Killing is easy in America... murder with guns + knives, as you like

AFTER the 45th college shooting this year - with nine dead and seven injured - it appears USA politicians continue to be like ostriches, even cowardly, by not speaking up for gun restrictions in their country.

Imagine being a politician supporting gun laws - to have blood on your hands... apparently because their livelihoods are supported by the financial backing of the gun lobby.

One wonders how the conversation with many of these Christian people's God might go. Not unlike President Obama's speech below, possibly with 'go to hell' at the end of it...

"Somehow this has become routine" said Obama. "The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine, and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charleston.

"It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun. And what's become routine, of course, is the response of those who oppose any kind of common sense gun legislation."

With the US being an oft Christian-led country, a little research quickly reveals what Christ is reported to have said - and done. For a start, Christ did not bear arms... And US Christians supporting using guns can't expect support from other Christians - typical 'Word of God' guidance is written everywhere:

Jesus taught us to correct one another because he understood the danger of unrepentant sin. In Matthew 18:15-18 he carefully lays out a process of correcting a brother whose sinned against another brother. Jesus doesn’t reveal the nature of the sin. However, he makes it quite clear that if the sinner doesn’t repent of that sin, he shouldn’t be treated as a brother or sister in Christ. But how will this sinner come to realize his fault? He needs a word of correction. Jesus tells us to confront the sinner individually (v. 15). If the sinner’s heart remains hard, a few others should offer the corrective word (v. 16). And if that doesn’t work, Jesus indicates that the entire church must get involved (v. 18).

Full transcript of President Barack Obama's speech:

President Barack Obama called on the American people to make "common sense gun safety laws" a priority and urged lawmakers on every level to take action following the latest mass shooting -- this one at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg on Thursday October 1.

There's been another mass shooting in America. This time in a community college in Oregon.
That means there are more American families, moms, dads, children, whose lives have been changed forever. That means there's another community stunned with grief, and communities across the country forced to relieve their own anguish and parents across the country who are scared because they know it might have been their families, or their children.
I've been to Roseburg, Oregon. There are really good people there.
I want to thank all the first responders whose bravery likely saved some lives today.
Federal law enforcement has been on the scene in a supporting role, and we've offered to stay and help as much as Roseburg needs for as long as they need.
In the coming days we'll learn about the victims. Young men and women who were studying and learning and working hard with their eyes set on the future, their dreams on what they could make of their lives. And America will wrap everyone who is grieving with our prayers and our love.
But as I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It's not enough.
It does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel, and it does nothing to prevent this carnage from being inflicted someplace else in America. Next week, or a couple of months from now.
We don't yet know why this individual did what he did. And it's fair to say that anybody who does this has a sickness in their minds. Regardless of what they think their motivations may be. But we are not the only country on earth that has people with mental illnesses who want to do harm to other people.
We are the only advanced country on earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months.
You know earlier this year, I answered a question in an interview by saying, "The United States of America is the only advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common sense gun safety laws even in the face of repeated mass killings." And later that day, there was a mass shooting in Lafayette, Louisiana.
That day.
Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this. We talked about this after Columbine, and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charleston.
It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.
And what's become routine, of course, is the response of those who oppose any kind of common sense gun legislation.
Right now, I can imagine the press release is being cranked out. "We need more guns," they'll argue. "Fewer gun safety laws."
Does anybody really believe that? There are scores of responsible gun owners in this country, they know that's not true.
We know because of the polling that says the majority of Americans understand we should be changing these laws, including the majority of responsible, law abiding gun owners.
There is a gun for roughly every man woman and child in America. So how can you with a straight face make the argument that more guns will make us safer?
We know that states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths.
So the notion that gun laws don't work, or just will make it harder for law-abiding citizens and criminals will still get their guns, is not borne out by the evidence.
We know that other countries, in response to one mass shooting, have been able to craft laws that almost eliminate mass shootings. Friends of ours, allies of ours. Great Britain. Australia. Countries like ours.
So we know there are ways to prevent it. And of course what's also routine is that somebody somewhere will comment and say, "Obama politicized this issue." Well, this is something we should politicize. It is relevant to our common life together. To the body politic.
I would ask news organizations, because I won't put these facts forward — have news organizations tally up the number of Americans who've been killed through terrorist attacks in the last decade, and the number of Americans who've been killed by gun violence, and post those side by side on your news reports.
This won't be information coming from me, it will be coming from you.
We spent over a $1 trillion and passed countless laws and devote entire agencies to preventing terrorist attacks on our soil, and rightfully so. And yet, we have a Congress that explicitly blocks us from even collecting data on how we could potentially reduce gun deaths. How can that be?
This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America. We, collectively, are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction.
When Americans are killed in mine disasters, we worked to make mines safer. When Americans are killed in floods and hurricanes we make communities safer. When roads are unsafe, we fix them, to reduce auto fatalities. We have seat belt laws because we know it saves lives
So the notion that gun violence is somehow difference, that our freedom and our constitution prohibits any modest regulation of how we use a deadly weapon, when there are law abiding gun owners all across the country who could hunt and protect their families and everything do everything that they do under such regulations, doesn't make sense.
So tonight as those of us who are lucky enough to hug our kids a little closer are thinking about the families who aren't so fortunate, I'd ask the American people to think about how they can get our government to change these laws, and to save lives, and to let young people grow up. And that will require a change of politics on this issue.
And it will require that the American people, individually, whether you are a Democrat, or a Republican, and an Independent, when you decide to vote for somebody, are making a determination as to whether this cause of continuing death for innocent people should be a relevant factor in your decision.
If you think this is a problem then you should expect your elected officials to reflect your views. And I would particularly ask America's gun owners who are using those guns -- properly, safely, to hunt, for sport, for protecting their families — to think about whether your views are being properly represented by the organization that suggests its speaking for you.
And each time this happens I'm going to bring this up. Each time this happens I'm going to say we can actually do something about it, but we're going to have to change our laws. And this is not something I can do by myself. I've got to have a Congress, and I've got to have state legislatures, and governors, who are willing to work with me on this.
I hope and pray that I don't have to come out, again, during my tenure as president to offer my condolences to families in these circumstances. But based on my experience as president, I can't guarantee that, and that is terrible to say.
And it can change.
May God bless the memories of those who were killed today. May he bring comfort to their families, and courage to the injured as they fight their way back, and may he give us the strength to come together and find the courage to change. Thank you.

Education programme on dangers of weapon-related crime

THERESA CAVE, mum of fatally stabbed teenager Chris Cave, is inviting schools and other youth organisations to sign up for a hard-hitting programme to try to prevent weapon-related crime.

POINT7 is designed to give young people a broader understanding of the often terrible and hurtful effects on the lives of family, friends and knife / gun crime victims.

The following video highlights the devastation and pain caused by knife and gun crime, and shows excerpts from the POINT7 initiative:



POINT7 is a Tilly award nominee and features on page 12 of ‘Tackling knife crime together - a review of local anti-knife crime projects’ a report orchestrated by Brooke Kinsella in 2011 stating the programme should be prevalent in all schools (Brooke is the sister of another young man, Ben Kinsella from London, killed in a knife attack).

More details about POINT7 programme, which is presented free, can be found on The Chris Cave Foundation website.

Why won't knife crime stats go down? Who STILL wants to stab people?

LIKE many of us presumably, I find it difficult to understand knife crime figures are rising when overall crime is down. Who is out there in Britain still deciding to carry a knife... despite years of anti-knife campaigning work across our nation? Why do they choose to carry arms, carry weapons... WHY?

Some 250 people are now stabbed every week in Britain, according to official figures just released. Numbers of police on our streets have been reduced by 1 in 7 in recent years so a knife crime rise could be connected to that.

Or maybe it's a propaganda-type trick. Authorities report the numbers are up so there's an argument for there to be a 'legitmate' clampdown and targeting by police 'hit squads' on knife carriers.

Crime across the country has dropped except for knife crime, apparently. Is there a balance being struck between the cost of policing, winning hearts and minds with community work and communications, bringing down crime levels - and not having them go up again?

BBC News: July 2015: Latest crime stats released for 2014/15

It is one of those remarkable coincidences, as noted by my previous analysis work over the years reported in this blog, that another general election is over and something odd is notable again in the crime figures. I wonder what figures issued by public authorities can be trusted.

But putting that bigger issue to one side (and that's difficult to do, quite frankly), the moral argument to go after knife carriers on UK streets is unimpeachable.

With knife-related crime stats showing a stubborn trend to not go down from, say, 25,000-ish, tough action to combat this evil, cowardly activity in our green and pleasant land - and pot-holed, dirty and badly-kept urban streets - must be pursued.

Better to remove knives from the carriers than suffer the human cost of dead and injured victims, surely? Ditto guns, other weapons, terrorism etc.

Tragically, many of us will have seen the news this week evidencing the clearest example of the knife crime problem... cyclist Don Lock - a fit, active and much-loved 79-year-old grandfather - was killed by a 'mindless' knife carrier in a reported road rage incident near Worthing in West Sussex. Apparently, the killer was a man aged 34 (police are shown arresting the male suspect below, from the Daily Mirror). How to get knives out of the hands of such men and women? How??

See full story on Mirror website

Can you hear a mother crying...?

DO you hear a mother crying?  There's only one bullet / knife between us...



Billy Franks asking, like mothers, fathers, families across the world hurt by gun and knife crime, what kind of world do we want to live in...

"Je Suis Charlie" - People against guns and knives...

IN THE AFTERMATH of the #ParisAttacks and #jesuischarlie solidarity march in the French capital, I thought it important to add a post to this peace-loving blog in a gesture of support. As a qualified and experienced journalist, 'the pen(cil) is mightier than the sword' has been a frequent motto to live by for me.

One of the most haunting of the murders this week was that of a wounded policeman - married with a family - struck prone on the pavement near the Charlie Hebdo office.

In a statement of helplessness, as Ahmed Merabet (42) lay on the ground powerless, the gunmen asked: "Do you want to kill us?". Replying "No, no chief", his killers showed no mercy, ignored his plea for life and in an act of cold blooded murder blasted him to death at point blank range. No words can convey the scale of such evil action. (Learn more about Ahmed here.)

This week the UK experienced the worst kind of violence and injustice on our doorstep not witnessed for many years; such despicable crime and inhumanity was a stone's throw away from my neighbourhood on the south of England. It could be us next; British security chiefs stated that was the case.

It feels like there is little we can do to stop this tide of idiocy from some strange kind of vipers nests, nursed in middle eastern traditions and cultures. People may see these acts as proof a God does not exist else why could such terrible events happen? Yet it is not about the existence of God but some men's choice to ignore human conscience and act as barbarians.

KU KLUX KLAN don’t represent Christians; fundamentalist extremist murderous militants don’t represent Islam

For decent westerners and others, we must be sensible and, for our own safety, consider not offending mad men with weapons; careful, considered actions and education are more likely to prevent slaughter than ridiculing and lampooning fundamentalist extremist militants without, it seems, a moral framework.

Most of all, I recommend we become most vigilant to potential dangers around us that might be signs of an imminent attack by such terrorists, Al Qaeda, or whoever they say they are. As decent people, we can use faith for strength, hope and work for change in these mad men - and focusing on these enemies, praying their hearts can be changed. If they don't change, there is no alternative for them but to be removed from societies by all means we can muster for the self defence of decent people.

Gun-toting Christians in the USA

Should a Christian country like the USA be advocating owning and carrying guns as readily as it does? Packing heat, waiting to shoot someone, is not the peaceful way Christ advocated was it?

This cartoon in The Economist magazine probably sums up the situation well...

Guns and Christians in the Unites States of America

Like knives, gun carrying should be a crime. It is in the UK. Such ready access to death and injury sticks that US citizens have is nothing to 'enjoy' or take pride in.

How gun control can prevent mass killings like at Newtown, Connecticut, USA

A GUN massacre on the US East Coast causing the deaths of some 27 children and teachers has put the spotlight back on gun control.

In the Connecticut killings, police sources identified a 20-year-old man, Adam Lanza, to have carried out the Newtown school massacre. It is also reported that the man shot his mother, Nancy Lanza - a teacher at the school - at a connected crime scene in the town.

It seems appropriate to repeat a previous blog post that provides clear evidence, a justifiable case for making it illegal to carry arms.

The case is indisputable: easier access to guns has caused more deaths / killings in the USA - FACT. For that reason, gun controls must be imposed to prevent more people dying, especially innocents like children and teachers.

Here's a quite from my previous blog post:

From 'The Case for Gun Control' by Fareed Zakaria: "Gun violence in America is off the chart compared to every other country on the planet. The gun-homicide rate per capita in the US is 30 times that of Britain and Australia, 10 times that of India and four times that of Switzerland.

"... [The USA] does have many, many more guns. There are 88.8 firearms per 100 people in the US. In second place is Yemen with 54.8, then Switzerland with 45.7 and Finland with 45.3. No other country has a rate above 40. The US handgun-ownership rate is 70% higher than that of the country with the next highest rate."

And an indisputable fact is very obvious: crime has been falling over the past few decades in the US. Specifically, while violent crime rates have fallen by 20%, numbers of firearm homicides is essentially unchanged. Zakaria makes the blindingly obvious point: "What can explain this anomaly except easier access to guns?" 

To read the full post on this blog, visit 'Lessons for UK knife crime from gun control in the USA'

Lessons for UK knife crime from gun control in the USA

Calls to legalise guns, allowing ordinary citizens to arm themselves, have at times dominated this blog. The reason this debate is allowed to feature on a knife crime blog is because the broader issues are highly relevant i.e. about carrying weapons - blades or guns - and all types of violent crime. In short, as well as anti-knife, this blog is anti-all weapons for private use including anti-gun. Ultimately, this blog is focused on achieving non-violent, civilised, peaceful - and one day, we hope, happy - existence.

Many pro-gunners have spent some time on this blog trying to argue private gun use should be allowed, alluding to legal use in the USA making their 'pro' position valid (e.g. Graham Showell and Britain Needs Guns). Bearing that in mind, I was interested in recent murder / killing statistics published in Time magazine (Aug 20 2012) demonstrating unequivocally that the USA clearly has a major gun problem, and most definitely not a solution to the country's ills (or the world's, for that matter).

From 'The Case for Gun Control' by Fareed Zakaria: "Gun violence in America is off the chart compared to every other country on the planet. The gun-homicide rate per capita in the US is 30 times that of Britain and Australia, 10 times that of India and four times that of Switzerland.

"... [The USA] does have many, many more guns. There are 88.8 firearms per 100 people in the US. In second place is Yemen with 54.8, then Switzerland with 45.7 and Finland with 45.3. No other country has a rate above 40. The US handgun-ownership rate is 70% higher than that of the country with the next highest rate."

And an indisputable fact is very obvious: crime has been falling over the past few decades in the US. Specifically, while violent crime rates have fallen by 20%, numbers of firearm homicides is essentially unchanged. Zakaria makes the blindingly obvious point: "What can explain this anomaly except easier access to guns?" And to try to hammer home his point, he courts controversy by remarking that when people throw up their hands and say nothing can be done about guns, tell them they're being un-American - and unintelligent.

So it is also the case for knives. As for guns, common sense (as well as the evidence) is crystal clear that less knife carrying would reduce killings and maiming. The more we can ensure criminal knife use is prevented, the more we can ensure people - mainly our sons - can stay alive.

Preventing easy access to and sale of knives, licensing their use for carrying in public places, doesn't seem quite as dramatic a step as we may have initially thought. It must be straightforward to better control sales of large combat knives (that killed Jacky Marshall, for whom this blog was set up 'in memoriam' after she was stabbed to death in a Chichester McDonald's fast food restaurant) and any kind of blade carried for self-protection... surely?

So... if anyone tells you little can be done about knives (or guns), just tell them they're being un-British - and unintelligent.

Passionate anger in pursuit of peace in the knife crime business

As time goes on with knife crime campaigning, or indeed any kind of campaign, things can become less motivating where progress seems difficult to achieve. I just thought I'd write a short piece about giving up... or rather not giving up - it's worth keeping on.

It is quite isolating at time writing a blog; I've tried to contact some key people, kept focus on the key issues (and probably strayed off script at times), always invited comments, passed on Facebook details, tried to make time where there seems little to find. Staying motivated can be a struggle - one can get tired, weary etc and wonder if things will really change that much, especially as the killings and injury crime figures keep on piling in.

That said, when someone fatally stabbed dies in your arms, I don't think the motivation to change things can leave you.

And to campaign for peace does not mean being passive. In fact, a form of aggression is needed, determination, perseverance. Some aggression is not necessarily negative - combined with passion, it can drive an athlete on to achieve; it can drive on those campaigning for justice, truth, change in the knife and violent crime business.

To know criminally-minded people are killing and injuring others will always be wrong. Moderation in the face of such devastation must not be countenanced. It is necessary to become angry when people do not put down the knives, the guns.

Such anger is not 'out of control' - it is essential to try to restore proper order. We probably need our own house in order too, but a moderate reaction just won't do. Just as many are angered by corrupt bankers and greedy corporations and businessmen in recent economic times,  so it is with knife carriers. Criminal, evil acts must not be tolerated.

An aggressive pursuit of justice and truth, of change for the better is required. It is essential - and it is a peaceful pursuit.

Lady Gaga and Rhianna's shameful gun self-publicity

POP STARS promoting guns and other weapons is an unacceptable situation. Are the creative minds of their marketing mandarins so poor that they cannot think beyond developing campaigns that utilise killing instruments to boost public image? Too much X-Box, Microsoft, Nintendo and Playstation growing up me-thinks.

In all honesty, can't these supposedly cool music industry types think up something more original than using guns to promote celebrity musicians? The entertainers and their entourage ought to be ashamed of themselves. Here's the pictures on the web:

Lady Gaga in Rolling Stone magazine

(see more Lady Gaga gun images)

Rhianna now sports gun tattoos

(see more Rhianna gun images)

This shameful marketing and self-publicity is beyond the pale. It glorifies guns and weapons, endorses them, puts them 'front-of-mind' for impressionable young people. FFS, if you're thinking of using guns or knives in your next round of marketing, don't do it. Just try to remember many people's loved ones killed by weapons - and then do the responsible thing... dream up something better than guns and knives to sell your products.

International knife crime blog: submit information + views etc here

Apologies that I've not been writing more posts for this blog lately, but if you have some news, information, reflections, whatever you think etc, about knife / gun / violent crime you'd like to share (video, audio, podcast, words, poems, photos etc) feel free to contact me.

Simply use a comment box (click here to see one) and send me a message. I'll get back to you if you leave contact details such as email address, phone number etc. You can also use the comment box to send a post that I will always aim to publish on this blog (I can add names or publish it as anonymous - just let me know; trained as a professional journalist, sources are always protected... but please don't abuse that privilege; that tends to come to light).

It will be good to hear from you - especially if your motives are peaceful.   m.

Killing of my brother, by Tom Cave - aged 9

Toying with the idea of using violence today? Using a knife or a gun? Think on young Tom's message...


"I was three when they stabbed him.

"Mam told me he had gone on a train to the sky.

"The 'kids' told me there was lots of blood everywhere...

"My mam tells me to 'share' my thoughts and i do. Now i am nine and i understand exactly what happened to my brother and i can deal with it because i shared my thoughts and questions with mam.

"I find it better to cope with now as even though i loved him i can hardly remember him so its easy for me to cope.

"I will never have another brother because they stole my future when they murdered my brother. Don't be like me - sad, lonely and angry and confused as to who i am because you would not like it at all.

"I am lucky i have life and love and my mam who's got lots of memories to keep my brother alive in my head - my heart is his.

"Please dont kill because you can live a good life because you too are loved by many."

         ... from: Tom Cave (aged 9).

Tom's mum, Theresa Cave, has become part of an impactful knife and gun crime programme called Point 7 which has been building steady support in the UK.

Theresa set up a proactive memorial group - the Chris Cave Foundation (on Facebook) - to remember her son, beaten and killed in a stabbing, as well as campaign against knife and other violent crime.

She describes the Point 7 programme, which she and Tom have been involved with, as "wonderfully impactful" and "very much in demand".

She said: "The presentation consists of films, true experiences, weaponry and their uses in the streets - and professionals such as the paramedics, youth offending teams and police come together to present what I would say is the most impactive, hard-hitting, lasting memory of the consequences that are to be had choosing a life of violent crime.

"Point 7 show the most serious and brutal of wounds to actual victims and even animals. Knife and guns are on show and debates take place between the young people present.

"True life stories and heart wrenching results are always to be had with this presentation given freely by this wonderfully expert team of professional people dedicated to the cause and to the youths of today."

Read Press coverage about the Point 7 anti-knife crime / anti-violence programme (the Sunday Sun)

The presentation is available to adult organisations and agencies accross the country and training is on offer to anyone wanting it. Toolkits are available (soon) and the workshops are in six parts.

For anyone wishing to know more about this anti-knife crime, anti-gun, anti violence programme, please call 01642 498451 or 07981 991482 for more information.

Raoul Moat... and in search of peace in this world

Raoul Moat is dead (the Northumberland gunman who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend's partner, injured her and a policeman). He shot himself - in the head it seems - after a six-hour stand-off when cornered by police snipers and negotiators

"Good riddance," we hear some say.

But what a failure for society - and education - that someone can become like that. I do feel some pity and sadness for the man even though he had killed. What makes someone that angry, murderous and suicidal? Surely we can stop people becoming like that? Don't know - maybe not; he had a choice about how he should behave and trod the wrong road. And that's the end of that - and him.

Raoul Moat's gun violence and criminal killing spree did start me thinking about peace. Moat wasn't making peace with anyone - he was on a warpath, sad and tragic to say.

But what about the peacemakers? How do they go about their campaigns to make the world a more peaceful, safer place? Think this is what goes through people's minds - in one form or another. Have you got the right mindset to bring peace?

"

I want to be a means of peace - let me work to be that.

Where there's hatred grown, let me sow love.

Where there's injury, let forgiveness be my sword.

Where there's doubt and fear, let me sow things to believe and trust in that are strong.

Where there's sadness here, let me sow some joy.

When darkness nears, may I bring some light to dispel people's fears.

I would like to share more, to receive love less and give more love - for free, no strings.

Please may I forgive, as others forgive me for my errors and sometime error prone ways.

And then there will be more peace. May I become a means of bringing that peace. 

"

Gun and knife carrying for protection from criminals

Debate on knife and gun carrying on this blog lately has been significant. I've received another comment on the recent posts. Because it touches on key issues that others have flagged, I thought I would reproduce it here as a main post for all to comment on. Personally, I continue to disagree with the arguments presented. Fundamentally, people carrying weapons (guns or knives) is the wrong path. But, please review this post and add your opinion (it was sent to me by a Tom Trumper, presumably a 'pen name'):

" Sir, While I believe that Lucy Cope has had a terrible loss - probably one that I will never be able to comprehend as I am not yet a father - I do not believe that this makes her immune to criticism. If anything, her involvement undermines your efforts to outlaw firearms as she is clearly driven by emotion, and showed this very strongly during the television show. And you'll forgive me if I question Lucy's stance on the story of the elderly woman being raped - that the preferable alternative for the elderly woman owning a firearm was for her to own a panic alarm. While I can see the argument here, I believe that it is alarming where an abuser of our most vulnerable citizens is potentially allowed to go scott free when the police cannot intervene in time. The point is here, an elderly woman is incapable of defending herself effectively most of the time, and a gun makes for a crude equalizer. When I say equalizer, I mean that physical strength or height plays little or no role in the functioning of a firearm compared to a knife, where a stronger, taller opponent can easily over power a rival. Because of this, citizens most at risk of attack (the weak, the old, the crippled etc) have a means of defending themselves - the same goes for items like 'pepper spray' and 'tazers'.

The firearm in question doesn't even need to the criminal to prevent the crime from happening, as a survey of imprisoned criminals in the U.S showed that 34% of criminals had either been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim."(1) This shows that firearms can be a crime PREVENTER as well as a potential crime cause.

I am a firm believer in that certain prevention is better than uncertain cure, which could be described as a criminal being having to think twice before he decides to attack that young/old lady, as opposed to the same lady being maimed/killed/raped and the criminal having to be punished - we will never know if the criminal incarcerated in jail will be rehabilitated, but we will always know that it's a positive thing if a person can walk down a street without fear of being attacked.

I hope my comments are taken constructively and helpful in debate.

(source for my statistic about prevention: http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp )"

Critics of Lucy Cope + this blog's stance on carrying guns & knives

I've just published three comments made on my opinion about the BBC's Big Questions debate today on guns in Britain. You can view them here. Here's my response to some of the points made.

As people who are familiar with this blog are aware, I publish only facts when it comes to crime statistics. The anonymous poster (yet another anonymous critic that sometimes hides behind 'no name / identity' to snipe at me on this blog) questioned this factual statement that I made:

"Sadly the statistics show people are more likely to end up stabbed if they actually carry a knife. The same would undoubtedly happen with guns."

Well, the answer to that is contained in the government campaign described in this BBC news article about knife crime and the fact s/he has queried is promoted by none other than the Association of Chief Police Officers - so feel free to contact them to discuss this issue.

[This fact has been queried by some blog readers so here's a link for people to do their own research and form their own conclusions - various knife crime research sources are shown including the Royal Armouries knife crime literature review. Really, people need to step back and see common sense here... if you carry a knife and that blade is turned on you, you are more likely to be hurt by it. And also - ultimately, if you carry a weapon (even for genuine protection) you are not being peaceable. There's simply no justification for any irresponsible escalation of violence that leads to stabbing or shooting.]

Criticising Lucy Cope, a mother who has lost a son to gun crime, is insensitive, unfeeling, unhelpful and marks that person out to be someone who does not understand the perils of carrying weapons. If there was a case for guns to be allowed to be carried across the UK, s/he just undermined it.

Reflecting a little further, I think the aggressive nature and style of these comments highlight the importance of not giving aggressive people free access to guns.

I feel no shame questioning a man who publicly advocates carrying guns - quite the opposite, I feel right to do it. Showell's is not a peaceful mission. The words 'peaceful' and 'gun carrier' make no sense at all and cannot go together. That said, weapons sometimes have to be used in self-defence - but allowing ordinary, untrained citizens of a nation to arm themselves in an apparently arbitrary fashion lacks, at the very least, plain common sense.

Graham Showell and Britain Needs Guns - sheer idiocy?

Graham Showell appears to be one of the UK's leading proponent and supporter of allowing all kinds of guns to be legally held by anyone who wants one.

To my mind, him and his arguments are beyond comprehension. Without any doubt, his thoughts in this area, however he expresses them, are akin to the politics of the madhouse. Heaven help us if he ever got his way. Thankfully, I'm sure commons sense will prevail and his ridiculous logic will never win the day.

He appeared on the BBC's Big Questions this morning and met stiff resistance from most of the audience for his pro-gun opinions. It was shocking that such foolish, misguided comment was allowed a serious airing - but there you go, it's a free country and, in the media spotlight, I reckon his stance could not stand up to the scrutiny of those of us who are far wiser then he is.

Thank goodness for people like Lucy Cope, a leader of anti-crime group Mothers Against Guns. Her zero tolerance approach to possession of guns in Britain came across pretty well on the programme.

Lucy Cope - Mothers Against Guns

Graham Showell was just appalling - he would like the entire country to be able to arm themselves for personal protection. Putting weapons into the hands of people with such a cavalier disregard for the consequences really doesn't bear thinking about.

But we have to think about it because people like this exist, god help us. It is just this type of stupid thinking that leads people to carry knives for personal protection. Sadly the statistics show people are more likely to end up stabbed if they actually carry a knife. The same would undoubtedly happen with guns. Graham Showell and his Britain Needs Guns website and campaign... words fail me - his arguments need exposing for the falseness they represent, and hopefully his campaign will collapse.