Oh this one again.

I bet that people would stop smoking marijuana if we banned it.

Without you taking offence Karol (none intended) what is your fixation with Britain and the ludicrous notion of allowing the British people to carry guns?

There is NO compelling reason for us to be armed and it is extremely dangerous as well. As a Brit I am rather glad that if I am walking down the street and someone tries to mug me it is highly unlikely that a gun will be involved.

At least once a year since I came across this blog there is a link to a gun crime in England (they are still the rarity) with the postulation that British people would be SAFER if we were allowed GUNS. Why?

Nick:

The burglary rate in Europe is twice that of the US because we have the right to shoot anyone who invades our home.

Surveys of US prisoners show that they fear homeowners with guns far more than they fear the police.

Many leftys think that burglary is a victimless crime. But burglary is a very serious crime.

1. Its victims are traumatized for very long periods of time
2. Today’s burglar is tomorrow’s rapist. If a burglar is successful in invading the personal space of a home, he will become even more aggressive in invading personal space.
3. Whenever a homeowner is encountered, violence usually occurs.

Our sense of personal security and safety is much higher in the US than it is in the UK thanks to our right to bear arms.

The purpose of citizenry owning weapons is to neutralize the potential threat of the government. In the United States, for example, it is impossible for the government to repress our population, without destroying the entire society, specifically because of our proliferation of guns.

I'd like to add that I've been shot. It hurts. It hurts a whole lot. Unbelievable amount of pain. There's blood involved and usually some form of disfigurement too. Definitely not pretty. That being said, I'd never support a ban on guns.

You don't need guns for that. In Germany the constitution FORBIDS the army to operate against the citizens. Same result without the Germans bearing arms.

Burglary is not a victimless crime and that is one aspect of leftish thinking I have no time for but you also cannot deny that if you compare the EU to the USA you see a dramatic difference in the level of gun crime despite similar socio economic divides and population levels.

You can't eradicate gun crime completely but I don't believe that Brits should be allowed to bear arms. I would rather be at risk of my home being burgled and lose possessions covered by insurance than run the risk of being shot or shooting someone over said insured possessions.

Dorian,

I'm afraid I now have to report you to Homeland Security.

They're focusing too much on kitchen knives:
http://www.citizen-journal.net/mt-weblog/archives/2006/02/nanny_state_dia.html#comments

"You don't need guns for that. In Germany the constitution FORBIDS the army to operate against the citizens. Same result without the Germans bearing arms."

Oh my. Germany, of all places, should know better.

Nick, that is the difference between Europeans and Americans: Euros trust that a government will follow its own rules; Americans know that it won't.

A disarmed population has given up a very important way of ensuring that its government doesn't suspend that constitution during an "emergency", real or fabricated.

Why do people need guns? To protect yourself from neighbors who disgregard laws and from a government that thinks it is above them.

Nick, I actually don't care what kind of gun laws Britain has, my reason for pointing out these types of stories is that anti-gun activists in the states point to Britain's national ban on all handguns as the epitome of gun law perfection. I just like to point out that it doesn't work and it causes more harm than good.

And now I have to report Joe Grossberg. And I was so looking forward to meeting him next week. Oh well.

Karol.

OK. You guys need better anti-gun activists from the sound of it. Britain isnt perfect no where is. From a personal viewpoint I question the point of trying to bring in uber stringent gun control laws in America as that won't solve the problem. Bullet control? Chris Rock has a good idea there.

He was obviously aiming for a Quale or a Potatoe and missed.

Nick:

87-Year-Old Woman Kills Intruder (who cut her telephone wires before breaking in).

What would she have done in the UK?

That sounds like a pretty compelling reason to me. Whether or not it offsets any downsides to legalized guns is up for debate, but I can't see how denying people the ability to defend themselves (guns are great equalizers) is unequivocally positive.

Without you taking offence Karol (none intended) what is your fixation with Britain

You got it backasswards. It is you with the fixation (obsession?) with everything American.

11.

If you are going to quote me in an attempt to have a go kindly do me the courtesy of quoting properly.

My question was not "What is your fixation with Britain?" It was "What is your fixation with Britain AND THE LUDICROUS NOTION OF ALLOWING THE BRITISH PEOPLE TO CARRY GUNS?" (Caps my emphasis)

Reason being I have counted at least 3 occasions where Karol has seized on a gun crime in the UK and questioned and or advocated enabling us Brits to bear arms and I was curious as to why that aspect of British life is so important to her?

As for being obssessed with America if you were to go through the archives of this blog, recent and otherwise, you will find a posting pattern that is almost exclusively about Foreign policy. Threads about Bloomberg, Herman Cain (2 people I couldnt pick out in an ID parade) or Right wing events in NYC I ignore on the grounds I couldnt care less.

Besides seeing as there is sadly no chance of America buggering off back into isolationism it makes sense to take an interest. You are the superpower for now.

Answer to Joe Grossberg from earlier on. German housemate in response to statement about Euros and Americans vis a vis govt oppression. If he has the right to bear arms Dubya is the first to go!

Incidentally the constitution in germany also forbids the govt to suspend said constitution by claiming "an emergency". The Germans learnt from Weimar!

It's too late to go surfing for stats to back me up but since arriving in the US I have read far too many everyday stories about gun crime. Crimes that simply would never have happened in the UK because of our gun laws.

Yes, people get shot in the UK. Making guns illegal does not mean that people won't get hold of them. But it does mean that there are far fewer of them around. And practically none are in the hands of everyday people who are careless enough to lose them or let their kids get hold of them.

I don't particularly care whether Americans have the right to bear arms. It's not my country. But I think the arguments used to support gun ownership are, in the main, weak.

If Americans really wanted them for personal safety, why don't they carry them in the street? And as for the argument about defending themselves against the government? Give me a break. Whoever controls the military controls the country. Your average Joe armed with a pistol or a rifle is not going to stand a chance against the US military.

Why can't you just admit that you get a kick out of keeping a firearm and having the right to use it?

Actually, EiNY, I know some people who do carry a gun on the street - concealed carry is legal in some states.

Well, why not make it legal everywhere? If you're gonna be a bear...be a grizzly.

Keeping guns for the purpose of fighting the government is a rediculous notion. It was a good idea in 1786, when muskets were your biggest threat. Now the government has tanks, nuclear weapons and fighter jets.

Also, you cannot deny that gun bans reduce gun crimes on the street. You also can't deny that gun ownership makes potential robbers think twice (or at least come heavily armed).

The question is this: would you rather be robbed in your home or on the street? That is at the heart of the debate. Nothing more.

buggering

Not only are you obsessed with the U.S., backassward, now you are into buggering. No shock there. lol!

I walked right into that.

German housemate

Are you gay?

No offense, I'm bi. I only asked because Germans are the kinkiest people (I know, I've been with them all) and you must have some great stories. Do tell.

I'm even more turned on that you guys would take up arms against the Halliburton regime seizing America.

I walked right into that.

It could have been worse, Nick. You could have backed up into it. Yee-ha!

No Don I am not gay.

If Phil as a German is also kinky then he has thankfully not displayed it to me in the last 3 years.

House consists of 1 German, 1 italian girl, 1 Danish guy, A Swiss-Scot, A Welshman and me the sole Englishman who doesn't live in the UK. Joys of uni shared housing.