UK. More than half of the people I know there have had something stolen at some point in time, and they all inexplicably regard this as “normal”.
Well when criminals know you’re not allowed to defend your home or person from them, something about it emboldens them. It’s almost like criminals can do risk-reward calculations!
The UK GCN consists of Gill Marshall-Andrews, the shrill & neurotic wife of a rather ineffective politician & half a dozen of her knitting circle friends.
The hysterical piffle posted on their website only goes to underline their detachment from reality.
There are a couple of million shotguns in the UK, so roughly 400 a year being lost is a hardly significant 0.02% per annum.
PS This “lost cause” nation still has some things better than elsewhere, lik the ease with which we can obtain sound moderators. .
50BMG firearms are legal here too & magazine restrictions don’t exist, unlike California.
Don’t forge that as air weapons (rifles limited to 12 pounds foot and pistols to 6 pounds foot power) are covered by the various Firearms Acts and that anything involving an air weapon (offense, theft, loss etc. – and paintball guns are similarly restricted) is AUTOMATICALLY counted as a “firearm” for recording purposes.
When I left in 2009 PROVIDED that the power limits were below 12/6 pounds foot energy levels, they were not restricted (other than an age restriction for purchasing). A good air weapon is quite expensive and if one was stolen, then the only way that you could claim it on insurance is if you have a crime number issued by the Police – in other words, you must report it … Catch 22 as far as recording “firearms offences” is concerned.
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