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UK Police To Allow Gun Users To Renew Licenses With iPhone App

Sussex police are creating a number of iPhone apps for the public, including one to renew your gun license. Unsurprisingly, the plan has some anti-gun groups upset. Lyn Costello, of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (MAMAA), said, "This isn't suitable, especially in light of what happened in Cumbria. We've got to be extra careful giving gun licenses. We have this attitude that gun murders don't happen very often so it's OK to be lax, but it is not OK and we've got to do everything in our power to stop it happening again. We can't put money before life and if you start to do that we are losing our humanity. It is a really stupid idea.''

22 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Mothers by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Am I the only one whose skepticism level is instantly raised when a politically lobbying organization includes the word "Mom" or "Mothers" in it's name?

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    1. Re:Mothers by mikael_j · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, it's a perfectly sane reaction. Another red flag tends to be the word "against" in the group name, "foo against bar and baf" is a standard "think of the children" group name...

      --
      Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
    2. Re:Mothers by russotto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If the US we have MADD (mothers against drunk driving), so it's obvious what they are for: sober driving

      Err, no. MADD used to be for sober driving. Now they're for Prohibition.

    3. Re:Mothers by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well of course. That worked so great in the 1920s! :-| Can the moms in MADD really be so stupid as to repeat the same mistake?

      re: Gun Bans.

      I used a gun to defend myself two years ago. And in the mid-90s a guy grabbed my girlfriend by the throat, and I forced him to run away when I put my gun to the rear of his head.

      Anyway..... I'm curious how these events would be different without a gun for self-defense. In both cases I suspect the end result would be two dead victims. Is that really want anti-gun people want.

      I cannot comprehend it
      .

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    4. Re:Mothers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Only while I masturbate.

    5. Re:Mothers by Korin43 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Clearly you should have run away and called the cops. Also, you're just as guilty as him for fighting back!

    6. Re:Mothers by Grishnakh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, that's what they want. The anti-gun people basically want the government to be the only one that can legally use force (in the form of police). If anyone else uses force, they want it to be illegal, and the only recourse is the police and court system.

      So if someone wants to kill you, you're supposed to allow it to happen, and then trust that the justice system will catch the perpetrator and sentence him to prison.

      If you use "self-defense", you're taking away their civil rights, in their view.

    7. Re:Mothers by lazlo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I like what I call the "AT&T solution" to drunk driving: More bars in more places.

      I mean really, there's no excuse for driving drunk, but if the bar is within walking distance of your house, then there's both no excuse and no reason.

      For reasons unbeknown to me, MADD doesn't seem to agree.

      --
      Pound! Bang! Bin! Bash! is this a shell script or a Batman comic?
  2. I'm confused... by Syberz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What exactly is the difference between a gun owner renewing his license online and a gun owner renewing his license in person?

    The guy already owns a gun, he's renewing his license, not applying for one for the first time.

    Convenience is the only difference between using the app versus the old way. This app does not make the streets less safe somehow.

    --
    ~Syberz
    1. Re:I'm confused... by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What's the point of renewing a license at all if all you have to do is click a button or show up?

      The fee. You do realize that it is all an excuse for the government to put what is essentially a toll booth into your day to day life.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
  3. Re:Guns don't kill people... by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 4, Funny

    Come on now - everyone knows that guns actually contain demons which possess any person unfortunate enough to come into contact with them. Radioactive demons, with large carbon footprints. They also eat sea kittens.

  4. Re:Mahem on demand? by gandhi_2 · · Score: 3, Funny

    MAgnetoHydrodynamic Explosive Munition?

    Maybe I will get an iPhone after all.

  5. Re:Guns don't kill people... by h4rr4r · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Depends on distance, at less than 21 feet the knife wielder is probably more dangerous. He has no need to reload and aiming a knife is very easy.

  6. Re:Guns don't kill people... by RoFLKOPTr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And I'd take facing someone with a knife over a gun any day.

    But what's to stop a criminal from possessing guns? The entire Slashdot community seems to hate every governmental intrusion of privacy and law enforcement getting all up in your grill, so how do you suggest the government enforces a gun ban? If it's illegal to own guns then anybody who owns a gun is automatically a criminal and somebody we should look out for. I'd take having a gun over not having a gun when facing anybody with anything. Most gun-related crimes are perpetrated by somebody who would never pull the trigger anyway, and most murders performed with a gun could easily be performed with a number of other weapons or non-weapons that no government could conceivably ban. The world is a dangerous place, and I'd rather feel safe in knowing that everybody has a gun than questioning who does while I don't.

  7. Re:Guns don't kill people... by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... Nevermind that the vast majority of gun crimes are from unlicensed gun users. Very rarely is a crime committed by someone with a license, because they receive training and take their responsibility seriously.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
  8. MAMAA by jspenguin1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    MAMAA... just killed a man. Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead...

  9. Re:Guns don't kill people... by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Quoted for irony. And I'd take facing someone with a knife over a gun any day.

    Oh hell no. I'd rather not.

    I've even been trained in ways to disarm a knife, and you know what? I don't trust myself to do that EVER. It's much easier to keep the barrel of a firearm pointed away from you in a scuffle than escaping from someone with a knife.

    I've been mugged before too, and a knife in your back is a hell of a lot scarier since the person is much more likely to use it if they get pissed off. Firearms draw attention.

    --
    Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
  10. Re:Guns don't kill people... by Shakrai · · Score: 3, Informative

    at less than 21 feet the knife wielder is probably more dangerous

    The rule is that the average person can cover 21 feet faster than the average person can draw and fire a handgun. It's not so much that the knife is more dangerous as it is that the knife can be brought into action faster. If the gun is already drawn then the guy with the knife loses (all things being equal of course...)

    He has no need to reload and aiming a knife is very easy.

    The reload doesn't really enter into it for the overwhelming majority of civilian self-defense encounters. Most are resolved without any rounds being fired. When rounds are fired the average number is between 3 and 5 according to most studies I've seen. By this metric you'd be just fine with a 5 shot .38 special. I would still say that you should carry a spare magazine or two for your semi-auto -- if for no other reason than to keep your gun functioning if the primary magazine breaks for whatever reason. The magazine is the cheapest part of most pistols and the most likely to break. It's also helpful to have a spare magazine or two on the opposite side of your body from the gun to balance out the weight distribution.

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  11. Re:Simple gun control measures by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is no "gun show loophole". There's a private party sale loophole. Of course that doesn't sound as scary so the anti-RKBA crowd doesn't use it....

    Thank goodness someone actually pointed that out. There is NOTHING. NADA. ZILCH. special about a freaking gun show. If a dealer shows up at a gun show to sell, he has to abide by the same laws as always (which means background checks and all). I've bought several guns from dealers at gun shows and every single time I've been through a background check.

    The "issue" (quotes because in reality it's a non-issue) is that a private citizen can choose to sell one of his or her guns to another citizen without involving a dealer. Just like any normal piece of property. I've bought guns from friends before, I've bought guns from other guys at the range before. Ironically I've never bought from a private party as a gun show before.

    That's the only thing though. If someone chooses to bring a private firearm to sell at a gunshow then they can sell it under the same laws as anywhere else.

    Gun shows are NOT popular because a bunch of hooligans are looking to make off-the-books purchases, but rather because there's simply a lot more inventory available at gun shows as a lot of dealers congregate in one area.

    And ironically enough, the few people I know that prefer to do private sales to stay off the books aren't doing it for some nefarious purpose planning on committing some crime. They are simply afraid that with documentation of who owns what the government will try to eventually take their guns away. That's it. No plans to murder, or cause mayhem, they just want to keep their property and have the government butt the hell out of their lives.

    You simply can't throw laws at this problem and hope to fix it. The people who are a problem here already have decided that the law is of no concern to them. Tacking on more and more of them isn't somehow going to wear down their will. It's not like someone who's going to commit murder or armed robbery is suddenly going to have a change of heart at the thought of breaking a gun law.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  12. Re:Guns don't kill people... by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think that's part of it. Legislate the requirement of this type of nonsense, and as prices go up fewer and fewer people will be able to actually AFFORD a gun. Any company that figures out a way to shave costs will get banned as a "Saturday Night Special" for costing too little.

    Remember, they don't see anything wrong with the rich (ie, them) owning guns. The just don't want the commoners having them. This is evidences by so many anti-gunners carrying concealed weapons. Recently one prominent anti-gun activist even shot a home invader. Kinda hard to argue about how bad guns are when you're keeping one yourself AND actually get prompted with a valid opportunity to use it.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  13. Re:Guns don't kill people... by BeardedChimp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the one strange thing I find reading slashdot being British.

    Americans seem to view bearing arms as a right, and I don't mean legally, I mean morally.
    Th idea that the state can limit your armament is not just laughed upon but ridiculed, and yet
    within the UK and Europe, the USA is seen as the antithesis off how to deal with guns.
    Deaths from guns are much higher, the police are less safe and guns are actually considered a problem that society has to deal with.
    You do realise that over here the police do not normally carry guns and yet they are much safer than your cops?

    I'm actually from Northern Ireland and so I know the consequences of large groups of people
    illegally carrying guns and I can assure you that the only thing that comes of more people carrying
    is further death. Guns do not solve problems (like crime) they create them. They are self perpetuating.

  14. Re:Guns don't kill people... by drsquare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Insane cab drivers kill people. He just chose to use guns. As witnessed by recent mass killings in China, he could have easily used a knife

    How does a drive-by knifing work again?

    Sadly people in England are (A) disarmed and (B) pacified to the point where they expect the government to save them

    Yeah it's almost as if we want to live in a civilised society rather than the Wild West.

    Are you honestly saying that the people of Cumbria should have to walk around armed at all times in case they're attacked by mad gunmen? Sounds like America is a pretty horrible place if that's how you have to live.

    How would an armed population have helped anyway? Once someone blasts you in the face with a shotgun, you're not going to fight back no matter what weapon you have.