UK: Motorist shot in legs

[Superfly]

As we've already seen by Pert_UK's comments right the UK gun ban is not designed to take guns out the hands of criminals.

-"The UK handgun ban was never intended to address the illegal misuse of firearms by criminals." -Pert_UK

The UK gun ban was, instead, designed to disarm legal citizens and allow people like these thugs to victimize the heretofore armed populace....I'll say it's working.

-"It was intended to remove legally held weapons from registered owners...to prevent...." -Pert_UK

Link

<snip>

A motorist has been shot in the legs in Birmingham after two men stopped him in his car and demanded cash.

<snip>

[Superfly]

1. Another UK "success" story

Link

<snip>

Lee Griffiths, 28, of Mold Road in Buckley, admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possessing a firearm when prohibited because of a previous prison sentence, and possessing an extending metal bar as an offensive weapon.

<snip>

[Superfly]

2. And, another

Link

<snip>

"The robber is believed to have waited until the Old Bath Road BP service station was clear of customers before bursting into an office where a worker was cashing up at 4.20pm on Sunday. He pointed the gun at the assistant, grabbed the money and ran out on to the forecourt where he also threatened a motorist who was just pulling in for petrol."

<snip>

[Spentastic]

5. That's really close to where I live

I mean really close. Now I need to get a gun to defend myself.

[Superfly]

7. Sorry, but you're not allowed

Only the crooks carry in the UK. The government has made it impossible for the law abiding to arm themselves.

Sucks to be you.

B

[Spentastic]

10. Oh dear

I guess I'll just have to live in fear then. How many people did this armed thug actually hurt?

[Superfly]

12. One person too many

to answer your question of :"How many people...."

B

[Spentastic]

13. Actually

The correct answer appears to be none.

[Superfly]

14. OK....

so the victims are just going to go about their merry ways, never to think about the emotionally traumatic experience they just went through. Boy, Brits must be tough SOBs!:crazy:

Brian

[Spentastic]

16. Actually I know the guy

Who works at that garage. I spoke to him this morning. He seems fine. I wonder how he'd feel if he'd shot someone?

[Superfly]

18. Well, I'm glad he fared well through this ordeal

other victims in the UK aren't so lucky.

[ArCynic]

26. ..

[Superfly]

3. And, another shining example!

<snip>

"Police were today hunting armed raiders who brought terror to a city DIY store, threatening staff and customers before firing shots as they fled."

<snip>

Editorial correction...."threatening staff and customers" should read "threatening disarmed citizens." -Superfly

Edited to repair broken link

[Spentastic]

6. Broken link nt

[Superfly]

8. I fixed it.

Sorry about that.

[Spentastic]

9. Thanks

All the other IC ones seem dodgy too.

[iverglas]

27. tsk

Editorial correction...."threatening staff and customers" should read "threatening disarmed citizens." -Superfly

I'd'a thought it should read "threatening baa-ing subjects" ...

Link? what link?

Ditto for that one about the BP station on the Old Bath Rd ... the link didn't work for me, and I was curious whether this wasn't a story we'd seen before ... seem to recall Spentastic's acquaintance with a victim in a very similar tale ...

.

[demsrule4life]

28. You might have seen the story before since this thread

did start in Sept.

[iverglas]

29. ah yes!

What with all the waiting time (it seems to have improved now, 9 a.m., since I was first trying to read, from 6 a.m. onward), I was just so overjoyed to actually be able to read something I clicked on without having to try half a dozen times that I neglected to pay attention -- even though I did click on the profile on that ".." post and ascertain that the poster in question was no longer with us, what didn't "click" was that the post in question was the only reason that the thread was where it was.

Ta, and everybody can just ignore me now!

.

[iverglas]

30. p.s.

Damn, I'd thought when I saw this thread that Pert_UK was back among us, and that Spentastic too had rejoined the fray. I guess Pert's still in a better place, and Spentastic must just have tired of us.

.

[demsrule4life]

31. Yes it is summer down under

But can't complain to much about winter here, supposed to get in the 50's and sunny.

[iverglas]

32. and here ...

Life was skittles and beer until about 4 days ago, when we went from a long run of above-zero days (i.e. above freezing, which is 0 in Celcius degrees) and a green xmas to -31 the other night (that's -24 to you, and approaching that -40 point where we speak the same language) and our water pipes froze.

Yesterday it warmed up considerably ... but that meant a few inches of snow, fortunately (for the co-vivant, who is the snow shoveller) of the light and fluffy weightless variety. Ah well, the garden perennials need the snow cover so we don't lose half of them the way we did 3 or 4 years ago, and so the farmers don't whine, although they generally whine no matter what happens.

.

[Superfly]

4. And, another one!

Link

<snip>

"A Murder inquiry has been launched after a 22-year-old man was shot as he left a pub car park."

<snip>

[Spentastic]

11. Why not

Just give them the money?

[demsrule4life]

15. Because there are to many criminals

that don't leave witnessess after they get the money.

[Spentastic]

17. But that's the point

BRITISH ONES SEEM TO DON'T THEY.

Superfly has provided evidence of this very phenomena. IOne death caused by guns no robbery involved. One shooting of fleeing victim no deaths and one hold up with gun no deaths.

So why would potential British victims go armed? What,s the point?

[Superfly]

19. I've got to ask...

are you serious?!?

[Spentastic]

20. Yeah really

I'm the wrong side of 30. I lived for over 5 years in inner city London. I walk the streets at night. I get drunk and do stupid things. I now live in another urban area and I'm not in the slightest bit worried about my personal safety. Even less so about arming myself to avoid the very small chance of something bad happening.

Come and live in the U.K it's great.

[Superfly]

21. Yes it is...

and MIGHTY expensive. Although, I think I'd rather live in Scotland, the home of my Grandfather (around Loch Lomond).

[Pert_UK]

24. Scotland...where there were 64 handgun offences in 2000

That's one of the many points, Superfly:

1. Nobody is saying that the UK = a good model to be rolled out in the US.
2. People in the UK don't want guns and overwhelming backed a campaign to remove them from society.
3. Guns have never in recent times been permitted as personal weapons of self-defense.
4. Only a statistically tiny number of people had guns anyway, and so they never acted as a deterrent to criminals, who ALWAYS had a safe bet that a property owner would not have a gun (and who therefore didn't need to carry guns themselves, generally speaking).
5. Yes, gun crime in the UK is increasing, but at a slightly lower rate than violent crime overall, and generally only amongst specific communities in specific, inner-city areas.

I'm not sure what you're getting at with the constant UK Gun Law bashing - we KNOW that criminals are still using guns to intimidate and kill people in the UK. However, you have so far completely failed to make any reasonable conclusions from this to support your own point of view.

I'm not sure whether you're genuinely criticising the situation in the UK, or just trying to use the UK's current experience to support your fight against gun-legislation in the US. Either way, simply posting "someone got shot in the UK" as if it proves your point doesn't work I'm afraid.

[BullDozer]

25. One good thing

Come and live in the U.K it's great.

At least then I'd finally be able to constantly get some decent fish & chips!

I'm Irish/Scottish in heritage though I'd be an outcast! :: sarcasm ::

[Tinfoil]

22. Surperfly

And with that question you've come to the realization that "they just won't get it."

[Pert_UK]

23. Excellent, you read my post and are misusing it....great....

"The UK gun ban was, instead, designed to disarm legal citizens and allow people like these thugs to victimize the heretofore armed populace....I'll say it's working."

Hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa.............

I'm struggling not to descend to the level of personal abuse as I read such ludicrous statements...

"heretofore armed populace" - WOOOOOOOO!!!! WHAT A STINKER!

What were there before the UK handgun ban? 165,000 handguns held legally? Taking into account collectors and other multiple owners, that's maybe 130,000 gun owners? In a population of about 60 million?

Virtually NONE of those gun owners with a permit to carry? Any of whom would have LOST their licence and been arrested if they'd been found with a gun in public without good reason?

In modern days the UK populace has NEVER been casually armed and certainly NOT armed for self-defence. Society as a whole is becoming more violent, and criminals will always find ways around the law to procure "better" weapons. That's hardly the fault of the handgun ban, which has, incidentally, been 100% effective in preventing gun massacres.

"during 2000/01... There were 4,019 crimes involving handguns. While this number has increased in the last two years, the figure is still lower than those recorded in 1992 and 1993...The handgun ban may have been responsible for restricting the rise in handgun crime at a time when violent crime in England and Wales has been increasing." - Criminal statistics England and Wales 2001. National Statistics Office"

And the crowning turd in the waterpipe? I'm glad you asked:

"Even though the private ownership of most handguns has been banned, the Home Office statistics reveal that 167 handguns were stolen in 2000/2001, 115 of them from residential premises."

Shit me, good thing that those people had retained their weapons, eh?

Look - I'm not anti-gun, in fact I wish I was allowed to shoot for sport, but I'm not and I'll live with that if it prevents just ONE massacre like Dunblane. What I am against is totally spurious, ridiculous and horribly naive comments like the ones you make.

As you read my article you'll know that I said that the UK model wasn't suitable for rollout in the States. So what's your point with this utter crap that you've written?

I'm happy to argue AGAINST gun control and FOR the RKBA and will always acknowledge and applaud a good argument against my comments, but don't expect me to swallow this utter toss.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound offensive, I'm just staggered...

[MrBenchley]

33. The RKBA crowd has to resort to outright fraud to make its case

Hence this continual ludicrous and dishonest attempt to pretend that the UK has a bigger gun problem than, say, Alabama.

[demsrule4life]

34. Or kind of like

"The gun industry promotes violence" that the anti's are so fond of saying.

[MrBenchley]

35. Which it does, dems...

Now go cry about it to somebody who's pining for an assault weapon.....

[demsrule4life]

36. I have yet seen a link posted

where any firearm company has stated to commit crimes with their products. So "the gun industry promotes violence" just ain't true.

[MrBenchley]

37. Yes you have

You see it here every day....you just want to pretend that the gun lobby isn't responsible. Now go cry about it to somebody who's wetting himself because he can't have an assault weapon.

[demsrule4life]

38. Keep on spinning with those silly cartoons

[MrBenchley]

39. Thanks, dems, I will...

They show what an ugly bunch of lunatics the gun lobby really is.

[Moderator]

40. Locking thread

Please do no start threads or otherwise post on DU with the intent to "call out" a fellow DUer.