Here’s the background [via telegraph.co.uk]: “Sgt [Danny] Nightingale, who served with distinction in Iraq and Afghanistan, was jailed earlier this month after pleading guilty to possessing a Glock pistol given to him by members of the Iraqi special forces he helped train. The weapon was sent back from Iraq in 2007 after Sgt Nightingale left the country, and secured at the SAS’s headquarters before being moved to a house Sgt Nightingale briefly shared with another soldier. The pistol was discovered following a police raid but the sergeant claimed that he had no recollection of owning the pistol after he suffered brain damage in 2009.” Which doesn’t sound plausible, at all. Also, there’ve been accusations of equipment theft and other “anomalies” in the case . . .
None of which have stopped the Nightingale’s ballistic trevails from becoming a cause celebre. The great British public is incensed that the courts have decided to detain a war hero for 18 months at Her Majesty’s pleasure.
But none of the massive media coverage even mentions the fact that Sgt Nightingale’s “crime”—firearms possession—shouldn’t be a crime. The Land of Hope and Glory has strayed so far from “allowing” individual gun rights that the Queen’s subjects consider the subject beyond contemplation.
To quote the immortal words of the B52’s for those who still believe that an Englishman’s home is his castle, WELL IT ISN’T. Sad but true.
