Covert Mission
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This is an editorial from the generally excellent ECONOMIST Magazine, Aug. 12-18, 2000 issue, via the internet: http://www.economist.com
So much for the effectiveness of Britain's (opressively) strict gun control laws, in keeping guns from criminals. The truth is evident: only the law abiding have been disarmed. Criminals, whose preferred tool is the gun, can, will, and do get them. What a concept. It should have been properly titled "Is a criminal gun culture taking root in Britain?"
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BRITAIN
Ê
Smoking barrels
Is a gun culture taking root in Britain?Ê
"IT WAS the kind of thing you might expect in Dodge City, but not in Slough. On August 3rd, as three defendants stood in the dock of a magistrate court in Slough (a small town just outside London), a gang of gun-toting men swaggered in. They fired into the ceiling, sent officials and lawyers diving for cover, and freed two of the accused. Together, they sped off, reportedly shooting into the air as they went.
The audacity of the crime was startling. Although police quickly found the getaway car and arrested one of the two men who had been sprung, the escape emphasised the easy availability of guns. It also showed the willingness of even small-time crooksÑthe defendants faced charges of burglaryÑto make use of them. A few days earlier in Peckham in south London, a shooting outside ÒChicagoÕsÓ nightclub wounded five women and three men. This attack, and several others in south London, have been blamed on competition between rival drug gangs. All these incidents have sparked talk of a new Ògun cultureÓ in Britain.
Since a shooting in Dunblane in Scotland in 1996, when a gunman killed 16 children and their teacher, private ownership of handguns above .22 calibre has been banned in Britain. Self-loading and pump-action shotguns are also prohibited. Groups dedicated to gun control describe BritainÕs laws as the worldÕs Ògold standardÓ, noting that the countryÕs regulations are among the toughest anywhere. An amnesty following the Dunblane killings also saw some 200,000 guns of different sorts handed in from private homes, though many more are thought to be held illegally.
Have these tighter laws achieved their aim of reducing the amount of gun crime? Despite the recent incidents, the figures suggest that they have. Offences involving firearms (not counting airguns) dropped from 5,209 in 1996 to 3,143 last year, with a particular decline in the use of guns for robbery. The number of murders where a gun was used also declined, from an average of 62 a year in England and Wales in the three years before tougher gun laws were introduced in 1997, to 54 a year on average since then. (In comparison there were 32,436 deaths due to gun violence in America in 1997, of which 13,252 were murders.)
[reader's note: this doesn't take into account the large population disparity between the US and the UK. The comparison should have been listed as "murders per 100,000 population" for example.]
But although there has been a general decline in the number of crimes committed using guns, there has been an increase in the sub-set of crimes called Òguns used for violence against the person.Ó These have risen steadily from 1,206 in 1995 to 1,746 offences last year. A House of Commons committee report earlier this year noted Òa generally increasing trend in the misuse of firearmsÓ and recommending that tighter (and simpler) laws be considered.
Giving evidence to that committee, the Home Office also suggested that Òamongst criminals, the carrying of a gun and willingness to use it to resolve conflicts is a sign of status and a means of gaining respect.Ó That, says the government, is in part because of the depiction of guns in the media which tempts the Òweak-mindedÓ. But it is also thought to be a culture imported by criminals who have arrived from more violent parts of the world, such as the Caribbean. In particular, gangs such as the Yardies (those linked with Jamaican criminals and smugglers of drugs from the Caribbean to Britain), use guns to settle disputes and to protect their share of the illegal drugs market. Gangs with no connection to the Yardies, but with similar practices, operate in most of BritainÕs larger cities.
Black communities especially have endured a recent increase in violence between gangs. A permanent unit in the Metropolitan Police, Operation Trident, was set up last month to fight gun crime in London. In particular the unit of 160 officers will target those who murder and shoot within black communities, mainly gangs. Evidently there is a need for such a unit. Dave Cox, a spokesman for it, says that, despite Òa huge barrier of fearÓ, the public has responded with an overwhelming amount of information, reflecting the Òclimate of tension created in the community by the violenceÓ.
Drug money and gang warfare have driven demand for weapons; smuggled guns from Eastern Europe have helped to provide the supply. Pump-action shotguns and automatic weapons are available on the black market, and are carried by some criminals. But handguns are increasingly popular, and when used prove to be more likely to cause death or serious injury than other sorts of guns. Pistols can be bought for a few hundred pounds from underworld dealers; some even build their own or ÒreactivateÓ guns which had previously been disabled. BritainÕs criminals have little trouble getting hold of guns, if they want them."
So much for the effectiveness of Britain's (opressively) strict gun control laws, in keeping guns from criminals. The truth is evident: only the law abiding have been disarmed. Criminals, whose preferred tool is the gun, can, will, and do get them. What a concept. It should have been properly titled "Is a criminal gun culture taking root in Britain?"
-------------------------------
BRITAIN
Ê
Smoking barrels
Is a gun culture taking root in Britain?Ê
"IT WAS the kind of thing you might expect in Dodge City, but not in Slough. On August 3rd, as three defendants stood in the dock of a magistrate court in Slough (a small town just outside London), a gang of gun-toting men swaggered in. They fired into the ceiling, sent officials and lawyers diving for cover, and freed two of the accused. Together, they sped off, reportedly shooting into the air as they went.
The audacity of the crime was startling. Although police quickly found the getaway car and arrested one of the two men who had been sprung, the escape emphasised the easy availability of guns. It also showed the willingness of even small-time crooksÑthe defendants faced charges of burglaryÑto make use of them. A few days earlier in Peckham in south London, a shooting outside ÒChicagoÕsÓ nightclub wounded five women and three men. This attack, and several others in south London, have been blamed on competition between rival drug gangs. All these incidents have sparked talk of a new Ògun cultureÓ in Britain.
Since a shooting in Dunblane in Scotland in 1996, when a gunman killed 16 children and their teacher, private ownership of handguns above .22 calibre has been banned in Britain. Self-loading and pump-action shotguns are also prohibited. Groups dedicated to gun control describe BritainÕs laws as the worldÕs Ògold standardÓ, noting that the countryÕs regulations are among the toughest anywhere. An amnesty following the Dunblane killings also saw some 200,000 guns of different sorts handed in from private homes, though many more are thought to be held illegally.
Have these tighter laws achieved their aim of reducing the amount of gun crime? Despite the recent incidents, the figures suggest that they have. Offences involving firearms (not counting airguns) dropped from 5,209 in 1996 to 3,143 last year, with a particular decline in the use of guns for robbery. The number of murders where a gun was used also declined, from an average of 62 a year in England and Wales in the three years before tougher gun laws were introduced in 1997, to 54 a year on average since then. (In comparison there were 32,436 deaths due to gun violence in America in 1997, of which 13,252 were murders.)
[reader's note: this doesn't take into account the large population disparity between the US and the UK. The comparison should have been listed as "murders per 100,000 population" for example.]
But although there has been a general decline in the number of crimes committed using guns, there has been an increase in the sub-set of crimes called Òguns used for violence against the person.Ó These have risen steadily from 1,206 in 1995 to 1,746 offences last year. A House of Commons committee report earlier this year noted Òa generally increasing trend in the misuse of firearmsÓ and recommending that tighter (and simpler) laws be considered.
Giving evidence to that committee, the Home Office also suggested that Òamongst criminals, the carrying of a gun and willingness to use it to resolve conflicts is a sign of status and a means of gaining respect.Ó That, says the government, is in part because of the depiction of guns in the media which tempts the Òweak-mindedÓ. But it is also thought to be a culture imported by criminals who have arrived from more violent parts of the world, such as the Caribbean. In particular, gangs such as the Yardies (those linked with Jamaican criminals and smugglers of drugs from the Caribbean to Britain), use guns to settle disputes and to protect their share of the illegal drugs market. Gangs with no connection to the Yardies, but with similar practices, operate in most of BritainÕs larger cities.
Black communities especially have endured a recent increase in violence between gangs. A permanent unit in the Metropolitan Police, Operation Trident, was set up last month to fight gun crime in London. In particular the unit of 160 officers will target those who murder and shoot within black communities, mainly gangs. Evidently there is a need for such a unit. Dave Cox, a spokesman for it, says that, despite Òa huge barrier of fearÓ, the public has responded with an overwhelming amount of information, reflecting the Òclimate of tension created in the community by the violenceÓ.
Drug money and gang warfare have driven demand for weapons; smuggled guns from Eastern Europe have helped to provide the supply. Pump-action shotguns and automatic weapons are available on the black market, and are carried by some criminals. But handguns are increasingly popular, and when used prove to be more likely to cause death or serious injury than other sorts of guns. Pistols can be bought for a few hundred pounds from underworld dealers; some even build their own or ÒreactivateÓ guns which had previously been disabled. BritainÕs criminals have little trouble getting hold of guns, if they want them."