I live in Scotland (hence the nick) and I honestly have to say that there is sense in nation-wide gun control. Banning the import of guns, the ownership of guns above a certain calibre, carrying firearms in public, and imposing life prison sentances even for armed robbery is a way of life in the UK. With a few tragic exceptions every year, gun-related deaths in Scotland and England are low per head of population. The police do not carry firearms on the beat; the only officers allowed to use guns have to be given authority from an area HQ station, and the weapons themselves are stored in a secured room within the station until they are authorised. They are logged when leaving the station and when they come back, together with the number of rounds that leave and return. I feel this puts a degree of public trust in the police, and only further highlights the fact that the ownership of firearms can be - literally - lethal. Say for example, you own a gun, and one night you're burgled. The intruder finds your gun. You hear this intruder and get up to get your gun - but it's not there. You daren't try and stop this person as you know they are armed, so what do you do ? You lie back in bed and get robbed. With regards to the right to bear arms - I don't mean to put people's noses out of joint, but it's a load of old cobblers ! How could any sane person feel safe in a country where there is a very strong chance that each and every one of their neighbours has at least one firearm ? I realise that in my country's past and even in our present day we are proud of the stance we made against the English and their tyrannical rule over our land, but that's ALL we're proud of - the stance - not the slaughter and bloodshed we caused, and certainly not that we suffered. My point is that we're now living in a society where we value life (in general; not just humanity) more than we did even 50 years ago. Why does anybody need a gun ?
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I live in Scotland (hence the nick) and I honestly have to say that there is sense in nation-wide gun control. Banning the import of guns, the ownership of guns above a certain calibre, carrying firearms in public, and imposing life prison sentances even for armed robbery is a way of life in the UK. With a few tragic exceptions every year, gun-related deaths in Scotland and England are low per head of population. The police do not carry firearms on the beat; the only officers allowed to use guns have to be given authority from an area HQ station, and the weapons themselves are stored in a secured room within the station until they are authorised. They are logged when leaving the station and when they come back, together with the number of rounds that leave and return. I feel this puts a degree of public trust in the police, and only further highlights the fact that the ownership of firearms can be - literally - lethal. Say for example, you own a gun, and one night you're burgled. The intruder finds your gun. You hear this intruder and get up to get your gun - but it's not there. You daren't try and stop this person as you know they are armed, so what do you do ? You lie back in bed and get robbed. With regards to the right to bear arms - I don't mean to put people's noses out of joint, but it's a load of old cobblers ! How could any sane person feel safe in a country where there is a very strong chance that each and every one of their neighbours has at least one firearm ? I realise that in my country's past and even in our present day we are proud of the stance we made against the English and their tyrannical rule over our land, but that's ALL we're proud of - the stance - not the slaughter and bloodshed we caused, and certainly not that we suffered. My point is that we're now living in a society where we value life (in general; not just humanity) more than we did even 50 years ago. Why does anybody need a gun ?