Home on the Range:A British Reporter tries to be objective

In the world of SCUBA, there exists a can of air, about $200 or so, that lasts a few moments (so many breaths, depending on your depth). The store clerk was questioned, "isn't that a lot of money for a can of air?" The clerk said, "if you were 100 feet down and out of air, I could convince you to pay $1000 for that same can.

I wonder what it would be like if he were taken somewhere he would WISH he had a gun, prior to this experience

Anyway, back to the man in the booth next door. Upon entering he set the target thingy to the flip setting (as you can see I really mastered the lingo) and kept muttering things to himself while performing commando rolls, sitting in a lotus position, writhing around like a drowning snake and drawing his gun from his holster and firing in various directions. He then proceeded to do press ups - press ups! - in the booth before holding a bag of sand in one hand and continuing to fire with the other. We nicknamed him "Death Wish". He was weird. He was preparing for something. Whatever it is, I hope it happens at a gun range rather than the street.

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I too am smelling BS here. I think he probably saw someone shooting crouched or maybe prone, and decided to severely elaborate. Or it could be 100% fabrication. I think this guy needed to find some way to tell his readers "see, despite some evidence to the contrary we were right all along in being a unarmed society."

And the words "unarmed society?" Doesn't he mean "disarmed society?" I would hang my head in shame to be a member of an "unarmed society." Makes me think of the Eloi.

Great pix, DumpsterBaby!

Unarmed Society - A good Thing?

This from our British cousin:

I am very glad we are on the whole an unarmed society in Britain.

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Of course as soon as the Brits disarmed the good guys, the bad guys were free to rape, murder, and steal without worrying about an armed citizen bringing them down.

Some history and facts from "Gun Control's Twisted Outcome: Restricting firearms has helped make England more crime-ridden than the U.S.", Joyce Lee Malcolm, November 2002, REASONONLINE See: http://www.reason.com/news/show/28582.html

From 1991 to 1995, crimes against the person in England's inner cities increased 91 percent. And in the four years from 1997 to 2001, the rate of violent crime more than doubled. Your chances of being mugged in London are now six times greater than in New York. England's rates of assault, robbery, and burglary are far higher than America's, and 53 percent of English burglaries occur while occupants are at home, compared with 13 percent in the U.S., where burglars admit to fearing armed homeowners more than the police. In a United Nations study of crime in 18 developed nations published in July, England and Wales led the Western world's crime league, with nearly 55 crimes per 100 people.

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The UK has systematically disarmed since fears of a Bolshevik revolution led to reducing arms for the folks in WWI era.

The 1920 Firearms Act was the first serious British restriction on guns. Although crime was low in England in 1920, the government feared massive labor disruption and a Bolshevik revolution.

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In 1969 police were informed "it should never be necessary for anyone to possess a firearm for the protection of his house or person." These changes were made without public knowledge or debate. Their enforcement has consumed hundreds of thousands of police hours. Finally, in 1997 handguns were banned. Proposed exemptions for handicapped shooters and the British Olympic team were rejected.

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When you read how they peeled back gun ownership rights. This author concludes this way:

The English government has effectively abolished the right of Englishmen, confirmed in their 1689 Bill of Rights, to "have arms for their defence," insisting upon a monopoly of force it can succeed in imposing only on law-abiding citizens. It has come perilously close to depriving its people of the ability to protect themselves at all, and the result is a more, not less, dangerous society. Despite the English tendency to decry America's "vigilante values," English policy makers would do well to consider a return to these crucial common law values, which stood them so well in the past.

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Could not agree more.

English Bill of Rights: That the subjects which are protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law (1689).

Second Amendment: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

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Our misinformed friend from the UK should recall that we got rid of British rule by our armed citizens defeating the British Army. Were it not for this inconvenient fact of history, they would be speaking German as citizens of the Third Reich. But we split from British rule and our founders insisted that armed citizens were able to protect our freedoms and our Constitution from the well-intended but naive politicians who fear their citizens more than an armed criminal class.

So far we have kept ours. Too bad they lost theirs...

Two pictures to remind us: First, armed citizens fighting for freedom from British rule and the result, our founding fathers signing the Constitution.

^^^
Bravo!

He sounds like he scares pretty easy. Betcha if somebody said BOO real loud, he have a boo-boo in his tu-tu...I betcha.




What a sad commentary from a once great nation, taken to the point of an Eloi existence by a socialist Parlaiment. I think that (most of) the British people are probably also shaking their heads in disbelief.

He was weird. He was preparing for something. Whatever it is, I hope it happens at a gun range rather than the street.

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Don't be afraid of the mall ninjas!

what a ridiculous article

OK...A British guy commenting on people with bad teeth. Now that's funny!

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I don't think that's very funny, he said, through a mouthful of teeth like a row of bombed houses
Seriously though, that's like me saying all Irish are stupid or all Americans are fat, which they're not.

Fred.

In my business dealings I often have opportunity to introduce foreign friends, business associates and clients to the realm of American firearms.

I have taken countless of them to the local range; people from Scotland, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, China and Thailand. Without exception they have all had a thoroughly good time. In fact, even though I have changed jobs and companies, many of these enlightened folks call to let me know when they're coming to town so that they can, "go to the shooting range with Steve". When these guys get to hold in their hands a '42-vintage Springfield M1 Garand and fire several rounds of Lake City downrange, their eyes really light up and the grins become contagious. They make an instant connection to the fact that this American gun and the people who stood behind it in no small way allowed them to escape the tyranny of Nazi rule during WWII. No other gun in my arsenal elicits the response that comes when that empty enbloc clip pings out of the receiver and hits the floor. It is the greatest ambassador I have.

It is my little opportunity to engage gun-ignorance beyond our borders and try to make a difference. Several of these guys initially questioned the whole American gun-ownership concept, but listened intently to my arguments. I can't say that they're 100% on board, but they certainly have a better understanding now and consequently a great respect for the reasons many Americans cherish the right to own and use firearms. Many of these folks now proudly display their own hole-strewn targets on the walls of their offices in Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Bangkok and elsewhere.

We have to chip away at the misperceptions at every opportunity. I think we could take a lesson from the tree-hugger mantra of many years ago that, to effect change we must "think globally and act locally". I for one am willing to be patient and continue to ease along those who are willing to listen and occasionally participate - no matter how infrequently - in the sport we love and the right we cherish. Frankly, I honestly enjoy this aspect of my shooting experience more than any other.

stellarpod

I totally agree with jjduller1946 - for an expanded version of Malcom's article I recommend her book "Guns and violence: the English experience". And as much as the liberal media over here (yes, this is a European citizen, whatever that may mean, speaking) would like us to believe that an unarmed society equals a safe society, that definitely isn't the case. Ironically, one of the best examples is Britain itself, where violent (and firearms-related) crime is at an all-time high. And don't tell me that it's only because of the "terrorist threat" that every friendly neighborhood Bobby seems to be wearing body armour, an ASP/PR-24 baton and a huge can of spray nowadays.

"Saptarshi Ray".........a good solid Brit name

So in the end, who was the 'nutter'? I think Saptarshi was.

Actual experience with gunowners changed that writer's beliefs from the extreme bigotry to soft bigotry, and we're supposed to congratulate him on his progressive thinking openness?

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You are mistaking his tactics for enlightenment
He has not evolved from one level of bigotry to a lesser.
He has done what I call the Bum Approach

First he tries to endear or familiarize himself to you by finding common or sympathetic ground and then he hits you with the reason for the encounter and it is usually just as big a lie as this one

kept muttering things to himself while performing commando rolls, sitting in a lotus position, writhing around like a drowning snake and drawing his gun from his holster and firing in various directions. He then proceeded to do press ups - press ups! - in the booth before holding a bag of sand in one hand and continuing to fire with the other.

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And then he tries to get you to support his cause
Whatever form of stupidity it may be

There's a problem in Great Britain that goes much deeper than guns.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=512087&in_page_id=1770

Challenge Churchill! One in four think Winnie didn't exist (but Sherlock Holmes did)

Never, in the field of human ignorance, have so many known so little about famous Britons.
A quarter of the population think that Winston Churchill never actually existed, a survey suggests.

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How can a people as a whole forget their entire history in just a few decades? A tragic ending to the once great empire.

Would someone tell me, please, why we bothered to save England not once, but twice last century from the Germans? What despicable ingratitude!

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I do not expect my friends to adopt my personal views just because I helped them out once or twice.

I do not expect my friends to adopt my personal views just because I helped them out once or twice.

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If you gave your life to save your friend you would have a right to expect that he would not squander the gift you gave him however.

I do not expect my friends to adopt my personal views just because I helped them out once or twice.

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And views not shared by many Americans at that.

Believing that, since we were allies with the UK in several wars, that therefore any UK commentary critical of the US in any way is "ungrateful" is absurd.

Also distrust those crime statistics people keep throwing about how awful UK crime. The most solid crime statistics area on homicide, where you can stack the bodies. UK homicide rates are still substantially less than U.S. rates. All those mugging/burglary/robbery statistics are highly fuzzy due to reporting issues. My anecdotal experience in the UK (walking all over London) was there might be some truth to high robbery rates, since many dwellings had fantastic amounts of grates and bars built in, but it seemed pretty safe otherwise.

Thought the article was decent enough. Probably exaggerating the antics of the guy next door, although "press-ups" (is that British for push-ups?) might have given me some pause.

jjduller1946:
You picked up on the same thing as me; 'on the whole' England's law abidding citizens are unarmed, but that's about it. The reporter's ability to believe/repeat the lil' nugget 'o' nonsense that "Britain's safer because all the naughty guns are gone" either means he's delusional or a liar.

2001:
Handgun crime 'up' despite ban
A new study suggests the use of handguns in crime rose by 40% in the two years after the weapons were banned.

2002:
Gun crime trebles as weapons and drugs flood British cities
GUN crime has almost trebled in London during the past year and is soaring in other British cities, according to Home Office figures obtained by The Telegraph.

2003:
Gun crime spreads 'like a cancer' across Britain
As the number of weapons on the streets grows and shootings become the norm, gun law is back at the top of the political agenda

2006:
Capital gun crime rises by 50 per cent
Weapons are now fashion accessories, warns Yard

Sounds like an unarmed society to me. Oh, wait, I think the word I was looking for was "defenseless".

Would someone tell me, please, why we bothered to save England not once, but twice last century from the Germans? What despicable ingratitude!

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The Brits will never get over (and they'll never bring up) the fact that an armed civilian population of lowly colonists was able to defeat the British army and create the mightiest & richest nation on earth, and create the longest-lived government in the world based on that right, while their system has blown two more opportunities to defend themselves that we ignorant, violent and repulsive yanks were nice enough to take care of for them.

err no they got routinely trashed by the redcoats
it wasn't till Washington created an army that could take to the field you won

I thought the author showed an open mind and a lot of growth potential. Does he agree with us completely 100%? No. But he's not agreeing with the antis either. And he's clearly MOVING in his opinions from theirs to ours. This is a good thing. If anything people in the area should write him supportive letters, 'hey bud thanks for keeping an open mind and trying a new experience, and not advocating I be imprisoned'

Think of how Anti's view that article, it probably scares the **** out of them, how easily one of their flock could stray if they don't constantly keep the brainwashing going. That's also a good thing.

Who do you think formed that army, Woody? There was no warrior tradition here at the time, no mercenaries like the British used, and the snipers who terrorized their officers sure weren't trained by drill sargeants!

Kinda missed the point there. A lot of "tests" are merely to certify that you actually read the material.

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Correct. Having taken the "test" in question, it's not so much a test as an educational opportunity. If you miss a question, they discuss the correct answer with you to make sure you understand the basics and they will tell you that up front. It's not an attempt to keep people out, it's just to make sure they know the basics of safety before they go out on the range.

ETA - From the range website...

All first-time visitors will be required to complete a safety questionnaire. This is an educational exercise, not a graded test.

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Clipper I'm reading (listening to on cd) 1776 by David McCullough and things aren't quite like that.