a fellow 'nut' posted this for us the frugal squirrel http://www.millionmommarch.com/home/index.cfm?page=uk_laws&action=info
Gun Crime Drops in Britain Following Tough New
Firearm Laws
In 1996 Thomas Hamilton, a licensed gun owner, used two lawfully
held semi-automatic handguns to shoot to death 16 school children
and their teacher at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland. Two
years later in March, 1998 the British government completed its
program to ban all handguns, buying them back from gun owners at
market rates.
In the two years since the destruction of 162,000 civilian-owned
handguns, official figures show that stricter British gun laws were
followed by a 17% reduction in all crimes involving firearms,
excluding air guns. -- (UK Home Office Statistical Bulletin 22/99, 26
Nov 1999; Table 10)
As the UK handgun ban took effect, the most closely-related
category of crime also dropped:
"The number of handgun offences… fell by 21% in 1997, near which
level they have remained."
-- (UK Home Office, Criminal Statistics England & Wales, 1998;
3.10. Mar 2000)
The number of gun-related deaths has also declined markedly. In
1998/99, 49 people were victims of firearm homicide in Britain,
down 66% since 1993.
-- (UK Home Office, Criminal Statistics England & Wales, 1998. Mar
2000)
As they refer exclusively to handgun-related and firearm-related
crime, these data could be the most reliable on which to base an
assessment of the effects of the British handgun ban. However,
less relevant data are often cited to suggest a reverse effect.
The number of reported robberies in Britain has grown markedly in
recent years. However, those who cite this fact rarely mention
that, in the absence of large numbers of firearms in the community,
96-98% of these encounters bear no relation to guns.
"The proportion of robberies in which firearms were used in 1998/99
was 4.4%, continuing the recent downward trend… Some research
suggests that the proportion of real guns used in robberies may be
only about half the estimate obtained from the police."
-- (UK Home Office, Criminal Statistics England & Wales, 1998; 3.13
& 3.25. Mar 2000)
As only 2% to 4% of reported robberies in Britain involve a genuine
firearm, the potential lethality of these encounters would seem to
be greatly reduced. It is hard to see how the number of offences in
which victims are threatened with knives, air guns, toy guns -- or
in one case a cucumber in a coat pocket -- can be cited as
evidence of a crime wave in Britain attributable to the removal of
handguns from civilian ownership. Instead, the apparent
displacement of robbery weapon from firearm to cucumber might be
seen as worthy of encouragement.
British citizens remain 50 times less likely to fall victim to gun
homicide than Americans.
British police officers are unarmed. None were seriously injured by
firearms in 1998/99.
41% of American households contain a firearm, compared to 4% in
Britain
Philip Alpers, gun policy researcher
Auckland & San Francisco
E-mail: alpers@ibm.net April, 2000
------------------------------------------
funny, ain't it, how so many people think britain is having a rough go with gun control, and this guy proves that it just ain't so.....hhhhmmmm, something smells fishy....
------------------
speak now, or forever hold your peace
Gun Crime Drops in Britain Following Tough New
Firearm Laws
In 1996 Thomas Hamilton, a licensed gun owner, used two lawfully
held semi-automatic handguns to shoot to death 16 school children
and their teacher at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland. Two
years later in March, 1998 the British government completed its
program to ban all handguns, buying them back from gun owners at
market rates.
In the two years since the destruction of 162,000 civilian-owned
handguns, official figures show that stricter British gun laws were
followed by a 17% reduction in all crimes involving firearms,
excluding air guns. -- (UK Home Office Statistical Bulletin 22/99, 26
Nov 1999; Table 10)
As the UK handgun ban took effect, the most closely-related
category of crime also dropped:
"The number of handgun offences… fell by 21% in 1997, near which
level they have remained."
-- (UK Home Office, Criminal Statistics England & Wales, 1998;
3.10. Mar 2000)
The number of gun-related deaths has also declined markedly. In
1998/99, 49 people were victims of firearm homicide in Britain,
down 66% since 1993.
-- (UK Home Office, Criminal Statistics England & Wales, 1998. Mar
2000)
As they refer exclusively to handgun-related and firearm-related
crime, these data could be the most reliable on which to base an
assessment of the effects of the British handgun ban. However,
less relevant data are often cited to suggest a reverse effect.
The number of reported robberies in Britain has grown markedly in
recent years. However, those who cite this fact rarely mention
that, in the absence of large numbers of firearms in the community,
96-98% of these encounters bear no relation to guns.
"The proportion of robberies in which firearms were used in 1998/99
was 4.4%, continuing the recent downward trend… Some research
suggests that the proportion of real guns used in robberies may be
only about half the estimate obtained from the police."
-- (UK Home Office, Criminal Statistics England & Wales, 1998; 3.13
& 3.25. Mar 2000)
As only 2% to 4% of reported robberies in Britain involve a genuine
firearm, the potential lethality of these encounters would seem to
be greatly reduced. It is hard to see how the number of offences in
which victims are threatened with knives, air guns, toy guns -- or
in one case a cucumber in a coat pocket -- can be cited as
evidence of a crime wave in Britain attributable to the removal of
handguns from civilian ownership. Instead, the apparent
displacement of robbery weapon from firearm to cucumber might be
seen as worthy of encouragement.
British citizens remain 50 times less likely to fall victim to gun
homicide than Americans.
British police officers are unarmed. None were seriously injured by
firearms in 1998/99.
41% of American households contain a firearm, compared to 4% in
Britain
Philip Alpers, gun policy researcher
Auckland & San Francisco
E-mail: alpers@ibm.net April, 2000
------------------------------------------
funny, ain't it, how so many people think britain is having a rough go with gun control, and this guy proves that it just ain't so.....hhhhmmmm, something smells fishy....
------------------
speak now, or forever hold your peace
