Gun crime rising in UK, esp. home invasions

[Creeping Incrementalism]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/paFiguresThurs18Crimefiguresud2Substitute.html

Gun crime: Labour 'losing control'

Jan 25 3:03 PM US/Eastern

Labour has been accused of losing control of gun crime as new figures show a sharp rise in armed robberies.

Guns were used in 4,120 robberies last year - a 10% jump - including a 9% rise to 1,439 in the number of street robberies where guns were used.

There was also a rapid and unexplained increase in the number of times householders were confronted in their own homes by armed criminals. Residential firearms robberies show a 46% leap, a record 645 cases in England and Wales - up 204 on the previous year and four times the level recorded in 2000-01.

The figures come a day after two men armed with a replica gun robbed a Home Office worker on his way home after sharing a curry with Home Secretary John Reid. The 29-year-old civil servant was making his way home in Beckenham, Kent, shortly before midnight when he was attacked.

A Met Police spokeswoman said the man's wallet and mobile phone were taken and confirmed that two teenage men remain in custody at a south London police station.

The Home Office report shows that handguns are the most commonly used firearm in robberies, reported in 2,888 cases.

Shadow home secretary David Davis said of the figures: "This shows Labour is losing control of gun crime across the board, whether it be on the street or in innocent people's homes.

"Gun crime is mainly fuelled by gang warfare and drug addiction, which is a consequence of Labour's failing drugs policy. It is exacerbated by our porous borders, which allow illegal weapons to flow into the country."

Home Office minister Tony McNulty said: "Firearm offences have fallen significantly, by 14% in the year up to September 2006, which amounts to 1,642 fewer incidents.

"While there is a small rise in residential firearm robberies, these account for a tiny proportion of recorded offences overall, although we recognise any firearm incident is traumatic for victims." He added: "We have some of the toughest firearm legislation in Europe."

 

[Manedwolf]

Wow, you might think that...criminals aren't obeying the laws! SHOCKING!

I see articles from BBC all the time fussing that young thugs are carrying handguns "like cellphones" in London and elsewhere.

This despite a total ban. Well. At least we can thank the UK for serving as proof of what "bans" accomplish.

And they still don't get it. The rise is because the criminals know they have nothing to fear!

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Gun Crime Politics

. . . unexplained increase in the number of times householders were confronted in their own homes by armed criminals.

Gosh. Unexplained. [Unarmed] householders . . . confronted . . . by armed criminals. Boggles the mind.

. . . handguns are the most commonly used firearm in robberies . . .

Shocker there.

Gun crime is mainly fuelled by gang warfare and drug addiction . . .

Yeah. Now we know what guns use for fuel.

We have some of the toughest firearm legislation in Europe.

Sure you do. How's that working out?

 

[Rev. DeadCorpse]

Reaping the Whirlwind....

Well, they can't say they weren't warned.

 

[ccarnel]

Should we forward this to the anti's?

 

[MechAg94]

Guns are part of it yes, but IMHO, I think guns are not most of the problem.
They are not prosecuting criminals, they are not incarcerating criminals, and the people who can defend themselves have little or no legal right to do so. The criminals are realizing that there are no consequences for their actions.

Also, I have heard that GB's juvenile laws are very screwed up and make it even harder to enforce the law.

 

[Zedicus]

This is a suprise how?

 

[1911Tuner]

British Crime

Blimey! Something must bloody well be done about this. Hurry up now...Ban the guns again, and be quick about it!

 

[mbt2001]

"Gun crime is mainly fuelled by gang warfare and drug addiction, which is a consequence of Labour's failing drugs policy. It is exacerbated by our porous borders..."

DING DING DING DING....

Someone should give this guy a medal!

BORDER FENCE AND TROOPS... (in US obviously)

 

[longeyes]

You mean the UK's obsession with multiculturalism hasn't brought utopia?

Hmmm, that's trouble.

 

[Manedwolf]

You mean the UK's obsession with multiculturalism hasn't brought utopia?

Nope, just brought home jihad for dinner and bombings.

 

[mbt2001]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Don't forget an obsession with curry...

 

[ServiceSoon]

It is exacerbated by our porous borders...

Because of that comment...everything that was said before and after that sentence is worthless. This article does nothing for RKBA as far as people against personal gun ownership are concerned.

 

[Speer]

"It is exacerbated by our porous borders..."

It is exacerbated by self-serving tyrants who don't have to live with the hell they create.

 

[gometika]

hmm, wonder how come we hardly or for that matter never hear or read about this from the US media................

 

[razorburn]

The figures come a day after two men armed with a replica gun robbed a Home Office worker on his way home after sharing a curry with Home Secretary John Reid. The 29-year-old civil servant was making his way home in Beckenham, Kent, shortly before midnight when he was attacked.

Do they count replicas as firearms and use this in their gun crime count?

 

[tellner]

It's not just the gun control thing. I see that as more of a symptom of the underlying problems. Bear with me a moment on this one.

Like Americans, this generation of Britons is poorer, less secure and downwardly mobile compared its parents. The good jobs have left in the Global Race to the Bottom. Their old Empire has come home to roost in the form of brown people who speak strange languages. They're not quite sure whether it's better to embrace Europe. The industrial centers are gone. Social services from National Health to the Underground are deteriorating. There's not much difference between Labor and the Conservatives, and the LDs aren't enough of a factor to offer a realistic alternative yet.

We see it coming out in a number of ways. Britons in general and Scots in particular drink an unchristly amount, more than anyone else in Europe, possibly more than anyone in the world. Their society is increasingly violent. Take a look at their violent crime stats compared to the rest of the EU. Then consider that the police have been instructed not to count things like sexual assault, home invasion burglary or most muggings. Children are increasingly disconnected from their families. And they have an entire national pastime specifically organized around participatory criminal mob violence - the unspeakable British Football Supporters.

The problems don't admit easy solutions. The old consensus stopped working, and they got Thatcher. Thatcherism didn't deliver as promised. Neither did Blair's version of the same thing.

When people can't change their external circumstances they try, perhaps neurotically, to change what they can. The way it comes out in the UK seems to be increased control over the population. Surveillance, restrictions on civil liberties, draconian laws and dictatorial councils and, yes, gun laws are all things that won't solve the problems. But they are things that can be done and which seem related to the nation's woes.

 

[Zundfolge]

Like Americans, this generation of Britons is poorer, less secure and downwardly mobile compared its parents.

I don't know about the Brits, but this generation of Americans is richer, more secure and upwardly mobile compared to its parents.



Anyway (I don't want to derail this discussion), the reason I see for the rise in violent crime there is that British culture is becoming more like American, that is less homogeneous. Disarming the law abiding is just a multiplier.

Anti gun folk from around the world like to point at America and its free access to firearms as the reason why our homicide rate is so high. The real reason for our traditionally high homicide rate is that we have a very cultural/ethnically diverse population. (our homicide rate was higher than the rest of the world LONG before the drug war ... however I'll concede that the drug war has made the problem even worse). I don't care how many verses of Kumbyah you sing ... human beings are just not good at mixing.

 

[tellner]

Sorry zundfolge, but it's just not true. The economic data aren't even close to ambiguous for things like median real income, net wealth by quartile, indebtedness, percentage of families who can make it on a single income, or any of the other rock-solid standard measures. That's the simple reality. We can argue about why this is so in some other forum, but the facts are essentially indisputable.

The idea that our extremely high rate of murders would be even higher with fewer controls on guns is a matter of faith. It is, again, a matter of simple fact that we kill each other with appalling frequency compared to any other developed nation. And no, I don't count South Africa as a developed nation anymore. It's moving backwards. Maybe fewer guns would mean less crime. Maybe it would mean more. I don't know, and nobody else here does, either. But it's absolutely clear that our social system is damaged to the point of dysfunction when it comes to murder. We do it a lot. We have harsher punishments than other developed countries. It doesn't seem to help.

 

[Manedwolf]

I don't know about the Brits, but this generation of Americans is richer, more secure and upwardly mobile compared to its parents.

Maxed-out credit cards do not equal wealth.

Wealth is money you HAVE and don't USE. What people have is a lifestyle stacked on DEBT, which is money you DON'T have, but use anyway, and pay interest on.

It seems like once upon a time, one person working in a household was enough to have a decent car every couple of years, a nice house without being in debt twenty fathoms over your head to pay for it, etc. Most people I know can't save like their parents did. It's just not possible.

But I digress. Watch Lou Dobbs for that.

 

[geronimotwo]

this article loses credibility by specifically attacking one party of their political system


off topic

I don't know about the Brits, but this generation of Americans is richer, more secure and upwardly mobile compared to its parents.

let's not forget that todays numbers in the bank can only buy 10% of what it could in 1970. in addition to which, many families now have both parents working to maintain the current lifestyle.

 

[agricola]

um...

gun crime fell

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1999066,00.html

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

I Had To Laugh

"Maybe if you tell me the bad news in a good way......" (Prince John in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights")

Cause and Effect: Good job by the journalist and David Davis of turning the effect into a political ploy. The cause is:

"We have some of the toughest firearm legislation in Europe."

Which also opens the door to the rest of the misdirection when the quote is taken in full context:

"While there is a small rise in residential firearm robberies, these account for a tiny proportion of recorded offenses overall, although we recognize any firearm incident is traumatic for victims." He added: "We have some of the toughest firearm legislation in Europe."

Allow the people their right to keep and bear arms to effectively defend themselves and crime offenses overall will fall precipitously. Those "gun crimes" will fall precipitously as well. It would no longer be unlawful to keep and bear arms!

Woody

I'm always amazed at the lack of common sense in people in the media and government.

 

[Jim March]

Attacking a man in his own home is ALWAYS dangerous. "Armed" or not, he knows where his cricket bat is, his steak knife drawer, where a loose table leg can be ripped off and used to beat you to death...etc. Even in England there are people (of both genders) level headed enough to think of these things in a pinch.

It is a dead certainty British home invaders have run into such folk on occasion. Which in turn would drive them to guns...

 

[Mk VII]

I'd say tellner's analysis is spot on, with some reservations (football violence was effectively banished from the stadia years ago). Pensions have gone down the swanee, thanks to short-sighted corporate policies, poor stock market performance and Gordon Brown's greed. House prices, and real estate generally, have risen to insane levels, nobody can afford them so they mortgage themselves to the hilt and both partners have to work to service a debt that Husband alone could have coped with in the 1970s. Drug use and the associated turf wars have risen inexorably, and that's the chief (likely, the sole) cause of the increase in crime. This has always been a hard drinking culture, the ability to drink, and to hold one's drink, remains admired in the lower classes.