It’s fairly simple: outlaw guns and only cops and outlaws will have guns. Laws banning guns only work to disarm law abiding citizens.

skymir, mesa, AZ, USA

Ah yes, the police and politicians have the solution to gun crime. Pass another law to compell people to grass on kids with guns.

I suppose they will be suitably surprised when that doesn't work either!

Too bad Parliament abolished Albert Pierreponts job.
A few "toppings" would do more good to reduce homicide than useless laws.

John Sukey, Tucson, Arizona

while i am at it, Dunblane should NEVER have happened.
A KNOWN PEDOPHILE, thrown out of the boy scouts and at least two gun clubs was GIVEN a firearms licence OVERRULLING the P.C. who wanted to deny it!

The chief constable who made that decision was ALLOWED to retire and he then got a position on a committee deciding on new firearms laws! Then, to make it even MORE ludicrous, the entire investigation was SEALED from the public!!!!!!!

John Sukey, Tucson, Arizona

Long Live the 2nd Amendment! Good luck Brits, you'll need it.

Matt, Atlanta, USA/GA

As any doctor worth his fee will rightly assert, in order to treat a disease you must address the proximate cause of the malady and not merely treat its symptoms. Pointing at the most obvious or glamorous instruments of violence, guns, and pretending that they are the proximate cause of that violence is akin to saying that the cause of automobile injuries and deaths is the automobile.
Guns and automobiles are no more than devices, tools invented and created by humans to perform specific legitimate functions. As with death and injury associated with automobiles, violence involving guns is caused by the operator of the device and not the device itself. It is the volitional direction of the human operator that determines the use to which the tool is turned.
Examining the proximate causes of directed violence involving guns is a complex and subjective task that most would find tedious, frustrating and emotionally unrewarding. Simpler to blame the tool than ferret out the real causes.

M Owens, Arlington, Texas

Those who conclude that the UK’s tough gun-control laws are responsible for the relatively low rate of gun homicide there as opposed to the US, are way off the mark. Britain has had a low incidence of gun homicide for over one hundred years, well before the enactment of any gun-control legislation in the UK. In fact, on a per-capita basis, there was less gun homicide in the UK in the 19th century than there is now.

It is counterintuitive, but in the US, gun-control laws are sometimes “statistically associated” with increases in gun homicide. But to conclude that one “causes” the other is just not supported by the facts. Rather, they are “correlated” because new gun-control laws are most likely to be enacted as a response to increases in gun homicide.

In the U.S., several exhaustive academic surveys of medical, sociological, criminological and economic studies have found no correlation beyween gun-control laws and gun violence. (1985: Justice Dept; 2005: CDC)

Dave, Alexandria, VA, USA

Gun crime has risen not "despite the ban", but rather "because of" it.

someguy, leeds,

What did you expect to happen?
The moment your country chose to go after legaly owned guns, they sent the message that it is not the criminal that is the problem, it is the tool.
How would the UK fight child pornography? By banning cameras?

It is interesting to note that one of our politicians here in Canada, when asked about a handgun ban here, said that such a ban may infact make things worse, as has happened in the UK.
How does it feel to be held up as a bad example?

Dean Roxby, Langley, BC, Canada

My sympathy is with the thousands of British people, who were hunters, marksmen or only owned a firearm, because free people like to do so, and never layed one's hands on somebody else. These people were made to public enemies and mortified by revengeful campainers after the Dunblane massacre, that have taken a whole Country as hostage with their brainless bigotry until today.

Reinhard, Salzburg, Austria

There's a reason criminals are called criminals - they deliberately choose to flout the law, including bans on possession of guns. And my oh my, when a society gives criminals a monopoly on force through outlawing the law-abiding owning guns to fight back, crime soars. What a freaking surprise! To say nothing about what happens to societies where criminals KNOW that crime goes unpunished, and even punishes the victims for trying to defend themselves. The message THAT sends to everyone, I guarantee you, will not be missed, and alters everybody's rational choice on whether to respect or flout the law. If anyone needs further illustration of this point, there's a great essay at:

http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000157.html

Robert, Los Angeles, CA

British politicians and police have shown their "great" intelligence by allowing their criminals have all the guns and their law-abiding citizens without. They still have not learned that their policies have failed in a grand fashion over the years. Even pets and toddlers learn from their mistakes, but politicians and police must be "really" special.

Eric, Pittsburgh, USA

The underlying reason for a youth to carry a gun is to show power on their 'turf'. Their turf is a place where they can indulge in their criminal activities relativly openly, this is usually drugs related. Combat the drugs problem, low to high level & their income & power will cease. Its a bit like prohibition in the 1920's.

M. K., Birmingham , U.K..

In the US, gun restrictions vary from city to city and state to state. The highest murder rates are always in cities with the most strict gun laws (DC, Chicago, New York). Why?

The entire country has been enjoying low crime rates for about a decade, but it seems to be on the rse again. As a former prosecutor, I can tell you the generation born 1980-1990 are the worst I've ever seen. First, they are the most fatherless generation of all, perhaps because government welfare has replaced the need for a father-provider in the home. Second, they have been raised on a steady diet of "gangsta" rap music that glorifies anti-social behavior like never before. Most of them are NOT bad, of course, but that generation has an abundance of "bad apples" like I have never seen.

I think we are all in for trouble as this morally bankrupt generation hits its "prime crime time" of age 16-35. Lock your doors and make sure your guns are clean and loaded.

That's one man's view from the US.

John, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Has Britian stopped drug smuggling? No? Neither have we.
So why would anyone think you can stop gun smuggling?

Here in the U.S. we have drugs smuggled in from not only Mexica and Canada, but from across the ocean to the Far East! If one cannot stop that, what makes one think banning guns will stop people from getting them. I am sure England has the same problem.

All you have done is disarmed the innocent good people, the bad ones will always get guns. Here in Texas I have a 'CHL', concealed handgun license, as does maybe 10 percent of my co-workers. We have no problems, no work place violence, and we feel quite safe.

Get rid of your gun-banning laws and teach good people how to responsibly use and take care of firearms.

Paul, Tyler, Texas U.S.A.

"I find it astonishing that nobody here is pointing out the flaws in the argument. Yes, our gun crime has gone up, but it's important to remember that our island has a tiny, tiny fraction of the homicides that the USA has."

Innumeracy is so sad, yet so typical of prohibitionists.

Your island has a tiny fraction of the homicides that the USA has because it has a tiny fraction of the POPULATION that the USA has.

Your violent crime RATE now EXCEEDS that of the USA. It never did -- until you disarmed your good citizens. Happy now?

Henry Bowman, Phoenix, Arizona

The follow maxims are true, as has been proven time again in the United States in States with concealed carry laws. "If guns are outlawed only oulaws have guns." "An armed society is a polite society." Their truth remains, regardless of how much the left wants to snicker at them. If you in mother Britain would just reject your nanny government in favor of your individual rights, you would discover this truth as well. Until then, you can rely on the police to come to your aid while you are being raped and robbed and worse at gun point. I'll leave you with one more truism: "Protection can be in your hand now, or parked in front of the donut shop."

Randall Mead, Springfield, Illinois/USA

"Despite a ban on handguns introduced in 1997 after 16 children and their teacher were shot dead in the Dunblane massacre the previous year, their use in crimes has almost doubled to reach 4,671 in 2005-06. Official figures show that although Britain has some of the toughest anti-gun laws in the world, firearm use in crime has risen steadily."

that says it all... more gun control = more crime

L F Matthews, Paris, France

If laws and law-enforcement could keep guns out of the hands of criminals and juvenile delinquents, don't you think these tactics could already have been applied to keep heroin and marijuana out of their hands? How stupid does a person have to be -- to assume that gun laws would be more effectively enforced than drug laws?

What's next -- blaming families for not doing enough to keep their women out of the hands of rapists?

What is completely forgotten in this debate is that when criminals threaten us with death or grave bodily harm unless we obey them, we have a legitimate right and need to use deadly force in self-defence. Tools with no use but the taking of human life -- have a legitimate place in the hands of citizens.

Frank Silbermann, Memphis, USA / Tennessee

Just like the old gun control saying goes. When guns are outlawed, only people with 50 bucks in their pocket will have guns.

bill jenkins, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

i have owned firearms for about 50 years without harming others with them and have attended gun shows with up to 5000 tables, most covered with firearms, ammunition, knives and swords, perhaps 50 or more guns per eight foot long table. I probably get to between 10 to 20 gun shows a year, from 100 tables up to well over 2000, most filled with virtually every kind of hand weapon one could imagine. I have yet to see one of these weapons decide to harm anyone, nor have I ever seen any act of violence at a gun show in some 50 years of attending them. It is not the "hardware" which causes violent behavior......

Royce Kerbow, Houston, USA Tx

It is not breaking news that guns are readily available in the UK for as little as £50 Pounds. That has already been made clear to the British public by the fact that at least SEVEN of the 18 people killed this year died as a result of gun shot injuries. What is worrying is that the Police seem to have no clear idea as to how guns have become so easily available in the UK. a Senior Police Officer who works with Operation Trident spoke with me a few weeks ago. He clearly admitted, ". . . If you said that where do you get guns from. . . . that knowledge, we don't know." The full interview is contained in my book soon to be released titled,"The Curse of Being Black in Britain".If we are ever going to experience any breakthrough in dealing with the problem of Gun crime, the police must find an answer to this million dollar question. Mere speculation will not do.

Simon Owoade, London, UK

It's the same here in the States, where ever they have inacted "tougher" gun laws, gun crime has gone up, all they have done is dis-arm the honest citizens and gave the armed criminals defensless victimims.
Where they have allowed "right to carry"concealed laws,crime has gone down and several crimes have been stoped by armed citizens in Virginia alone.
I carry at least, three days a week, a criminal would have to wonder which three.

Robert Mullins, Virginia Beach, Virginia U.S.A.

It's the same here in the States, where ever they have enacted "tougher" gun laws. all they do is dis-arm the honest citizens and empower the armed criminal.
In the states where we have "right to cary" concealed gun laws, grime has gown down,crimes have been stopped here in Virginia by armed citizens.
I carry, at least three days a week and when I go to the bank,the criminal would have to guess which three.

Robert Mullins, Virginia Beach, Virginia U.S.A.

How naive of some people to think that a LAW will keep guns out of the hands of people who live their lives doing things ILLEGALLY.

When you strip away the ability for the law abiding citizens to defend themselves, you create an entire populace of victims for which the criminals can prey upon.

When you are defenseless, the only reason why you are alive is because somebody else has decided to let you live.

Mark, Detroit, Michigan

I can endorse the view of the majority posting here.

Banning weapons merely divides the populous into three groups: disarmed victims, armed thugs and impotent police.

The victims are reduced to suffering without recourse, the thugs are empowered and the police are debased and can only convene committees and wring their hands.

The U.S. Bill of Rights acknowledged that no government could remove the right to keep and bear arms from a free people. It is sad to see those who live in the U.K. paupered of liberty.

B. Thomas, Wilson Creek, Washington, USS

To the US citizens who have commented here, I wish to state how envious I am of your freedoms. I have visited the US on a good number of occasions and have had the privelege of working with your armed forces.. in Korea, Turkey, Berlin and the North Atlantic. You took the right decision in 1776.. to rid yourselves of a tyranical and non-representative government which refused to listen to your representations. Apart from a few golden years with Winston Churchill and later with Margaret Thatcher.. our country has had to suffer the depredations of a string of Socialist "governments" and are much the worse-off for them. It is perhaps time for us "Brits" to do our own thing too. Is there a Washington or a Jefferson in the house??

Dave, Cheltenham, UK

I find it astonishing that nobody here is pointing out the flaws in the argument. Yes, our gun crime has gone up, but it's important to remember that our island has a tiny, tiny fraction of the homicides that the USA has. England is still a country that is incredibly safe. Any one of the top-10 metropolitan districts in the US has more murders per year than the entirety of England. So, yeah, we'll keep our gun ban, and we'll keep our incredibly low crime figures, and when people do break the law, we'll put them in jail using our very well-trained and efficient police force.

Huw Bowen, Warwick, UK

Guns more easily available - how come ? Before cartridge-firing handguns were "banned" ten years ago it was an article of faith with the authorities that illegal guns were being sold to criminals by licensed firearm owners and unscrupulous dealers. Statistics to back this up were never provided - but it was a convenient stick with which to beat target-shooters, justifying ever more onerous restrictions on ownership by the law-abiding. Can't use that argument now !
I get the impression from the above report that the authorities - police and politicians - are floundering; winmilling around and desperately trying to dream up some policy which might actually ameliorate the situation - but it must, of course, be PC !
Face the facts : it is impossible to prevent criminals getting hold of guns. Not "difficult", impossible. Longer sentences for "carrying" - fine, but first you've got to catch the criminal.

Frank Cane, Huddersfield, UK

Now they are setting up cameras on each street to stop crime. Seems very socialist to me. This is what happens when you let the goverment run your family life. I live outside Washington D.C. and I see gun crime go up and up. In Virginia it is not as bad because of Conceled Carry and the willingness to use the weapon. In Maryland it is higher because of their gun laws and in New York it is worse. Where is the police they are suppose to protect you as well. Oh wait they are a reactionary force they get there 15-20 minutes after the crime and with coffee and donuts to boot. Well in this case Tea and crackers.

Scott, Annadale, VA

What an embarrassment for the people of the UK. The US has enough problems of its own but we still, and will always, possess the capability to destroy violence when it invades our homes and communities. A peaceful life isn't the product of treaties or tea parties. Its the product of war, violence and killing for what we value, to keep at bay those forces that seek to destroy our communities. If you want peace, prepare for war. It would be nice if life were smiles and skipping down the lane with flowers and little birds singing but eventually the drugs wear off and you must deal with the ugliness that lurks everywhere. You do what it takes, whatever that may be.

Patrick Henry, Virginia House of Burgesses,

It is very sad to see what has happened to Britain during my visits between 1976 and 2004. Social experimentation in child-rearing hasn't helped. Failure to accept responsibility on the part of government for its role has aggravated the problem.

Recent visits to rural North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin where per capita gun ownership is extremely high exposes the lie of restrictive gun control. Is it a coincidence that many of these households, where guns are readily accessible and where family members are trained in firearms handling and safety, experience little violent crime? What does the would-be criminal think if he suspects that every house on a street has an inhabitant that knows how, and is willing, to use a firearm?

Dan, Chicago, USA

Thank the Wise and Foreseeing for "banning" handguns. Why if they hadn't the rate might have tripled, instead of merely doubling. Of course anyone with an ounce of historical brain matter would know that whenever something is "banned" it is ipso facto more available...DUH!

Eduardo Molinillo, Cuernavaca, MX, Morelos

Looks like the suckers of an over-powerful government to me. Only a nation of idiots would give up their guns.

James, New York, NY

As a Englishman living in the USA in law enforcement and an owner of firearms It is safe to say that I would have to break the law in the UK in order to ever live there.
The sooner the people wake up and send the message to the Government that they should be able to defend themselves the sooner these "kid gangs" will find the tables turned on them when that potential victim they plan to rob happens to be a concealed weapon holder.
Wake up Britain! Knee jerk reactions to the crimes of a few: A ban on handguns introduced in 1997 after the Dunblane massacre only harms the law abiding citizens of Britain.
I can only hope that one day the people of Britain hold the British Government accountable for their actions or more accurately inactions.
Hi to my folks in Kent and my brother in Kentucky, USA (also a gun owner).

James, Tremonton, Utah, USA

This paragraph was buried too:

"Despite a ban on handguns introduced in 1997 after 16 children and their teacher were shot dead in the Dunblane massacre the previous year, their use in crimes has almost doubled to reach 4,671 in 2005-06. Official figures show that although Britain has some of the toughest anti-gun laws in the world, firearm use in crime has risen steadily."

The decrease was specific to the area Hogan-Howe was speaking about.

T Cook, San Antonio , USA/TX

To S. Marsh:

Notice that the paragraph you cite refers to Merseyside only. Your country-wide gun crime is WAY UP.

Your type of argument is common in the anti-gun movement: focus on the extraordinary events; ignore the trend. Sure, the laws may have saved lives, but, if you save one and kill two, are you better off?

M Marshall, College Station, TX, USA

This story highlights how the only thing that is accomplished by severe gun control laws is that the civil liberties of the law abiding are eroded. Criminals ignore the law, that is why they are criminals.
In Canada, our overall crime rate is down but the most serious types of crimes continue to rise. Murder, attempted murder aggravated assault and weapons offences are all on the rise despite Canada's strict gun control policies.
Trying to control criminals by taking freedom away from honest citizens is the very definition of insanity. It leaves potential victims more helpless and makes criminals more bold.

Jeff Gardiner, Wellesley, Ontario, Canada

An Armed society is a polite society. Thank God I live in the USA and we actually have the legal right to defend ourselves. I have felt sorry for the people in the UK cause their governement have taken such strides to make their own people helpless. If they actually gave law abiding citizens the right to bare arms and made it mandatory that they attend a gun safety class before they could buy one much of this would be avoided. Criminals go where people can not defend themselves. Britian is the perfect place for this. People of the UK unite and take back your right to defend yourself. Remember the Governments job is to do as the people want and people want to defend themselves. Responsible gun and knife owners should not be punished for owning defense. Please stand up to them. I am happy to say I will never go to the UK since it is one of the most dangerous places to go in the new world. Fight for your rights Fight for the right to defend your self. Thank you and have a nice day.

Jack brown, New York, New York

If the Home Secretary thinks that a so-called Acceptable Behaviour Contract will deter the kind of children willing to use guns, it is my opinion that she lives on a different planet.

A 'real' fear of getting caught together with the guarantee of a harsh punishment might be more of a detterent, however, this will require a much greater and very obvious police presence walking the streets of British cities.

My answer to the present situation would not be acceptable to most people but it seems very obvious to me that if people want crime solved, or better still prevented, they must be prepared to pay for the numbers of police required to do the job.

Pat Thornton, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

The author nicely buried this paragraph: "Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Chief Constable of Merseyside, said this year that although gun crime in the area had fallen there had been an increase in the number of teenagers involved in firearms crimes." They are seeing an overall decrease in gun crime. Even in countries such as Canada that have fewer violent crimes, etc, gang activity which involves teens and guns is the exception. It's really too bad that the spin and hype isn't emphasizing the GOOD that this law has done. It has SAVED LIVES.

S Marsh, Lynden, WA

Here in the States we have 48 out of 50 states with concealed handgun licenses. Since this movement has swept the nation, the crime rate has gone down, not up. Now a person has a chance to defend against a murderous thug on equal terms. The consfictory gun laws in the UK are actually producing more mayhem than would otherwise occur since a miscreant with a gun will have face well aimed citizens bullets as a deterrent. Not satisfied with the harm done to society by disarming the good people; the powers that be are takeing it an insane step further in banning knives.
I rejoice at our victory in 1776 so as not to be a part of this collasal blundering in public policy.

J. Weedley, Duluth, Georgia, USA

Merseyside Population: 1.5 million?
Gun Crime 2005: 552

Hong Kong Population: 7 million
Gun Crime 2005: 237 (Robbery with Firearms 8, Possession of Arms & Ammunition 229)

If the figures are extrapolated, a 7 million population Merseyside would have had 2,576 in 2005, nearly 11 times as many as Hong Kong.

For years the HK Police used to send officers to UK courses. It seams that The Merseyside Police Authority, Merseyside Police and HMIC should be sending their staff here now to learn from HK.

Try searching the HMIC website using "merseyside"; when was the last full force inspection conducted? There was a "performance Review Inspection" in 1995.....

Guy Shirra, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

As I have said for many years, it is not the guns that kill, it is the hands that hold them and if they are matched to a psychotic brain that has been developed by well-meaning but silly people who engineered social conditions where discipline is taught to be against human rights and so on, they are the real criminals.

Potential victims who have no criminal records and who are judged to be of sound and intelligent mind should be allowed to carry small hand guns for protection now in Britain. But they must only do so if they are prepared to use them when necessary. Now there is a thought to greatly reduce crime. The victims shooting back - first.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

The ban on handguns after the Dunblane Massacre was a misguided abuse of power. Lord Cullen's enquiry recommended a sensible tightening of the licensing conditions but was ignored, licensed handgun owners being a minority representing even fewer voters than fox hunters. Now the UK has more handguns in the hands of criminals then the police. Well done indeed!

Guy Shirra, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

This once again demonstrates how misguided the ban on legal ownership of handguns was. It would be interesting to find out how many legally owned firearms are used in crimes. I suspect the numbers would be negligible.

Rowan Woodhouse, Cowes, UK

These statistics are dreadful but what are the government or the Police doing about it?....I'll tell you.....absolutely nothing. Lawlessness is rife in every city in Britain and all we get is party political broadcasts from Labour. How many more youngsters will end up the victims of gun crime because of inefficient policing and politicians who don't even know that this violent behaviour is a direct result of their own 'state benefit' mentality? This Government need to move on, they've had their time and they've wasted it and the Police need to spend less time shopping in supermarkets and stopping for fish and chips while they're on duty and get out and do some work.

Judy , Liverpool, england

When the good guys do not have guns, guess does.? Chalk up more deaths to the Social Workers and the Elite Justices.
God help us all from people with 'vision'.

Desmond Taylor, Houston, USA Tx

When guns are outlawed ...

Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Nagano