Guns in the UK? No !!!

I know a lot of my friends (like some of you) over the pond keep guns, and I respect the reasons why, there are a lot of guns in your country.

It got me thinking however, is it the right thing?
We had had 1 maybe 2 shootings in my City (Edinburgh, Scotland) since I can remember, and both were drivebye's.
Never heard of someone (here in the uk) getting thier house broken into and using a gun.

I think having guns is wrong.
Its like nuclear weapons, Country A has them because Country B has them.

There never has been a mass call to allow people to bare arms, or allow guns, and I would opposed BIG TIME.
The more guns you allow, the will, like everything end up in the wrong hands.

In England there are a few more gun stories, few more killings, dont know why that is.
But in the main, we are kind of gun free in a way. I dont think I could go out and get a gun tonight, put it that way (not that I would need one, why? because nobdu else has them)

I would be terrified to live in a country where I knew guns were all over.
Question to my friends over in the USA.

Does having a gun, and knowing others have guns, make you feel safer?
If everyone was to told to get rid of thier guns and was like here, how would you feel?

I know I might get a but of slack here, but I genuinly am just interested.

Thanks
Shauny

Well im from the UK and agree with Americans right to own guns, of course there is a big problem with gun crime in America but that is to do with the culture and society rather than guns themselves. If it came up to a public vote here in the UK i would vote for gun legalization, but even when guns were legal in Britain we still had nowhere near the sort of gun culture that you see in America. Again, guns themselves are not a detriment to society...the society that wields them are the problem. Switzerland has lots of guns and low rate of violent crimes, Britain has no guns and has the highest violent crime rate in Europe....

Oh and just to clarify, i used to be like most people from Britain and extremely anti-gun/anti-America and their guns, it's pretty much drilled in to you over here. All it took was a few conversations with intelligent American gun owners to see see the flaws in my opinion.

reply to post by shauny


There are other issues here though. Since the banning of guns have violent crimes decreased significantly? How many more stabbing victims are there now that guns are harder to come by? Criminals will always have weapons no matter how hard you make it to access them.

As far as feeling safe? Yeah I do feel safe knowing that I can protect my family. I like the fact that I can willfully defend myself without having to wait on someone else who is paid an hourly rate to show up with a badge and a gun hoping that they have my families safety in mind and not their own personal issues. I like the fact that if my country turned on it's citizens that we can at least defend ourselves.

What would you do if your country decided to turn on you and round you up? Sorry but sticks and rocks are no match for rifles and armor. (I know it's a stretch, but it's at the very least worth pondering)

reply to post by shauny


I agree with you we don’t really need guns in the UK with the exception of game keepers and police. That is really the reality just now so I don’t really know the point of this thread.

Emmmm also, not to be advertising my own threads there is also one very much like this today that’s asking the same questions.

I'm from Wales and there's no gun issues here. There's not that much stabbings either, I think the gun count in England may have something to with the hip hop influence. I would oppose to a vote on guns also

reply to post by shauny


I do not even own a gun and I still feel safe, as someone said above criminals will always use weapons. The process of obtaining a license itself is strict and now all of or new ammunition is engraved with serial numbers. Probably 80% criminals obtain the guns from the black market which yes is sometimes stolen guns from other Americans but even after a ban there would be even more gun smuggling across Mexican borders.

In general I agree we don't really need to be armed here in the UK. However, after watching a few programs on TSHTF scenarios, the person with the gun has the power over those without them. I live in an area where quite a few have guns, the kind of people you wouldn't want to hold any power over you.
Thats all i have to say on the issue

Guns in the UK?

It's your call, not mine.

However... I think it's kind of foolish not to have some means of protection handy. Just because you've not had your home invaded by a knife/weapon wielding criminal type yet, doesn't mean it won't happen... Hope it doesn't happen to you.

I guess I subscribe to the rule of: "better to have, and not need, then to need, and not have." You are, of course, more than welcome to disagree.

I live in U.S, specifically Texas, where gun owners are EVERYWHERE!!! But that is because hunting is a big deal down here. So a majority of gun owners in Texas are simply hunters. In the bigger cities like Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Houston etc..., gangs are a really big problem. At least once a month we read about home invasions and robberies that occur. I believe most of the people who own handguns in the big cities are buying them to protect themselves from home invasions. It's fairly common to read about stories of homeowners shooting would-be robbers who are invading their private property. We have specific laws regarding "self-defense" when it comes to this kind of situation. About 2 years ago in the city I live in, we had a really bad spate of criminals breaking and entering the homes of Senior Citizens, they would break in the back doors in broad daylight and hold them at gun point forcing them to hand over all of their expensive assets.

I believe that people are not owning guns because other people are owning guns, I believe they are arming themselves to protect their families and properties.

reply to post by modthis
The anti-gun law in the UK has nothing at all to do with criminal activity. But is about keeping weapons out of the hands of the mass of ordinary folk. Imagine what would have happened in the recent London demonstrations(please note I said demonstrations not riots) if guns were common. The biggest reason for this is if you had a population armed it is one step nearer to a revolution if said population gets angry enough. This is not so far fetched as people would believe. A small spark can cause the biggest fire.

You say that you don't think you could go out and get a gun tonight, and your reason is because no body has them?

I think you are very misinformed.

There are sheer amounts of illegal fire-arms in Britain.

This article for example:

www.independent.co.uk...

That was from 5 years ago, and things are only getting worse over here.

Personally I think we should have to right to own guns. The police have them, the criminals have them, so why can't the average Joe own one?

I see what you mean, and I am totally against having guns. I don't believe I could kill anyone. That being said, I'm glad most of my american counterparts do have guns. Its not the criminals I'm worried about its the crackdown of government that I do not like.

If you take up shooting as a hobby in the UK then it is relatively easy to get a firearms certificate, especially for shotguns.

As for how easy it is to get them illegally, it depends on who you know, I'm pretty confident I could get one by the end of the night if I tried, I wouldn't ever dream of wanting one though.

reply to post by crayzeed


I understand. Yet here in the U.S. you do not typically see such events unfold in a rain of gun fire. Maybe the U.K. is even more displeased with their government than us Americans?

I wonder how it would play out if the SHTF in a crazy way in these gun controlled countries and suddenly armed paramilitary forces were rounding unarmed citizens up and trucking them off to quarantine camps, possibly separating families by age, race, sex, to be trucked to different locations.

I think at that point the majority of the unarmed citizens would suddenly wish their country had a 2nd amendment all along.

I think the real question you have to ask yourself is, what do guns have to do with violent crime? I live in a state, Washington, that is kind of mediocre in regards to gun laws. It is a "shall issue" state meaning I can get a concealed weapons permit, nit that I should have to have one with the 2nd amendment, but that's the way it is.

California is very strict on guns with all sorts of rules and concealed weapons of any kind. Clips can hol only ten rounds. You can't buy bulk ammo. "Mean looking" guns are outlawed (such as black AR-15s), and the list goes on.

Well, according the hoplophobes, you ought to be much safer in California, right? Stands to reason. No one can have guns easily. You can't carry them around, so it's obvious and just common sense that California is safer.

Except violent crime in California is about 2.5 times HIGHER than Washington. Another interesting statistic: As gun ownership has soared in the US, probably as a reaction to what Obama might do, the crime rate has gone down.

So what's the violent crime rate like in the UK? According to your own Daily Mail the crime rate in the UK is higher than in the US. The UK has 2,034 offenses per 100,000 people compared to the US at 466.

So what has the UK done? Banned guns and now they're getting robbed and burgled to death. After all, criminals know thay can't be stopped. This common sense idea that the UK is civilized, but the US, with all its guns, is not, is simply untrue. The UK is the most violent country in the EU by far. It even exceeds South Africa. The US is benign in comparison with a violent crime rate about 1/5th that of the UK.

Let us not forget.....

An unloaded gun no more dangerous than a baseball bat.

It is what we put into them that makes them dangerous.

Forget Gun Control Laws, we need Ammo Control Laws!!!

When it comes to Forensic Science, it is the bullets/shell casings that determine who goes to jail. Not the gun it's shot out of.

It's the worst thing that could possibly happen to British society.

There is a general concern over the increase in knife crime, imagine the increase in gun related crmes and subsequent deaths if guns were more readily available?

In the UK adequate provision is made for people who want or need guns either for work or leisure.

Yes, some criminals do have guns at present, but far from all and the one's that have got them are the type's of criminals who have always has access to them.

The US has grown up with 'the right to bear arm's' and that is entirely up to them.
I have no opinion either way on what the US chooses to do.
But despite what some may wish or believe the UK is not a mirror image of the US and has no desire to be so.
The UK neither needs or wants the 'the right to bear arms'.

reply to post by schuyler


I don’t want to get into a argument hear, I am having quite a few just now and could do without another. But really don’t trust the daily mail as anyone form the UK will tell you they massively exaggerate everything.

"Our second amendment is not for killing ducks and deer it's for slaying corrupt politicians".
I'm paraphrasing some famous quote but yeah the UK could use more guns.

Basically when the first amendment fails you escalate to the second. It's been done before against Great Britain I think that's mainly why the UK doesn't want their people and subjects to have them.