which country is safer? A few days back Rachel had a post on a fairly horrific crime in the UK; in the comments was some back & forth between "If you people were allowed arms for self-defense, it would help stop this" and, from one man in particular, "More guns would impede my freedom and make things worse." This led to Kevin challenging the guy to debate the matter, which led to this post; it's a long one, but well worth reading through.
VERY short version: Brit gun laws have done a fine job of disarming the honest, and left them at the mercy of the predatory and violent. Stats and charts included.
I'll add this: in Rachel's comments Kelly had insisted that you are allowed to use 'proportionate' force to defend yourself in the UK. I pointed out a couple of days ago that while that may be technically true, the fact is- documented in lots of reports in the British press- that if you use ANY level of violence to protect yourself and/or family and home, you stand a very good chance of spending at least as much time in jail as your attacker. Maybe more. And, in current news, we have this:
The family of a man who was stabbed to death by teenage thugs after he asked them to keep the noise down have been denied compensation - because he tried to fight off his killers.
Kevin Johnson, 22, was brutally murdered by the gang who invited him to 'meet Mr Stanley' during a confrontation outside his home moments before plunging a blade into his chest, arm and back.
The young father collapsed a few feet from his front door whilst the trio - aged 19, 16 and 17 - ran off in 'triumphant mood' before stabbing their second victim a short distance away.
But after applying for a maximum £11,000 in compensation Mr Johnson's family have been told that they do not meet the criteria as he tried to fight off the gang who took his life.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has twice rejected John Johnson’s case. They ruled that the demolition worker had 'significantly' contributed to his own death.
And just how did he 'significantly contribute' to his death?
Mr Johnson was stabbed to death after he and his fiancee returned home from a night out on May 19, 2007. Woken by raised voices outside he went down to ask the teenagers to keep the noise down.
The gang beckoned the father over with their hands, enticing him to come forward. Then they surrounded him. One pulled out a Stanley knife and repeatedly stabbed him until he fell to the floor.
As he lay dying the gang ran off and celebrated by damaging parked cars before stabbing a second man in the chest. The killers - Dean Curtis, 19, Tony Hawkes, 17, and Jordan Towers, 16 - were later jailed for life.
Self-defense in the UK; wonderful, ain't it? And at the same time,
Recent figures showed that inmates in British prisons were awarded £6.5million for injuries between 2005 and 2007, for claims including assaults, medical negligence, unlawful detention and sports injuries.
Drug-addicted prisoners at some jails received compensation because their human rights were breached when they were denied drugs such as heroin and substitute substances.
Yeah. All those personal disarmament laws, all the 'knife amnesty' actions, really make you safer, don't they?
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