The member states of the UK have a long and proud history of being nations of men rather than laws. That corruption and cronyism may have been involved in Dunblane should come as no surprise.

Of course, Patrick Purdy, the Stockton, CA, child shooter, also had a long and well documented history with the local police. And they, as usual, mostly ignored him.

I wouldn't say that the police ignored Purdy. They arresting him and charging him with felonies--and then Los Angeles District Attorney John Van de Kamp kept bargaining them down to misdemeanors. By the time Patrick Purdy was a household word, Van de Kamp was now California Attorney-General, and found it more convenient to demonize Purdy's gun, rather than admit that his office had made a series of serious mistakes in dealing with Purdy.

Oh yeah, part of why an unemployed drifter like Purdy could afford guns is that the federal government paid for them. He was mentally disabled (schizophrenia), so he got a big check from Social Security Disability every month to buy guns with.