I went on a road trip with 1 Scot and 2 Englishmen to San Antonio and Austin. Besides having a great time, we talked a little politics. Having not been in the States before, they were surprised that not everyone was blatantly walking around with a gun, so we got to talking. One big difference between the US & Britian is general attitude towards gun rights. I think it boils down to where people focus their attention. Many British people claim that gun laws better society in general, while Americans focus more on indivdual rights. If I hear someone break into my house, I'm not worried about societal stastics. I'm worried about myself and my family.
Even if you insist that you have a less likely chance of being attacked in Britian, you have a 0% chance of defending yourself. A gun is also a great equalizer. A large man can easily harm an old lady if they both only have their fists or knives. Armed with a gun, the old lady can defend herself. Britian's gun ban has left the old and handicapped defenseless. They essentially agreed on my arguments that gun laws benefit society. However, British people never hear the "other side of the debate."
Subsequent research shows that the British gun ban has only lead to an increase in gun crime, now that criminals know that citizens are defenseless. In 2004, in Britian there were 10,670 crimes involving a gun. In 1997, after the Dunblane massacre, which lead to the gun ban, there were 2,648 gun crimes. Even the Beeb acknowledges that gun laws have done little to curb crime. Britian is also an island and should have an easier time banning guns. Marijuana is completely illegal and we all know how successful that effort is.
Finally, where would you prefer to rob a house, England or Texas?
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