Gun Crime rising. Why? Didnt the h/gun ban stop all the guns in the country?
 

Im shocked to read in the daily mail the gun crime is rising at a silly rate in the UK. We've got double what we had in 2003 or something silly like that. Why did the government ban legally registered handguns to control gun crime, but then not get rid of criminals who have unresgistered guns?

I'd love to go down to a local gun club and blow a few holes in a melon/paper target with a shiny .357. I mean I could go down to Hexthorpe flats and buy a shooter but wouldnt be able to use it in a controlled environment and not get arrested.
Why did they ban hand guns, and why cant we have them back?

Imagine how many there would be in circulation if they were NOT banned???!! :eek:

You are looking at the glass as half full ....... its actually, in this case, half empty!!

And we are all safer for that!

Pete

Don't see how we are any safer ? I live next to Bisley range and we have hundreds of thousands of shooters coming here from all over the UK to shoot competitions with various types of firearm (inc pistols - yes you can still own some) and yet they don't hold up the local post office or have gang shootouts in the high st.

Looks like another knee jerk reaction which has not targetted the true source of gun crime.

I would have agreed with you before. But now Im not going to :D If every house in the UK could legally hold a gun, then you can bet your bottom dollar (hint ;) ) that 75% would.

Now there seems to be a sub culture of idiots in the country that shouldnt even be allowed to hold a pen without trying to cause harm with it. And Id rather not give these idiots with no self control a gun!

Less guns in the country is a good thing in my opinion. Yes criminals will be able to get hold of them, but at least they're wont be Artics transporting hundreds of them around the country, just ripe for the jacking! Or houses being burgled for them.

Gun laws only affect law abiding people. Simple as that.

The fact is that banning them has done no good at all really. It did affect innocent people who used to shoot at a club for sport very badly.

Whatever you do to ban them will have no effect whatsoever on the ability of criminals to obtain them. The whole businaess goes underground and impossible to control.

Les

Les I think you are spot on there. It's so hard to obtain a firearm certificate in the UK with all the police checks on your criminal record history, medical status, range checks and house security that it's impossible for criminals to obtain weapons in that way. The few incidents that have occured are down to the police letting the side down as they failed to act on information that would have stopped these guys holding onto their firearms.

However pop into your local boozer and order some smuggled in sub machinegun and bobs your uncle.

I'm sure the government would achieve a reduction in gun crime by concentrating on illegaly held and manufactured weapons, and probably on drug crime that seems to be the root of all evil - and leave target shooters to get on with their sport.

Anyone care to guess which country in the world has the highest number of guns per head of population?

Rubbish Pete; but I suspect that you know better. Can I assume that you no longer have your legally held 'Magnum' then?

Simon

I bet that bloke in Sheffield who was shot when his Porsche Boxter was stolen would have a convincing argument that the handgun ban has not stopped criminals using them.

NotoriousRev and Leslie are right. The vast vast majority of gun owners who legally own firearms and shoot for a hobby etc were never the problem in the first place. The basic problem is lack of repect and education for firearms. Goto Switzerland and every house will have a gun and yet they have very little gun crime. Yes, there are strict controls, but more importantly everyone does compulsory military service at 19 -where the respect and education relating to firearms is done.

The big problem in this country is illegal firearms and let's face it, if you're in the market for a dodgy gun, you don't give a toss about the law.

America is a classic example of where freedom to own guns is not accompanied by proper training or instruction - that's a recipe for disaster (and 11000 gun related deaths every year (as opposed to the UK which is about 100))

Chris wins the prize :-)

Actually no one else entered.

However, Switzerland has the highest number of guns per head of population and an extremely low incidence of gun crime. It is also interesting that many of the guns in "circulation" in Switzerland are automatic weapons and I think that even in the USA getting such a weapon is restricted in some areas. The Swiss are also very into their target shooting, there are about 3,000 shooting ranges for a country with about 2.8 million households.

Northern Ireland has the most strict gun control in the UK, even an air rifle has to go on the full fire arms certificate, and yet the various terrorist organisations would appear to have no problems getting and using a range of weapons right up to Browning .50 heavy machine guns.

Im sure that youre right; it was an armed robbery in their home though, rather than a targetted theft of the car. Bradfield is a very pleasant village in the Peak District too, its not like its a ghetto in Sheffield (Burngreave for example...).

Simon

As an aside; handguns arent banned in Northern Ireland...

The situation with handguns isn't simple in NI though. They are not banned because many civilians have been issued with them as personal protection weapons. However it is pretty much impossible to get a handgun for any other reason and so it might be reasonable to say that they are unavailable to anyone who is not believed to be under direct threat of terrorist attack.

The same could also be said of any weapon over .22 though in recent years this has relaxed somewhat and there is some potential for acquiring full bore weapons for sporting reasons.

Many members of terrorist organisations are believed to carry illegal handguns as "personal protection weapons" and in one case a few years back a well known figure, who was arrested after shooting at a woman in the street with a handgun, claimed that he was "decomissioning" the weapon!

LOL Hedgehog - I must admit to not reading right through the posts and your comment about gun ownership :). I used to work for a bank many years ago and my boss was Swiss. Every now and again he'd bugger off for a couple of days to do some militray exercise. They all seemed to enjoy it :) Always thought it was quite strange given the neutrality of the country, but they do take their own defense very seriously.

The gun laws in the UK, largely introduced after Dunblane were just an ill thought-out kneejerk reaction. They did nothing to curb the use or attempt to actually cure the problem. Gun crime has increased in the UK every year since Dunblane.

The handgun ban was a political move, not a practical real world one. Involve politicians and you are almost guaranteed not to address the real issue as they are more interested in whether or not it will help them win the next general election than whether or not it is practical legislation that will achieve something, and frequently when it is rushed on to the statute books it is ill worded and ill planned :rolleyes:

The vast majority of crime in this country involving firearms involves illegaly held ones.