Monday, July 16, 2007

Yeah, that handgun ban and 'easy on the crooks'

is really working well:
Violent crime and muggings have risen sharply in the past 12 months, despite Government pledges to crack down on the problem and increase the number of front line police officers, figures will show this week. In some rural areas, robbery offences have risen by almost 25 per cent while crimes of violence against the person have risen by almost a fifth.

They also note "The figures are expected to show that sex attacks fell by eight per cent and domestic burglary by three per cent, leading to an overall fall in crime by three per cent.", but I have to wonder if that's actually true; as The Englishman notes, "And anecdotally the rate of non reporting of crime is rising even faster, there is just no bloody point unless you need a crime number for an insurance claim," which ties in with some articles not long ago about how the crime numbers were being figured in ways that cut down on the totals.

They're also on the 'knife amnesty' kick("Bad knife! No whetstone for you! Now toddle off to bed without your oil!"), which hasn't exactly been a roaring success:
A report from the centre for crime and justice studies at King's College London accused the Government of presiding over an incoherent strategy to tackle the problem. It was also sceptical about the merits of amnesties. Although the last one produced 90,000 knives, that represented just 0.0041 per cent of the total available.

This kind of action never works, but that hasn't stopped the magical-thinking clowns over here from wanting to do the same:
“We’re going to have to take this one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily - given the political realities - going to be very modest. Right now, though, we’d be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal - total control of all guns - is going to take time…..The final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition - except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs and licensed gun collectors - totally illegal.”

Because it's not really about crime control: it's about control.

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