Online Poll Shows 85% of Brits Want to Repeal the Ban on Hand Guns

reply to post by Evanzsayz

Well, Evanzsays, please feel free to assume what you want. Just to throw an observation in from closer to the action, as it were: I have never, in all my 50-odd years of living here, had or heard a conversation about wanting to carry arms. As a subject of conversation, it simply doesn't exist. As a media item it doesn't exist. I am quite confident in saying that the vast majority of the population will never, ever have considered the possibility of bearing arms. And now this survey ... I cannot in all honesty see where the results have come from - not even as a most extreme knee-jerk reaction to the murder of Lee Rigby.

Originally posted by SimonPeter
reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens

 

That is the problem with the Brits . You think you are smarter than the Russians who were turned into a Communist nation by revolution . Who led the revolution ? . You people have it all together . That's why you were living like common serfs back in the day . You have a closely monitored nation with all the facial recognition cameras now and you have the highest percentage of your population in prison of the whole world . That British pride will be your undoing .
The whole gun story over here is not to reduce gun violence , it's to reduce the ability to resist the heavy handed government and the NWO.

I think you should do some proper research before making false statements..

World Prison Populations

As you can see, the USA has the highest prison population in the whole world, and the highest prison population per 100,000 people. Plus the USA have another 5 million on probation/parole.

Get your figures right if you want people to take anything you say seriously.

accidental post! oops!

Originally posted by nake13
reply to post by seabag

 

I quite agree that we in the UK should have the option of carrying hand guns.If Drummer Lee Rigby had had that option,the chances are that he would be alive today.

I doubt he would be alive today! They ran him over from behind, no gun would have stopped a surprise attack from behind. The car impact would have injured him quite badly, and I would suspect he would have been too injured to be able to draw a gun before they hacked him to death.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens

 

Regardless of whether polls agree with my sentiments or not, I take them with a pinch of salt. If polls were anything to go by, Mitt Romney would be President, Labour would be a majority government in the UK and Britain would have left the EU.

That's a reasonable position. I do think that it's safe to say there are many in UK who would welcome a change in gun ownership laws. Violent crime is a real problem.

edit on 31-5-2013 by seabag because: (no reason given)

Violent crime isn't that much of a problem. I've lived in the UK from birth, for 40 years, and never been a victim of violent crime.

If you think normal folk carrying guns would prevent violence in the UK then you are mistaken, because the people involved in violent crime would just arm themselves with guns too, so the violent crimes would increase.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by HomoSapiensSapiens

 

And guns would suddenly make that better will it?

Ummm....did you see where US ranked in comparison?

Surely, guns would massively increase such? I didn't say we lived in a perfect society, but guns would only add to our problems, not magically solve them. We here in Britain don't think of ourselves as Captain America types - we're not just going to go storming in and save the day (and injure ourselves or get ourselves killed in the process). You seem to presuppose that guns would do more good than bad - that is erroneous and incorrect. Guns would themselves bring their own problems.

To each his own but I would like to point out the fact that in US guns ownership continues to rise proportionately to the decrease in violent crime. I'll let you make your own decision about what that means.

Do you realise that data is from 2003, like 10 years out of date? Do you have the same chart for 2012?

There might have been a completely different reason for the decrease in violent crime, and would be interesting to see a current, and more relevant chart.

There was a report I read about a month ago that said the crime rate in the USA, and prison populations were at an all time high, with lots of overcrowding. It did not specify as to what percentage was violent crime, but if crime is at an all time high, then I would suspect violent crime is also at an all time high.

Try and use accurate up to date figure next time, there has been a lot of old or false data been posted in this thread, seemingly by Americans who don't even know their own crime/prison stats.

Originally posted by stirling
The very idea that adult humans cannot handle owning a gun so we make them illegal is a
guage of the arrogant attitude those in power have towards the people.
The ability to defend ones self from assault or harm by another is inherant to every human being.
The fact is gun ownership DECREASES CRIME....every time....
The stats are unskewable by the anti gun nuts.
The British citizen drives on the left side of the road there, due to the tradition of horse riders approaching each other
passed on the sword arm sides.......
This is the tradition.
Brits have the same rights as any other human, that of the ability to defend ones self family and property from threats of violence.
The sick, the elderly, the weak,and women, deserve the same protection as the able bodied man,, and arming themselves may be the best option.

edit on 31-5-2013 by stirling because: (no reason given)

I am also sure that should more innocent bystanders get chopped up by supposed "radicals"
the louder will be the cry to repeal the bans on personal defence weapons.

edit on 31-5-2013 by stirling because: (no reason given)

edit on 31-5-2013 by stirling because: (no reason given)

Where did you get that data from? Gun ownership does not decrease crime, because 2013 reports show that crime is increasing, and prisons are overflowing. So if what you are saying was really correct, then we would be seeing a reduction in crime in the USA, and a decrease in the prison population, but alas, it seems gun ownership is not decreasing crime at all.

Originally posted by HelenConway
reply to post by seabag

 

I think sensible, stable citizens of the UK SHOULD be allowed guns.

However they should not be allowed to be owned by drug addicts or people with mental health problems or anyone who drinks heavily and causes anti social behaviour.

That eliminates about 40 % of the population !

All those types aren't allowed guns in the UK anyway, getting a gun license in the UK has strict criteria. But if more people owned guns, like the USA, then there would be more guns circulating in general, and more going to the black market, so those people you say that should not be allowed guns would be able to get them illegally at lot more easily.

BTW, is your 40% a guess or an official stat?

If these people needed guns, surely they'd have guns?

The fact they're happy to abide the current law shows that they're not in much danger, because if they were in real danger they'd ignore the law as it is now and buy a gun.

The majority of people who want the legal right to own a gun don't even need one. It's daft.

Originally posted by intrepid
I still think the poll is flawed because anyone from any nationality can vote. That doesn't give a fair representation of what Brits think.

Of course it's flawed dude. Where was the poll hosted online? How long was it up for?
How many of said 85% already were gun owners? How many of those taking the poll had been attacked, what class of citizen were they, etc, etc.. Way too many variables, and the poll is totally unsafe.

There needs to be a national poll, where all 60 million uk folk give an opinion, and then see what comes back.

I'm against guns, my vote is not in this poll!

reply to post by DeeKlassified


Gun ownership has decreased violent crimes that is fact . Like it or not . You Brits are going to see an emergence of violence by the radical Muslims and need to defend yourselves . Hope your Bobbies have a fast response time and can stop the bleeding after you get hacked to death . Have the Brits been neutered by the queen ? Are there any responsible men over there that can be trusted with a gun? Maybe you people should have your knives taken away too. I'll bet that the Bilderbergers have guards with submachine guns . If it is so safe over there why would they be carrying .

Originally posted by SimonPeter
reply to post by DeeKlassified

 

Gun ownership has decreased violent crimes that is fact . Like it or not . You Brits are going to see an emergence of violence by the radical Muslims and need to defend yourselves . Hope your Bobbies have a fast response time and can stop the bleeding after you get hacked to death . Have the Brits been neutered by the queen ? Are there any responsible men over there that can be trusted with a gun? Maybe you people should have your knives taken away too. I'll bet that the Bilderbergers have guards with submachine guns . If it is so safe over there why would they be carrying .

Have you got some hard stats to prove that gun ownership has decreased violent crimes? Saying 'it's a fact' does not mean it is so. As far as stats go, crime is on the increase in the US, prison population is on the increase in the USA, so it seems guns are not a deterrent, neither are the ridiculously long sentences in the USA a deterrent.

You are getting a bit excited for no reason, muslim attacks are rare, and they will continue to be rare. The police do normally respond fast in the UK, and it's quite possible it was a psy-op, so naturally they would take their time if it was, but dont wanna go off topic with that.

Knives are under strict control here too, but they wont ban them from homes, that would be silly because everyone needs knives in a kitchen!

Are you speculating about the Bilderbergers machine guns?! Only police would have guns at a high profile political meeting, and for obvious reasons, that the people meeting could be targeted.

The only thing that may reduce any form of crime is if all police in the UK had guns, but even that does not work in the USA.

Originally posted by DeeKlassified
Have you got some hard stats to prove that gun ownership has decreased violent crimes? Saying 'it's a fact' does not mean it is so. As far as stats go, crime is on the increase in the US, prison population is on the increase in the USA, so it seems guns are not a deterrent, neither are the ridiculously long sentences in the USA a deterrent.

Actually, US violent crime rates have been in a fairly consistent decline over the last couple of decades since their peaks in the early 90s. Total homicides and the homicide rate have been cut nearly in half during the intervening time period. For the most recent year, 2011, total homicides are at their lowest level (14,612) are at their lowest level since 1968 (13,800) despite a total population increase of over 100 million in that time frame, and not surprisingly, the homicide rate is likewise at its lowest level since 1963. The same trend occurs in all other forms of violent crime as well. You can find the same numbers at the websites of the CDC and the FBI, but that one above does a better job of condensing it.

I'm not going to say that increased rates of gun ownership during that period are the sole reason for it, but I think the data flat out contradicts the idea that more guns leads to more violent crime. That simply has not proven to be true, at least in the case of the United States, during the last 20 years, or even since 2004 when the original AWB expired.

i'm a 'brit'. i don't own a gun. never have. all things considered, i'd rather my neighbours weren't armed. just my own view.

Originally posted by vor78

Originally posted by DeeKlassified
Have you got some hard stats to prove that gun ownership has decreased violent crimes? Saying 'it's a fact' does not mean it is so. As far as stats go, crime is on the increase in the US, prison population is on the increase in the USA, so it seems guns are not a deterrent, neither are the ridiculously long sentences in the USA a deterrent.

Actually, US violent crime rates have been in a fairly consistent decline over the last couple of decades since their peaks in the early 90s. Total homicides and the homicide rate have been cut nearly in half during the intervening time period. For the most recent year, 2011, total homicides are at their lowest level (14,612) are at their lowest level since 1968 (13,800) despite a total population increase of over 100 million in that time frame, and not surprisingly, the homicide rate is likewise at its lowest level since 1963. The same trend occurs in all other forms of violent crime as well. You can find the same numbers at the websites of the CDC and the FBI, but that one above does a better job of condensing it.

I'm not going to say that increased rates of gun ownership during that period are the sole reason for it, but I think the data flat out contradicts the idea that more guns leads to more violent crime. That simply has not proven to be true, at least in the case of the United States, during the last 20 years, or even since 2004 when the original AWB expired.

66.9% of all homicides in the United States were perpetrated using a firearm.

Gun Violence in the US

reply to post by DeeKlassified


I know that. I also doubt it matters much in the grand scheme of things, because I do not believe that the firearm is the motivating factor and that the overwhelming majority of these homicides would still occur by another means, given that very few are actually random events. You also have to assume that the criminal element that is committing these crimes would voluntarily abide by a gun ban, and that's a dubious assumption at best.

Originally posted by vor78
reply to post by DeeKlassified

 

I know that. I also doubt it matters much in the grand scheme of things, because I do not believe that the firearm is the motivating factor and that the overwhelming majority of these homicides would still occur by another means, given that very few are actually random events. You also have to assume that the criminal element that is committing these crimes would voluntarily abide by a gun ban, and that's a dubious assumption at best.

We don't know how many were planned or random. No weapon is a motivating factor for murder, but I'm sure a lot of these murders might not have happened had the person had access to a gun at the time they felt the need to kill.

I still think the murder rate would decrease if firearms were banned, and they would increase in the UK if made more accessible.

BTW, can you imagine a drive by shooting being done with a hammer, or a pick axe?!
Have multiple people been killed with crossbows? Nope!

Here in the US in states with easy to get concealed weapons permits you see a lot less mass shootings or stabbings.

Also less robberies muggings and street crime.

Texas and Arizona being cases where crimes and mass shooting have gone down when the laws were changed after a mass shooting.
in the case of Arizona after the Gabrielle Giffords shooting they relaxed there laws allowing people to carry without a CCW

This forces the mass shooters to find gun free zones to do there shooting in where they know its unlikely for some one to be armed.

All the UK is is a large gun free zone with no border controls for people/weapons coming from the EU.

I am just waiting for one of the arab terrorist groups to bring a load of AKs across the EU to the UK and do a mass shooting.

Okay, currently 19,649 votes over all categories worldwide AKA, the www. The OP is so unbelievably 'up the left'
The small country of Northern Ireland part of the UK, with more liberal gun laws, has nearly 400,000 gun owners alone, out of a population of 1.8 million people. The figures for England, Scotland and Wales ownership is far lower percentage wise.

You could try an say even that the figures includes respondents who don't even own a gun in the UK, that would make those who are gun lobbyists even smaller, and that makes no sense.

reply to post by DeeKlassified


I think you would actually see the US homicide rate spike upward if you banned firearms. The criminal element would be far less affected than the common citizen, because criminals aren't going to follow the law or turn in the tens of millions of illegal weapons that they already possess as a group. The unfortunate and unintended consequence of a US firearms ban would likely be to embolden the criminal element, as they would no longer have to fear the possibility that their intended victim might be armed.

You see this in most US municipalities with strict gun laws. The criminals just don't give a damn about the bans in place and the homicide rates that are 5-10 times the national average are the result. I think it would be even worse out in the rural areas once the gangbangers from the cities realized how inadequate police coverage really is for about 90% of the geographic landmass of this country.