I was just now glancing through the “The London Daily Telegraph”…

“Hold on there,” you say.  “What’s a freeborn American doing ‘glancing through’ the ‘The London Daily Telegraph’ ”?

Well it’s one of the marvels of the information highway that allows me to read what’s being said on the other side of the “pond”.  And I find it quite fun, actually, to read their manner of writing – it reminds me of the way my English cousins talk.  Sometimes I even laugh out loud in spite of myself.  In addition to the “Telegraph”, some other interesting sites are “The Times of London”, “The Scotsman”, and the “BBC News”.

It seems there’s a bit of a row over there on the tenth anniversary of their gun ban.  One of the first measures taken by the new Labour Government in 1997 was an almost total ban on hand guns.  This was in response, as expressed by Kate Hoey, Labour MP (Member of Parliament) for Vauxhall, to “the horror we all felt back in 1996 when 16 children and a teacher were shot dead at a school in Dunblane by a deranged man with a gun.”

I remember the incident, but wasn’t aware of the subsequent gun ban – I was under the impression that guns were already banned in Briton.  Turns out there had been restrictions on gun ownership, registration, and use, but the new ban was near total.  Brits aren’t even sure if parliament will pass legislative exemptions for the 2012 Olympics as requested by the Governing Body For Olympic Shooting Sport.

So after the 1996 shootings, “politicians reacted in haste to the call for ‘something to be done’ ”.  The new penalties for gun possession carry a minimum sentence of five years (release in normal circumstances after 30 months).  For those aged between 17 and 21, the minimum sentence is three years (release after 18 months).

Overnight, thousands of men and women had to hand in their pistols, and authorities provided “voluntary drop-off centres” to make compliance easier.  (Don’t you just love their quaint spellings?  I had to program my spell checker to accept them!)

After two years, authorities were shocked – SHOCKED – at hints that criminals were ignoring the ban.  Yes it was true!  Statistics showed the use of handguns in crimes rose by 40%.  But never mind, stay the course!

Now after a decade, a new study shows appalling disregard by criminals for the ban!!  The rate of crimes involving handguns has now risen 100% over that of the pre-ban years.

Even more embarrassing, the study said, is the discovery of an inverse “…link between high levels of gun crime and areas where there were still high levels of legal gun possession in London.”

Of the 20 police “areas” with the highest levels of legally held guns, only two had armed crime levels above the average.

(Still-legal guns include the following exceptions to the ban: muzzle-loading “blackpowder” guns, pistols produced before 1917, pistols of historical interest, starting pistols, pistols that are of particular aesthetic interest (such as engraved or “jeweled” guns) and shot pistols for pest control.)

British blogs are a twitter with perplexed Brits.  Solutions include extending the ban to include the above mentioned exceptions, not granting the 2012 Olympics’ request, increasing the number of “voluntary drop-off centres”.  An article in “The Scotsman” assured citizens that “officials [are] working with police on a series of measures to encourage people to report or hand in illegally held weapons.

But the subject of illegal guns is itself a hot topic of discussion.  One woman is quoted as saying, “The kids pass the [illegal] guns around each other as if they were football [soccer] collector cards.  [T]hey are just a status symbol.  And now it seems anyone who wants one can get hold of one.”

After the shooting of an 11 year old boy, one Chief Constable issued the following public statement he hoped would solve the problem. 

“In the past we have often come up against a wall of silence but enough is enough and the shooting of an 11-year-old boy demands that the community should come together.  I would like to appeal to members of the criminal community to examine their consciences.  Members of the criminal fraternity could have the key to this and we would appeal to them to come forward.”

Local Bobbies are still waiting for the onslaught of donations at the local “voluntary drop-off centres”.

After surfing for upwards of an hour I remained dumbfounded that the British were so perplexed.

Just as I was about to abandon the dern Limeys to their own fate, I came across the following posting that demonstrates at least one of them may actually have an intuitive grasp of the obvious – and a sense of humor to boot:

“How is this awful murder possible?  Doesn’t the UK have a gun ban?

“Perhaps the criminals are not obeying the law?  I suppose it would not be the first time criminals have committed crimes.  And does the government believe that the criminals will cheerfully drop off their handguns in a drop box?  Do they really think that will happen?  I hope it is just spin.  Otherwise, we have a case of terminal stupidity.

“So there you are.  Criminals have guns with which to shoot law abiding citizens.  Law abiding citizens have no way to protect themselves.  They can’t count on the police, since the typical criminal does not shoot people with a constable standing by.  So if you are a law abiding Briton, the government expects you to go quietly into the darkness.  Thank God Winston did not live to see this.”

I say old chap.  I think this bloke may be on to something!!!

Quote of the Day

A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year.  And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.—Winston Churchill