Originally posted by woogleuk
reply to post by oper8zhin
And gun crime in the UK is only a fraction of the USA because people can't just freely drive to the next county and purchase weapons, getting them
into the country is near impossible, and people are too afraid to take the risk of facing hefty jail sentences for getting caught with them.
After reading many views on gun control these last couple of weeks, I have changed my tune on American gun laws. However, I still believe banning AR
is a sensible thing to do, there is absolutely no need for them.
EDIT: edited as it seems you edited yours.
Firearms aren't banned in the UK, there is just tighter control on who can have them and what type they can have.
I could apply for a firearms permit right now, and there is nothing legally stopping me. I can choose from a wide range of shotguns and rifles.
The misconception that everything gets banned in the UK is a tiresome one and simply not true.edit on 28/12/12 by woogleuk because: (no reason
given)
Correct me if I'm wrong about the US viewpoint, but I believe they would be concerned more about the registration aspects of firearms ownership in
the UK and Commonwealth countries. After all, a tightly legislated firearms ownership environment always includes registration of individual firearms
as an adjunct to a weapons licensing scheme - that becomes by default an up-to-date list of gun owners and the weapons they possess.
Gun registration is implemented for two main reasons:
1. So that security forces can see how many weapons a given citizen has - at a glance.
2. So that security forces know when to stop looking in the event that they are ordered to remove weapons from the possession of any given citizen.
LICENSING of the gun owner provides for character and background checks and although it's not all that nice to have the government of the day ALLOW
you to own a firearm that you bought with your own hard-earned money, it's a hell of a lot more palatable than registration of individual weapons.
Disarmyoutards support weapon registration because they can take them away from you if they so wish.
UK gun owners are tolerated by the UK powers that be, but there are safeguards built into the system which provide for the guns in the community to be
taken away at any time. Compare that to the US culture of gun ownership not only being a right, but a serious piece of Americana built right into
their constitution.
THAT my friend is why the Americans consider all these other countries' firearms laws to be draconian - and from that perspective the laws are.
Of course no one in the UK talks about the wide proliferation of illegal weapons throughout the criminal community. Most news on the topic is
suppressed and for statistics you need to delve deeply into the bowels of the police or home office websites. The UK government are the masters of
perception-management.
Then again, it's not all the government's fault - most Londoners will tell you that CCTV is non-invasive and is an effective deterrent to crime.
Most have swallowed the kool-aid and asked for seconds. If it wasn't for a large portion of the community conforming there wouldn't be any bad
governments. Not singling out the UK for that one - just using it to illustrate a point.
UK FAILED LOGIC. 
