Desertdog
Member
They tell the truth and get clobbered for it.
GUN CRIMES ARE LIKE JOYRIDING..PEOPLE GET KILLED BY CARS BUT WE DON'T BAN THEM Mar 9 2004
http://keepandbeararms.com/news/nl/disp.asp?d=3/10/2004
By Paul Sinclair & Pippa Crerar
THE Tory party's spokesman on homeland security believes banning handguns is like outlawing cars.
Patrick Mercer described the ban on handguns in the wake of Dunblane as 'nonsense' and 'a kneejerk reaction'.
And he said: 'It's exactly the same argument that I would deploy about joy-riding.
'It is clearly highly undesirable that people get killed on the roads by motor cars.But we don't ban motor cars.
'People need to learn how to drive a motor car safely and have respect for it.'
Mercer believes that instead of banning handguns, we should be teaching kids how to use them.
He told a fringe meeting at the Tories' weekend spring conference: 'It is so much more sensible to train children to handle and have a respect for weapons than to simply ban them. It is so short-sighted.'
Mercer was joined at the meeting of the Conservative Way Forward group by Tory pro-gun campaigner Albie Fox.
Fox said: 'I'm an ex-pistol shooter who has had his guns taken off him.
'One of the big problems now is that we have a generation who have never experienced firearms except on television.'
Fox said his pistol shooting club used to teach kids how to use guns properly. But the post-Dunblane banhad stopped that.
He called for the handgun law to be 'looked at'. And Newark MP Mercer said: 'I couldn't agree more.'
Mercer added: 'Take my local area in Nottingham. Gun crime has absolutely exploded and not a single member of that lot ever belonged to a pistol shooting club.
'Secondly, if you come from a rural area like I do, a weapon is a farmer's tool.'
Mercer stood by his views yesterday when tackled by the Record. He said: 'This thoughtless political correctness, in terms of that weapons are a bad thing, is terribly damaging.'
Dunblane killer Thomas Hamilton gunned down 16 children and their teacher in 1996, using four legally held guns.
Anti-gun campaigners in the town were stunned by Mercer's comments. Anne Pearston, who helped lead the Snowdrop campaign, said: 'It is not even 10 years later and the Tories are thinking of changing the law.
'If they have that as a manifesto pledge, it will be a vote loser.We haven't gone away.'
SNP leader John Swinney called for Mercer to be sacked from his homeland security post.
He said: 'His comments are utterly offensive and just plain wrong.
'The Conservative leadership should remove this man from any position of responsibility and apologise immediately.'
A Labour Party spokesman added: 'Banning handguns is one of the achieve-ments of which we are most proud. Everyone in Scotland needs to know that the Tories want to turn the clock back.'
The Tories only partially banned handguns after Dunblane. Voters had to wait for a total ban until after Labour's victory in 1997.
More than 140,000 handguns were surrendered and the Government paid around £100million in compensation to gun owners.
Vicar's son Mercer was a boxing star at Oxford University before joining the Army.
He became an MP in 2001 and a shadow minister last year. The Tory party website says his interests include 'country sports'.
GUN CRIMES ARE LIKE JOYRIDING..PEOPLE GET KILLED BY CARS BUT WE DON'T BAN THEM Mar 9 2004
http://keepandbeararms.com/news/nl/disp.asp?d=3/10/2004
By Paul Sinclair & Pippa Crerar
THE Tory party's spokesman on homeland security believes banning handguns is like outlawing cars.
Patrick Mercer described the ban on handguns in the wake of Dunblane as 'nonsense' and 'a kneejerk reaction'.
And he said: 'It's exactly the same argument that I would deploy about joy-riding.
'It is clearly highly undesirable that people get killed on the roads by motor cars.But we don't ban motor cars.
'People need to learn how to drive a motor car safely and have respect for it.'
Mercer believes that instead of banning handguns, we should be teaching kids how to use them.
He told a fringe meeting at the Tories' weekend spring conference: 'It is so much more sensible to train children to handle and have a respect for weapons than to simply ban them. It is so short-sighted.'
Mercer was joined at the meeting of the Conservative Way Forward group by Tory pro-gun campaigner Albie Fox.
Fox said: 'I'm an ex-pistol shooter who has had his guns taken off him.
'One of the big problems now is that we have a generation who have never experienced firearms except on television.'
Fox said his pistol shooting club used to teach kids how to use guns properly. But the post-Dunblane banhad stopped that.
He called for the handgun law to be 'looked at'. And Newark MP Mercer said: 'I couldn't agree more.'
Mercer added: 'Take my local area in Nottingham. Gun crime has absolutely exploded and not a single member of that lot ever belonged to a pistol shooting club.
'Secondly, if you come from a rural area like I do, a weapon is a farmer's tool.'
Mercer stood by his views yesterday when tackled by the Record. He said: 'This thoughtless political correctness, in terms of that weapons are a bad thing, is terribly damaging.'
Dunblane killer Thomas Hamilton gunned down 16 children and their teacher in 1996, using four legally held guns.
Anti-gun campaigners in the town were stunned by Mercer's comments. Anne Pearston, who helped lead the Snowdrop campaign, said: 'It is not even 10 years later and the Tories are thinking of changing the law.
'If they have that as a manifesto pledge, it will be a vote loser.We haven't gone away.'
SNP leader John Swinney called for Mercer to be sacked from his homeland security post.
He said: 'His comments are utterly offensive and just plain wrong.
'The Conservative leadership should remove this man from any position of responsibility and apologise immediately.'
A Labour Party spokesman added: 'Banning handguns is one of the achieve-ments of which we are most proud. Everyone in Scotland needs to know that the Tories want to turn the clock back.'
The Tories only partially banned handguns after Dunblane. Voters had to wait for a total ban until after Labour's victory in 1997.
More than 140,000 handguns were surrendered and the Government paid around £100million in compensation to gun owners.
Vicar's son Mercer was a boxing star at Oxford University before joining the Army.
He became an MP in 2001 and a shadow minister last year. The Tory party website says his interests include 'country sports'.
