Have Great Britain’s restrictive gun laws contributed to the rise in violent crime? http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041105.html
Handguns were banned after and atrocious incident at a school in Scotland. Akin to Columbine, this was even more chilling.
The Dunblane massacre occurred at the primary school in the small town of Dunblane in central Scotland. On Wednesday, 13 March 1996, unemployed former shopkeeper Thomas Hamilton, walked in to the school armed with two pistols, two revolvers and 743 cartridges and opened fire. He fired 105 rounds with one of his two 9 mm Browning semi-automatic pistols within about 3-4 minutes. Sixteen children of 4-6 years of age and one adult teacher died as a result. Hamilton then committed suicide. As a result of the tragedy, a public inquiry was held, led by Lord Cullen.
After gaining entry to the school, Hamilton made his way to the gym hall and opened fire on a class, killing or wounding every person present bar one pupil. Fifteen children and a teacher (Mrs Gwen Mayor) died at the scene. Hamilton then fired one shot with one of his two .357 Smith & Wesson revolvers pointing upwards into his mouth, killing himself instantly. A further fifteen children and three adults were rushed to hospital as soon as the emergency services arrived, however one of these children was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
The public outcry was phenomenal and the UK Government had NO CHOICE but to ban handguns. A truly justified act.
According to “Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner”- Gun Control- one way or the other- has no measurable effect on crime- one way or the other.
the argument that rises in UK crime and fresh restrictions are cause and effect is predicated on the assumption that British criminals were previously afraid that they might encounter someone with a pistol, and are now happy in the knowledge that they won’t. This ignores the fact that so few people here had a pistol (and even fewer were in a position to carry them legally) that criminals never reckoned it as a serious danger in the first place.
And yes, I did have several guns. Never bothered carrying them, save on my way to the club. Even then, never bothered loading them. I didn’t reckon the danger was sufficiently great to be worth worrying about. I might occasionally put a speed loader in my pocket, if I could be bothered.
It seems strange that, half a year on, Cecil still hasn’t seen fit to reply to many of the refutations made in that previous thread. Just to make it easier for him, his (completely non-cited) comments are in bold, followed by a (cited) refutation from the previous thread:
**Violent crime jumped by two-thirds between 1998 and 2003. **
**Crime is higher in the UK than the U.S. in every category except rape and murder. **
**UK householders who injure a home invader are often hauled up on charges (although they may be acquitted), whereas in the U.S. more commonly you’ll get a pass. **
**Rising crime in Britain surely has a lot to do with the lousy economy. **