Is Britain going the way of the US in terms of gun crime?

Question

It seems that every day now we hear news of some kind of shooting incident - people are seemingly undeterred about the CCTV cameras everywhere :) and it seems that we'll soon go the way of America, where the problem is, quite simply, endemic. What needs to be done about it?

Answer 1

I seem to read far more about stabbings and in a way I find this more sinister as it means the perpetrators have no fear and don't mind getting up close and personal with their victims. Seems a much more vicious crime to me. On the point of CCTV this is no deterrent as the people watching the footage make no efforts to leave their comfy chair to stop anti-social or violent behaviour - they can't put their latte down to even call the police it would seem as was proved when someone threatened me in the Tube the other day!

Unless the government makes a real effort to take people off the streets and into meaningful employment then we are going to end up just like the US. It is also about people taking individual responsibility for their own future of course and while there is easy money to be made from drugs and theiving why would some people want to do a 9-5 slog in an office or sweat themselves to death in a manual job.....

Answer 2

I sense a little slam at America in this post and some of the answers seem to accept this. True, America has problems with crime, especially in ghetto areas. This is because America has thousands and thousands of poor people and desperate poverty breeds crime, not white collar crime, which is more hidden, but violent crime, which is advertised.

Despite the Conservative comments, crime is up, both white collar crime and violent crime. And the Red States lead the way in violent gun crimes. The Conservatives are in power in the government, so with the statistics showing that there is more crime than before, it proves that it isn't the liberals causing the problem.

It is more apt to be because, under Conservative rule, we have more poor people, more people losing their homes, more people struggling to pay their bills. Police forces have been cut to the bone, with more policemen laid off every day.

Great Britain has had a huge influx of immigrants, most of them very poor. This may explain the rise in crime, so welcome to the club. America is the richest country in the world, or used to be, yet poverty reigns. Britain has the same problems.

What needs to be done is simple. Clinton did it, and crime rates went down. More policemen. More firemen. More jobs. Balance the budget. All the things that bring security and sanity to any country. Ending the war might also help, because our young people want jobs, not endless war.

Answer 3

Yes, it started some time ago. I live in Nottingham, which apparently has more gun crime than anywhere else in the U.K. Am NOT being racist when I say this, but all the shootings except for ONE I know of have been in inner-city areas, and have involved black youths. There is a real drug problem here, too.

Answer 4

Well, prohibition clearly isn't the solution.

Better security at military armories - most of the guns on the black-market in this country are from these.

Improving of customs - we're obviously not catching enough or the smugglers to stop the guns from off-shore finding their way here.

We are no-where near the level of gun-crime in the US. It's just more apparent, because it's considered newsworthy. It is on the increase however.

Answer 5

Americans have the right to own guns and defend themselves. The UK Government supported by the Police and Lawyers have banned hand guns in the UK, thus preventing HM law abiding subjects from defending themselves.
This maintains fear among the people of Middle England, enabling the government to enact oppressive legislation and increase police powers.
The increasing crime rates make more work for police and lawyers, all funded by poorly served taxpayers.

American style gun laws and greater rights for the individual in personal and property protection would reduce crime and the costs of investigating and processing criminals.

Answer 6

There is something that conservatives in America have known for a long time. Something that liberals simply refuse to accept. Now it is becoming apparent in Britain.

Outlawing firearms insures that only outlaws will have them.

In my opinion, it would be far better if every single person on the street was armed than only the criminals.


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Answer 7

well seeing as stricter gun control laws seem not to work here ( America) there is really nothing you can do unless you let the police get more cut throat on tactics, and let the courts be more cut throat on penalties for a gun related crime, as both are happening here and there is still gun crime in large amounts, but the number is slowly... SLOWLY dropping, but any progress is good when it comes to this kind of thing...

Answer 8

Yes, proving gun control does NOT work as well as the Brits tout it to be.