Of Arms and the Law: non-US Archives

Canadian paper calls for crackdown on pellet guns

Posted by David Hardy · 23 March 2008 11:31 AM

Editorial here.

"Yet it seems the danger pellet guns pose has not yet spurred enough public outcry to spark new laws.

Perhaps that's because in many pellet gun incidents, injuries were absent or minor.

But even when the trigger isn't pulled, these makeshift weapons can be used to rob, abuse and otherwise break the law as effectively as the real thing.

For example, one man allegedly used a soft air gun to shoot a Winnipeg Transit driver on Aug. 9, 2007.

And on Oct. 29, 2004, two young men terrorized the residents of a St. Andrews home, using a pellet gun to force them to reveal their bank card numbers."

"If these steps fail, a licence for pellet guns might be necessary to force potential owners to pass criminal record checks and endure a waiting period as pre-requisites to own a pellet gun."

Where have we seen this before?

Britain to crack down on knife crime

Posted by David Hardy · 23 January 2008 04:09 PM

A pic of tons of weapons laid out on a table.

"His intervention follows a string of high-profile fatal stabbings."

"Camilla Batmanghelidjh, founder of the charity Kids Company, warned that the proposals would not address the underlying causes of knife crime - gang culture and the drug trade."

"Mr Brown added that he wanted to use teenagers as "test purchasers" to snare retailers illegally selling blades, and that he was considering outlawing the most lethal weapons."

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US to give Mexico access to gun registries

Posted by David Hardy · 18 January 2008 12:35 PM

Story here. The headline is perhaps a little overstated: the terminals will be in US Consulates. But it strikes me as strange that if the Mexican government wanted to trace recovered firearms that might have come from the US, they don't just send the info in an email and request the data.

Canada registers stolen guns to new owners

Posted by David Hardy · 10 December 2007 03:31 PM

Here's a webpage noting that the daughter of a Canadian pro-gunner is making YouTube videos. If you watch the video, well, it's something made by a young teen, but she recites some data that is pretty astonishing. Her father made a public records request: has the Canadian gun registry system gotten reports of stolen guns, and later allowed them to be registered to someone else?

Answer: only about 4,500 times, by their count. Plus another 500 lost ones re-registered.

Continue reading "Europe: complaint about released criminal equals incitement to violence"

Europe: complaint about released criminal equals incitement to violence

Posted by David Hardy · 6 December 2007 10:10 PM

The Brussels Journal reports on a case where a rape victim fought back, a blogger asked why the rapist (convicted of a prior rape) had not been removed from society, and otherwise citizens themselves might have to do so -- and was forced to delete his post lest it incite violence:

"It is taboo in Europe to say that if the state fails to protect the citizens, the citizens should do so themselves. There is no Second Amendment in Europe. Even European politicians from the so-called "right," like Mr. Sarkozy, are horrified at the suggestion that citizens should be allowed to protect themselves against criminals. Last year, Mr. Sarkozy told French radio: "Security is the responsibility of the state. I am against the private ownership of firearms. If you are assaulted by an armed burglar, he will use his weapon more effectively than you anyway, so you are risking your life.""

UPDATE: actually, this is not Hobbesian. Hobbes maintained that the ONE right you could not give up was the right of self-defense. It was to him the only "inalienable" right. After all, you had given up rights (including the "right" to kill in vengence or just for the heck of it) in order that the sovereign would protect you against others exercising those rights. So you couldn't agree to give that up, too, or you would be giving the sovereign the only thing he had promised to provide you.

This is something far beyond Hobbes. More like you give levithan everything, and hope for the best.

Permalink · non-US · Comments (31)

Situation in France

Posted by David Hardy · 2 December 2007 06:44 PM

Story here.

Yep, it was a mistake to leave his pistol at home; I'd have suggested bringing a 12 gauge with buckshot, too, if the officer was actually allowed to own one.

Around here, tho, if rioters had beaten a responding officer with clubs, and fired on others with shotguns, I suspect some lead would have been flying, and it it would have been bigger than birdshot. And if Pima Count Sheriff's Office were somehow outnumbered, they could have called upon the good citizenry, who (1) were probably even more heavily armed and (2) aren't really conversant with the details of deadly force policy and tend to think the test is a little more like "did he need killing?"

Fact: about 30 years ago, the city police department went on strike. Burglary rates fell. Burglars knew that with law enforcement functioning, many victims would call 911. Response would give time for escape, and officers responding would be bound by standard policies restricting use of deadly force.

Without it in operation, the citizenry would figure they had to deal with it on their own, and would answer to grand juries composed of citizens who knew they'd had to do the same thing.

Permalink · non-US · Comments (8)

EU pressuring Finland on its gun laws

Posted by David Hardy · 29 November 2007 10:52 AM

The BBC reports the Euro Parliament has voted to raise the age for buying guns to 18, to tighten registration, and to outlaw blank firing guns that can be coverted to fire regular ammo.

Here's Deutsche Welle's report.

"Ban the BB Gun Menace"

Posted by David Hardy · 23 November 2007 02:52 PM

In Great Britain. Actually, the description -- plastic gun and pellets -- sounds more like the deadly AirSoft guns.

Briton chases down intruder, gets arrested

Posted by David Hardy · 7 November 2007 05:19 PM

Story in the London Sun. He finds someone trying to get in a second floor window, when the guy flees he pursues and holds him for police. Police notice the guy has a fat lip ... and arrest the homeowner for assault.

British seek international replica gun controls

Posted by David Hardy · 30 September 2007 10:42 AM

Story here.

Permalink · non-US · Comments (7)

Steve Halbrook on disarmament during Nazi period

Posted by David Hardy · 5 September 2007 10:13 AM

Steve Halbrook just released new paper on Nazi efforts to disarm Jews and other targets in the time around the Night of the Broken Glass. He includes a study of Nazi arrest reports relating to guns (it helps that Steve is fluent in German!)

Arms show in Great Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 3 September 2007 10:52 AM

Alphecca notes there will be an arms show in Great Britain -- with 4,000 police assigned for security.

Via Instapundit...

Crime in Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 27 August 2007 09:06 AM

From the Times Online.

"Sawn-off shotguns are now being sold for as little as £50, and handguns for £150."

Hat tip to Joe Olson...

British knife crime skyrockets

Posted by David Hardy · 20 August 2007 10:28 PM

Times Online reports that knife robberies have more than doubled in two years, robberies overall increased by nearly 50% over the same period, and the government is responding by increasing the sentences for carrying a knife in public.

False flag operation in Canada

Posted by David Hardy · 18 August 2007 12:35 PM

Angry in the Great White North has a report. A "grassroots group" that is actually run by political officials.

Hat tip to Bill Bailey.

Satire meets reality

Posted by David Hardy · 14 August 2007 06:21 PM

American satire: company supposedly makes bulletproof school backpacks, which get an NRA endorsement.

British reality: parents really are buying school shirts made of kevlar, to protect their kids against stabbings.

"Teachers are also demanding to be equipped with stab-proof vests to protect them from attack as they frisk pupils for knives and guns."

Events from across the seas...

Posted by David Hardy · 4 July 2007 01:56 PM

From the Philippines comes this story:

"Neither does the Philippine National Police have the appetite to go after Bedol for admitting that he owned a cache of 20 firearms. Such private armories are normal among traditional clans in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, according to Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, ARMM police director.

Under the country’s tough gun laws, civilians are not supposed to maintain such weapons stockpiles. But Philippine laws apparently do not apply to the ARMM, as far as the PNP is concerned. A study in 1995 reportedly showed that 80 mayors in the region each owned at least 60 firearms, including assault rifles, grenade launchers and M60 machine guns."

And in Nigeria, with the elections over, the the bottom has fallen out of the machete market.

Meanwhile, Canadian polls show little support for more gun control, and support for easing what exists.

More from Great Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 1 July 2007 08:16 PM

Story here.

"Victims of Crime Trust director Norman Brennan said Britain was quickly gaining a reputation as being one of the most violent countries in the Western world, scarring communities and leaving millions in fear of crime.... "A child is stabbed to death on the streets of Britain every week and knife homicides out number gun homicides by three to one. If these measures were introduced it would greatly reduce knife crime and consequently save lives."

Madness from overseas

Posted by David Hardy · 1 July 2007 01:16 PM

Story here. A British shopkeeper pursues shoplifters, two of them attack him and one of them kicks him in the groin, he fights back. The shoplifters are given "penalty notices," the shopkeeper is charged with criminal assault and fined.

“The act was aggravated by the fact you kicked the victim on the ground. We feel it has been mitigated because you acted in self defence.”

Hat tip to Dan Gifford.

British victimization studies understate crime rates

Posted by David Hardy · 26 June 2007 09:13 AM

It turns out the British crime victimization survey, the British Crime Survey, has since its inception had an artificial cap: no one may report having been a victim of more than five crimes in a year. Victimization No. 6 and beyond are simply discarded.

One might think that'd not have a big influence -- but a study by Professor Graham Farrell of Loughborough University finds that it means the real violent crime rate is 82% higher than what is being reported -- 4.4 million incidents per year rather than 2.4. That comes just from adding back in people who are being victimized 5+ times a year!

"In particular, the system means that the most vulnerable people in society may not be getting the police protection they require from repeat offenders, the report said."

[Hat tip to Dan Gifford]

Australian newspaper

Posted by David Hardy · 23 June 2007 10:31 PM

This is priceless:

"The problem remains that the law can never be restrictive enough to prevent dangerous weapons falling into the hands of dangerous people.

The question is whether the law needs to be toughened even more to include a wider ban on pistols as well as a handgun buyback.

The trouble is, criminals do not comply with buybacks."

Celebrity status and protection in Great Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 21 June 2007 09:03 AM

The Daily Mail reports that when heiress Jemima Khan had a cat go missing, two Scotland Yard detectives took on the search.

"But it emerged that for 33-year-old Miss Khan's non-celebrity neighbours, it was a different story when they asked the police for help.

When thugs, thieves, vandals and even a gunman terrorised them, the incidents aroused little interest from the local constabulary."

Some changes in Canada

Posted by David Hardy · 28 May 2007 10:16 AM

The Tortonto Star reports that the appointed firearms advisory committee is "made up almost entirely of pro-gun advocates opposed to the firearms registry."

Tho it does refer to "NRA president Sharon Froman." Oughta at least get the name straight....

Letter to the editor on Australian law

Posted by David Hardy · 22 May 2007 09:40 AM

Right here.

Chaos, gunmen killing police, decapitating enemies...

Posted by David Hardy · 17 May 2007 09:09 AM

50 heavily armed men abduct 7 police: four them of them found dead, three missing, gun battles leave 20 dead. About a thousand people so far this year shot or decapitated.

Iraq? No, northern Mexico, about a hundred miles south of here. Betting is that the gang was a drug lord's entourage.

[Update: yep, Mexico has quite strict gun laws. Americans often get in trouble under them. If a gun, or even a round of ammo is found in your car, and it's in a military caliber, you're charged with a variety of treason -- since presumably violators are planning to overthrow the government, and want to be able to use military arms -- which accordingly bears a prison sentence of many years. I had a friend who went down there on vacation and they found a box of 9mm in his trunk. He was lucky -- it was empty. Of course all these difficulties can be avoided by giving the border guard his $10 mordida.

Novel of-duty police work in Brazil

Posted by David Hardy · 29 April 2007 11:15 PM

Off duty police, and retired police, are hiring out as "militia" in Rio. The slums there have long been ruled by drug gangs, and are virtually war zones. (Current issue of Soldier of Fortune has an article on it -- basically, in large areas the gangs rule the place, and anyone who objects will be tortured and killed). The official police function there is essentially to protect the rich and powerful, and neglect the poor.

So the off-duty work consists of forming a group (which the article calls a militia, in the way the term is now used to mean any non-governmental armed group), and hiring out to the slum residents. Pay them so much per household, and they'll do what the government will not ... hang out with their guns and drive the druglords away.

The governor of the state opposes them, saying the government should provide security, but the mayor of Rio defends them, saying anything is better than rule by drug gangs. The locals seem to love them.

Russia arms judges

Posted by David Hardy · 14 April 2007 07:31 AM

Sounds like a good idea.

Swiss Left parties attack "nation of riflemen" tradition

Posted by David Hardy · 25 March 2007 07:53 AM

Story Here.

So much for the Euro approach

Posted by David Hardy · 17 March 2007 08:52 PM

Sounds to me as if the Netherlanders need a right to arms.

More on Dunblane Massacre

Posted by David Hardy · 4 March 2007 07:19 AM

Clayton Cramer has an extensive post on the Dunblane school massacre, with interesting notes on the documents the gov't has sealed for 100 years. Little things like the killer's autopsy, his correspondence with various politicians, little things like that.

Backer of British gun ban recants a little

Posted by David Hardy · 1 March 2007 05:48 PM

Ian Bell was one of the principal backers of the (final) British gun ban, in the wake of the Dunblane school massacre. Today, he takes a somewhat different position. It's a long article, and he still has a visceral dislike for guns, but he ends:

"Back then, I believed every word. America had, and has, too many of the instruments that Thomas Hamilton found so alluring. Yet almost 11 years on, what do I read, and what do I say?

I read of three London teenagers murdered in the space of 11 days. I read of firearms "incidents" spreading like an epidemic across our cities. I read of Tony Blair holding a Downing Street summit on a crisis that seems - call me naive - a greater threat to many communities than any terrorism.

What I say then becomes obvious: my idea didn't work. In fact, I begin to thread certain fears together, like links in a chain. Here's one: if even London teenagers can provide themselves with the means to kill 15-year-old Billy Cox in his bedroom, guns have become commonplace, so commonplace that every would-be terrorist worth his salt must be armed to the teeth. Bans have failed utterly.
......
Let's concede that all the bans have failed. That doesn't mean we should also fail to ask a practical question. Britain has become a security state in recent years. Nobody strolls unmolested through customs these days. There are terrorist suspects, so they say, at every turn. So why, precisely, are handguns still getting into this country?"

Thoughts from Canada

Posted by David Hardy · 27 February 2007 06:54 AM

A killer successfully gets around Canadian gun laws, which just proves they need more.

"the most sensible thing to do is to cut down on the armed people like Gill, Valery Fabrikant and Marc Lepine, all of whom obtained their guns legally.... To me, the answer is simple: no more guns."

Australian gun laws amended to allow bodyguards

Posted by David Hardy · 21 February 2007 07:49 AM

New South Wales had to amend its gun laws to allow VP Dick Cheney to bring armed Secret Servicemen.

British experience

Posted by David Hardy · 16 February 2007 09:39 AM

The Telegraph speaks out. "We have, post-Dunblane, what are said to be the toughest gun control laws in the world. They have actually proved strikingly ineffectual."

Great Britian: lunatics running the asylum

Posted by David Hardy · 4 February 2007 09:09 PM

I posted earlier about the insanity over there, when convicted murders escaped from prison but officials refused to release their photos lest it violate their privacy rights. Now comes evidence that, yes, the inmates are running the asylum.

The Police Minister said that people who witness an attack in the street should 'jump up and down' while waiting for the police to arrive."

And to think I believed that Monte Python was fiction....

Sheer insanity in the UK

Posted by David Hardy · 2 February 2007 09:31 PM

Two convicted murderers escape from prison, and law enforcement refuses to release their photos, since they have "human rights" and pose "no risk." I swear, I am not making this up.

A nation of sheep?

Posted by David Hardy · 1 February 2007 12:05 PM

Gates of Vienna has a discussion of a British event. It's in response to a Briton's statement that they don't want a gun culture, and the response is -- we don't want a culture of sheep.

The event in question involved a burglary of a doctor's house in Britain, and theft of three computers with priceless data. Police wouldn't even send an officer out, told him there was little chance of recovering anything. So he put up signs offering a reward for return, no questions asked. Police then had time enough -- to threaten to arrest him, because there is a law against offering rewards for return, with no questions asked!

[Via The Smallest Minority].

British turning to crossbows for self-defense

Posted by David Hardy · 30 January 2007 09:56 AM

Here's the story.

"Could we be seeing the first signs of a militant middle class which has had enough and is beginning to arm itself? Perhaps.

For those who cling to the notion that an Englishman's home is his castle, a new weapon will soon be available to help deter intruders. Designed by BowTech in Oregon, USA, the Stryker (left) will be on sale in Europe by mid-January."

Look forward to a drive to ban crossbows. Well, not the first over there. Henry VIII tried it, too, in order to force everyone to train with longbows.

British businessmen networking via shotgun shooting

Posted by David Hardy · 8 January 2007 07:49 AM

The London Times Online has the story.

"PUT down those golf clubs and go for your gun: shooting is fast becoming the social networking sport of choice.

A survey of 2,000 companies and 14,000 directors shows that shooting is soaring in popularity. A decade ago, toting a shotgun did not even feature among the most popular recreations listed by company directors. But the survey ranks shooting as the seventh most popular recreation, almost level with gardening."

But the remark I like best is: "“In golf, if you’re no good it’s painfully obvious. In shooting, if you keep missing birds nobody minds...."

[Hat tip to Eric Bainter]

Study of Australian 1996 gun law

Posted by David Hardy · 28 December 2006 09:01 AM

The British Journal of Criminology has it.

British bail jumpers

Posted by David Hardy · 27 December 2006 06:47 PM

Britain is having one heck of a problem with arrestees jumping bail.

"Thousands of suspected highly dangerous criminals are roaming Britain's streets because police forces are failing to track down bail jumpers to enforce arrest warrants.

A total of 3,273 accused rapists, robbers, violent offenders and career criminals remain at large after failing to turn up at court while on bail."

Calls for more gun control in Canada

Posted by David Hardy · 27 December 2006 12:17 PM

Story here. Now, it notes they already have just a few:

"Since 1976, Canadians have had to obtain a Firearms Acquisition Certificate in order to purchase new firearms and a Restricted Weapons Permit for handguns and certain other military-style weapons.

Gun owners had to be at least 16 and had to check a box on the application, stating they were not mentally ill.

In 1991 the then-Conservative government passed Bill C-17. The law tightened restrictions on handguns, required a firearms safety course and a background check for would-be gun owners, as well as a 28-day waiting period before purchase.

The Liberals later introduced Bill C-68, which took effect on Dec. 6, 1995, the sixth anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre.

The new law put a screening process in place and banned semi-automatic military-style assault weapons and large-capacity gun magazines like the one used by Lepine.

It required a licence to own a gun and added shotguns and rifles to the list of firearms that had to be registered. Handguns and other restricted weapons already had to be registered."

Right to arms, militia, and Iraq

Posted by David Hardy · 23 December 2006 04:57 PM

Iraq the Model reports on fighting in Baghdad:

"The big problem is that the security forces are not strong enough to stop them, worse than that, some members of these forces let themselves become partners to the criminals.

We had no choice but to rely on ourselves to protect our homes and neighborhood insurgents and militias alike. In our mixed block the elders met to assign duties and make plans in case things go wrong. They decided that people should all exchange cell-phone numbers as the fastest means to communicate at times of action, it was also decided that if someone calls to report an attack on his home, everyone else must go up to the roof and start shooting at the direction of the assailants.
More roadblocks were erected and older ones strengthened—streets and alleys were blocked in any possible way to prevent any attack with vehicles.

They also agreed that no one moves on the streets after a certain hour at night and any moving person would be dealt with as a threat.
....
No major incidents happened near us except some shooting at a stranger vehicle which neighbors told me carried militants who were trying to launch mortar rounds from an abandoned space but were forced to run away by the shooting."

Candadian school trustee raises controversy

Posted by David Hardy · 20 December 2006 12:19 PM

A Vancouver school trustee is raising the issue of whether their gun laws should be rolled back.

Hat tip to Joe Olson

And the latest from the UK...

Posted by David Hardy · 30 November 2006 02:53 PM

18 hours of rioting left Great Britain's largest detention center in ruins... so authorities released 150 persons awaiting deportation since there was nowhere to put them. 'The place is completely uninhabitable, they have trashed everything, so there's no way any of them can stay there.'

British study: robbers enjoy violence

Posted by David Hardy · 29 November 2006 06:08 PM

The Daily Mail reports on a study of convicted British robbers... 36% of whom had been arrested more than fifty times...

"Robbers increasingly carry out their vicious attacks for 'kicks' and street credibility rather than cash, a chilling study reveals.

The research, based on interviews with 120 sentenced criminals, said many simply had a desire for brutal violence rather than financial gain. ...

"It's for the fun. 'Cos the point of street robbery is to get them to fight back, innit? I'd give him a couple of slaps and tell him to fight back," said one criminal. "If he won't fight back, we just give him a kick and go."

Sometimes, theft was only an afterthought, with the crime being prompted by "anger and the desire to start a fight", the report says.

"I picked a fight with someone on the street. They were the first people I come across," said one thug. "I started hitting one of them and calling him names and said, 'What are you looking at?' and stuff like that. Then I can't remember how, but I started hitting him and then I just jumped on him. Punched him, turned him over, went through his pockets."

Uproar in Britain as .22 rimfire cartridge found

Posted by David Hardy · 12 November 2006 10:03 AM

UK's Guardian reports law enforcement is in an uproar after a .22 short cartridge was found lying in a doorway.

"The bullet, of Swiss origin, was still in its brass casing, complete with enough gunpowder for it to fire itself. [To fire itself, it must have been one remarkable cartridge].

Mr Khan said that if it had been struck hard enough or exposed to heat it could have gone off. ..."How can you feel safe when you are finding things like this on the street?

.....

The bullet has been examined at a Metropolitan Police laboratory and details about it kept for future reference. [Lab report: "This is a .22 short."]

.....

Police are treating the unattended ammunition as a crime."

Hat tip to Dan Gifford.

Two stories put British experience in perspective

Posted by David Hardy · 9 November 2006 08:48 AM

Two stories from the Daily Record (UK):

1. The Minister for Justice hails new laws against airgun sales. "The laws effectively ban the sale of airguns at car boot sales, from corner shops or any store not approved by the police.... The Executive called for tougher laws following the death of Glasgow toddler Andrew Morton in March last year. Jamieson said: "Following the tragic death of young Andrew, the First Minister and I began discussions with the Home Office and police to find ways to tighten the law on these weapons. Today marks the culmination of that work.... I hope that Andrew's family will be able to take some comfort from the fact that their campaigning on this issue has contributed towards a further tightening of the UK's gun laws to reduce the likelihood of future deaths and injuries.""

2. Three thugs, repeat violent offenders, get a whopping 20-25 years each for stabbing and burning to death a 15 year old. The three were "part of a criminal gang who terrorised people in Pollokshields, Glasgow, for years.... All the killers have long criminal records. Baldy was jailed for four and a half years in 1995 for attacking a man with a baseball bat. And he was freed from a 30-month sentence for serious assault just three months before Kriss's murder."

A controversy in Canada over mandatory sentencing.

Canadian conflict over mandatory sentences

Posted by David Hardy · 7 November 2006 06:49 PM

"Real Menard of the Bloc Quebecois demanded that Toews produce Canadian studies to show that there would be any reduction in offences.

Toews scoffed that Menard supported the gun registry — which the minister said did nothing to fight crime — but opposed tougher sentences.

The two got into a shouting match.

“He wants more guns out there,” said Menard."

Australian study: gun law did nothing

Posted by David Hardy · 23 October 2006 05:17 PM

A ten-year study published in the British Journal of Criminology concludes that the Australian confiscation (termed a "buy back" only because a half-billion in compensation was paid out) had no effect on crime rates.

"Homicide patterns (firearm and non-firearm) were not influenced by the NFA, the conclusion being that the gun buyback and restrictive legislative changes had no influence on firearm homicide in Australia," the study says.

In his first year in office, the Prime Minister, John Howard, forced through some of the world's toughest gun laws, including the national buyback scheme, after Martin Bryant used semi-automatic rifles to shoot dead 35 people at Port Arthur.

Although furious licensed gun-owners said the laws would have no impact because criminals would not hand in their guns, Mr Howard and others predicted the removal of so many guns from the community, and new laws making it harder to buy and keep guns, would lead to a reduction in all types of gun-related deaths.

.......

The director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics, Dr Don Weatherburn, said he was not surprised by the study. He said it showed "politicians would be well advised to claim success of their policies after they were evaluated, not before"."

Update: ABC News -- the AUSTRALIAN Broadcasting Co., that is, carried the story, and fairly. At the end they quote Prof. Simon Chapman, describing him as an "anti-gun advocate" (when was the last time you heard that term used by the US press?) as "He says the gun laws on hand guns still need some tightening up. "There's been a proliferation of hand guns in recent years, but I think generally speaking that the gun law situation in Australia remains one of the toughest in the world and that's to the great disappointment of the gun lobby in Australia and internationally.""

French gun owners badly off

Posted by David Hardy · 21 October 2006 09:42 AM

Here's a translation of statements by one French presidential candidate ... and he's the more conservative one! He's speaking to a burglary victim who wants to be able to defend himself.

"Private gun ownership is dangerous. I do perfectly understand that you may be exasperated, to have been stole [burglarized] twice and I do understand the fear of your wife and your daughter, but the answer is in the efficacy of the judiciary answer. It's not in private gun ownership."

[Update, via Instapundit: Here's how good the "judicial answer" is. The police can't protect themselves, let alone anyone else.]

Continue reading "England's gun crisis"

England's gun crisis

Posted by David Hardy · 10 October 2006 12:22 PM

Surprise -- British police have found they have gun crime crisis.

Toronto Sun on gun registry

Posted by David Hardy · 19 September 2006 10:02 AM

The editorial is here.

NY Times on globalizing of gun rights

Posted by David Hardy · 17 September 2006 05:58 PM

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit has a post on the NY Time story on globalization of the gun rights movement.

Newspaper battle in Canada

Posted by David Hardy · 17 September 2006 02:23 PM

There was a shooting in Canada, by some punk with a (legal) gun, and the president of Coalition for Gun Control predictably that doesn't prove the gun laws don't work, just that we need more of them.

But a columnist in the Calgary Sun lets drive at her with both barrels.

"Wendy Cukier, the mastermind behind Canada's obscenely expensive and ineffective gun registry -- she's president of the Coalition for Gun Control -- along with her Liberal Party lapdogs promised us more gun control would make us safer.

Way to go, Wendy."

[Hat tip to Dan Gifford]

British police crack down on gnome

Posted by David Hardy · 10 September 2006 04:34 PM

While (as I've noted earlier) Great Britain has gone to giving warnings for first-offense burglary, they still have time to crack down on garden gnome statues that a neighbor claims are (for unspecified reasons) offending him.

[Hat tip to Dan Gifford]

Turkish gun laws

Posted by David Hardy · 4 September 2006 12:03 PM

There's a call for stricter gun control in Turkey. Apparently their idea of gun control is discouraging people from shooting randomly into the air to celebrate weddings, etc. The estimate given is that around 200 people a year die from this manner of celebration; from the sound of it, the celebrants sometimes fire "into the air," more like parallel to the ground.

We need to send Eddie Eagle over with a crate of firecrackers.

Canada arming border guards

Posted by David Hardy · 1 September 2006 11:07 AM

Canada is moving to arm its border guards, in the wake of an embarassing situation where some fled when told murder suspects were heading in their direction.

Nimrod45 adds, in a comment for some reason rejected by the spam filter:

Just a small correction, if you please, David:

The Customs Officer's union has been pressing the Canadian Federal Government for sidearms for years, as a "workplace safety" issue - as I am sure that everyone would agree that it is. The previous Lieberal (socialist) government of 13 years steadfastly refused to provide them with the tools necessary for them to do their jobs effectively and safely.

The Customs Officers in question did not "flee" - they exercised their legal right to WALK OFF THE JOB due to UNSAFE WORKING CONDITIONS - several times, in fact - when reports that armed and dangerous felons were fleeing the U.S.'s jurisdiction towards our borders.

Fortunately, the current Conservative government understands the dangerous nature of the work in which these men and women are engaged, and rightly have moved to arm and train them, for their, and our, protection.

Minor policing problems in S. Africa

Posted by David Hardy · 30 August 2006 10:36 AM

Police here see themselves as underfunded.... but in South Africa, with the second highest murder rate in the world, recruits are being told, when responding to a crime report, “If you don’t have a car, ride a bicycle or a donkey".

Hat tip to Dan Gifford.

Just when you think Britain couldn't get more crazy...

Posted by David Hardy · 7 August 2006 04:06 PM

A 64 year old, 5'1" grandmother is confronted by a gang of teenage thugs, blocking her way and shouting abuse and taunts. One dares her to hit him, and she gives him some light prods in the belly. He knocks her down and breaks her arm.

The thug's mother calls the police on her, and she is arrested for assault.

Tom Holzel comments (which for some reason my spam filter stopped):

The situation in the UK is now completely out of control. Tony Martin, a farmer, had been repeatedly robbed, with the local constabulary at least 30 minutes away--when they chose to come at all. The third time he was robbed, he shot and killed one perp and wounded another after they had broken into his home. Both had long rap sheets. Of course Martin was tried and convicted of using excessive force. The wounded burglar was consulted by the judge to determine the length of the sentence (!!) The trial cost for the wounded burglar were paid for by the state. Tony Martin's were not.

Recently a man in London called the police on his cell phone to say he was witnessing the theft of his car, and if the police hurried, they could catch the miscreants. They replied that they had better things to do, and he could come down to the station and report the theft for insurance purposes.>>

Now this is too dang much

Posted by David Hardy · 5 August 2006 04:15 PM

Preston, Lancaster police want to ban drinking while standing at a bar, out of the fear that fights start when people crowd arond the bar and knock each other's beer over.

Door to door searches in Austrialia

Posted by David Hardy · 2 August 2006 09:55 AM

Police in Australia may not quite be doing door-to-door searches of gun owners, but they're going to be doing door-to-door inspections of gun storage.

[Hat tip to Budd Shroeder]

More on Great Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 20 July 2006 03:21 PM

The Telegraph has the story.

"A big rise in street robberies across England and Wales rocked the Home Office last night only hours after John Reid announced a major overhaul of his embattled department, including a purge of top civil servants.

The latest crime figures showed an eight per cent increase in muggings, in particular in the towns and cities targeted just a few years ago by Tony Blair's 'street crime initiative'."

Gun activism in South Africa

Posted by David Hardy · 11 July 2006 10:37 AM

Gun Owners of South Africa is organizing protests.

Reader Kurt Fremont comments (in a comment blocked for some reason by the spam-stopper): The place is run by a bunch of communist thugs essentially the same as American liberals. They want the criminals to be able to kill, rob and destroy the citizens' lives and have the citizens be powerless to fight back. You go, Gun Owners Of South Africa!

Fox News on Canadian gun laws

Posted by David Hardy · 9 July 2006 04:09 PM

FoxNews has streaming video on the Canadian experience.

Australian study concludes gun law not working

Posted by David Hardy · 6 July 2006 12:57 PM

An Australian study concludes that that nation's tightening of gun laws isn't working:

"While the level of lifetime gun and knife ownership had fallen in the three years to 2004 - possibly because of new controls - there had been an upsurge in more recent ownership.

"[New laws] clearly have not impacted on a subset of detainees because the proportional ownership of firearms in the year before interview increased over the same period," the study said.

"The illicit trade in firearms is a challenge for law enforcement because some individuals appear undeterred by the penalties associated with their illegal trade and ownership.""

Home invasion in Great Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 5 July 2006 10:15 AM

"Everyone is scared witless. There is talk of a cannibal attack...." I suppose that's only understandable.

Continue reading "Review of Steven Halbrook's latest book"

Review of Steven Halbrook's latest book

Posted by David Hardy · 29 June 2006 01:44 PM

Neue Zürcher Zeitung has published a review of Steve Halbrook's latest book, "The Swiss and the Nazis. How the Alpine Republic Survived in the Shadow of the Third Reich." The review is in German, but I've put an English translation in the "read more" section.

"Death Wish" comes to Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 23 June 2006 10:07 AM

Peter Glover has an interesting article at Tech Central... in the wake of a five year effective sentence for a convicted pederast (the victim was a toddler, BTW), a British film producer is bringing out "Outlaw," a Death Wish - like film set in Britain.

"As Love's movie lead puts it, "If you want to spend the rest of your life being raped and bullied...and letting the pedophiles wander the playgrounds while you smile mutely and pay your taxes, then walk out the door." I suspect there won't be too many "walking out" on Outlaw however, unless it is because of its explicit content."

[Via Prof. Joe Olson]

Continue reading "Joyce Malcolm: Mad Dogs and Englishmen"

Joyce Malcolm: Mad Dogs and Englishmen

Posted by David Hardy · 22 June 2006 08:47 AM

Joyce Malcolm has an article in the June 17 Wall St. Journal (subscription required). I've got excerpts in the extended entry below.

Illegal knives, guns & explosives in China

Posted by David Hardy · 15 June 2006 06:01 PM

China is having quite a bit of a problem with illegal knives, explosives, smuggled guns and even home-made guns.

Pair jailed for ammunition in Great Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 15 June 2006 09:11 AM

I've noted previously the situation in Great Britain, where burglars are now being given warnings, and homeowners are cautioned by police to take their car keys to bed, because burglaries to grab keys are frequent.

In an interesting contrast, when British police found a " large quantity of cartridges" (44, to be precise) in a home, the occupants were sentenced to 1.5 and 3 years imprisonment.

New Joyce Malcolm book

Posted by David Hardy · 13 June 2006 07:43 AM

Via the Volokh Conspiracy comes word that Joyce Malcolm has published "Guns and Violence: The English Experience." Dave Kopel's review is here.

The point made is that, to the extent we have records, English homicide rates started out high in the 13th-14th centuries, and then fell for the next six centuries. In the early 20th century, England began steadily tightening gun controls, plus criminalizing self-defense, and homicide, gun homicide, and general violent crime rates began to rise, the increase steadily speeding as more controls were added.

Presently, the situation is so crime-friendly that a victim of crime is warned not to shout "help," because that might incite another citizen to (shudder) use violence against the criminal, but to instead shout "call the police." and police are instructed to release a first-offense burglar with a warning.

Great Britain struggles with its "knife culture"

Posted by David Hardy · 6 June 2006 10:33 AM

Anti-knife activists, calls for five year mandatory sentences, amnesties... USA Today has the story.

Canadian government takes aim at gun registry

Posted by David Hardy · 1 June 2006 11:26 AM

Via the Bitchgirls comes word that Canada's conservatives are holding firm on plans to abolish the registry, noting that it has a billion dollar cost overrun, is of little value against crime, and it looks like some of its contracts were sweetheart deals awarded without competitive bids. "People understand very well what we've done. . . . People realize a colossal sum was invested in a program that didn't work.''

British police blog

Posted by David Hardy · 31 May 2006 07:56 PM

The Policeman's Blog gives a view of what it's like to be an LEO in Britain. A recent entry notes that burglaries to steal car keys and then the car are a fequent occurence, and the offenders pack CS spray and knives. Police are now advising persons to take their car keys to bed with them at night. He adds:

"American Rifleman has a few alternative solutions to the Car Key Burglary problem; try keeping one of these by the bed instead of your car keys: the XD 45 ACP (.45 calibre but feels like 9mm in the hand), the Kel-Tec PLR-16 (for if you have a particularly long hallway) or the P90 (for when we tell you we’ll be out as soon as we can)."

Another entry summarizes a book that contends that to protect the public, they would have to quadruple the police forces and treble the incarcerations.

Scotland and knife crime

Posted by David Hardy · 31 May 2006 10:30 AM

From the BBC:

"People caught carrying a knife face arrest and custody until appearing in court, under new guidelines being issued by Scotland's top prosecutor.
.....
Mr Boyd said more than half of all murders were committed with a knife."

[Update: spelling corrected. I hadn't yet finished my dose of coffee when posting]

Canadian gun registration costs hidden by gov't

Posted by David Hardy · 12 May 2006 01:32 PM

The Ottawa Citizen reports that auditors have found that Canada's former Liberal party government hid the real costs of its gun registry by listing its expenses in other categories. "Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to use the auditor general's report as a reason to begin dismantling the disputed program, which is opposed by many of the party's core supporters, particularly in Western Canada."

Police protection in Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 28 April 2006 10:50 AM

From Britain, another case of police failure to protect. A pregnant woman was seriously assaulted, but an arrest could not be made because police were dealing with a dog in a locked car. A week later the assailant cut her throat.

(Hat tip to reader H. Clay).

Australian antigunners seek still more controls

Posted by David Hardy · 26 April 2006 07:58 PM

ABC News reports that the Australian PM wants stricter gun laws. There is a telling interview with a spokesman for their National Coalition for Gun Control.

He begins by saying that ten years ago ""I think the perception was that there was reasonable regulation over handguns," but they needed a ban on semi-auto rifles and shotguns.

Today, that's not enough. He wants a ban on semi-auto handguns, which apparently can still be owned by licensed targetW-shooting club members. "We really need the Commonwealth to explain why target shooters with handguns in clubs are better armed than our police. We really need an explanation as to that and they haven't provided one."

[UPDATE: the Daily Telegraph has word on gun law changes in New South Wales. They've eliminated a monopoly one company had on giving tests for rifle and shotgun licenses -- a monopoly that made it millions -- but made the tests more difficult. The PM says "I think there's always more that can be done at a state level," and "we really must resolve as a nation never to go down the American path." In the meantime, The Australian disputes whether all the antigun measures have done anything worth doing.

Australia in the wake of its gun law stiffening

Posted by David Hardy · 23 April 2006 08:49 AM

From The Australian:

"Don Weatherburn, the chief of the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics, said the pattern of firearms had made a "horrendous change" for the worse with handguns now responsible for between 50 and 60 per cent of annual gun deaths."

"Ms McPhedran said policies on gun control should be based on evidence and that homicide rates overall had remained relatively static since the Port Arthur massacre despite the gun buyback, while suicide rates have actually gone up."

Violent crime soaring in Venezuela

Posted by David Hardy · 21 April 2006 01:33 PM

AP has the story. 9400 homicides last year, in a population of about 25 million, for a rate of about 37 per 100,000, or about 500% of the US rate, I remember correctly.

Strange debate in Jamaica

Posted by David Hardy · 17 April 2006 09:52 AM

As I read this story, a member of Jamaica's senate has called for complete repeal of its gun laws, a former police commissioner has endorsed arming the citizenry, but the Jamaica Rifle Association is protesting because "Guns are not the solution to Jamaica's crime problem."

I guess I have enough trouble figuring out our own politics....

More on Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 9 April 2006 12:16 PM

I've posted below on how the British government (1) makes it all but impossible for its subjects to defend themselves and (2) declines to defend them, having recently adopted a policy of issuing warnings for burglary, assault, etc..

Don Kates alerted me to this reprint of a Times article, discussing how their police react to criminal gun assaults. Apparently the standard procedure is to stay away from the scene for hours, because after all an armed criminal might be dangerous. The first case cited involved police staying away from a shooting scene for an hour despite telephone calls from it saying the gunman had left. In the meantime, two women bled to death. The culture has become one of extreme caution, driven by events such as a workplace health and safety citation of a Police Commissioner ... after a constable suffered a fatal fall while pursuing a criminal across a rooftop.

Britain: issuing warnings for burglaries

Posted by David Hardy · 5 April 2006 01:09 PM

The Daily Mail (UK) reports the new British policy: issuing warnings to burglars. The same for arson, threats to kill, auto theft, and assault with infliction of bodily harm.

So (1) you may not protect yourself but (2) the government won't protect you, or even punish the offender afterwards, either. Essentially, the society has just been handed over to the sociopaths.

Gun Owners of South Africa

Posted by David Hardy · 16 March 2006 12:56 PM

The ever-busy Larry Pratt, of Gun Owners of America, has been in South Africa aiding Gun Owners of South Africa.

British police blogs

Posted by David Hardy · 14 March 2006 06:53 PM

There are several interesting anonymous British police blogs -- The Bow Street Runner, The Policeman's Blog, The Thin Blue Line, and Another Secret Policeman. The powers that be are, of course, trying to shut them down. They give an interesting view of life on the other side of the pond. Sounds pretty bureaucratic....

Self-protection in Iraq

Posted by David Hardy · 13 March 2006 01:38 PM

Iraqi civilians are -- hardly surprisingly -- stocking up on every gun they can get. This despite the fact that a pistol can cost several months' pay. [via Dave Kopel's newsletter.

"The governments are afraid to trust the people with arms"

Posted by David Hardy · 12 March 2006 11:24 AM

So said James Madison in Federalist 46 -- notwithstanding their standing armies, European monarchs are afraid to trust their people with arms.

A more recent demonstration of this comes from a Pentagon assessment of Sadaam Hussein's strategy, such as it was. His military leaders proposed a withdrawal, and letting local Iraqis fight a guerrilla war against American supply lines (the early WWII Soviet situation).

"Mr. Hussein rejected the recommendation. Arming local tribes was too risky for a government that lived in fear of a popular uprising."

He figured that Americans would not commit land forces, because they were fearful of taking casualties. "Mr. Hussein's main concern about a possible American military strike was that it might prompt the Shiites to take up arms against the government. "Saddam was concerned about internal unrest amongst the tribes before, during or after an attack by the U.S. on Baghdad," Mr. Aziz told his interrogators."

Clayton Cramer on Dunblane Massacre

Posted by David Hardy · 9 March 2006 02:47 PM

Clayton has an interesting post on the Dunblane Massacre, which led to the final banning of handguns in Britain. He notes that questions are being raised with regard the files of the subsequent investigation, which were sealed for 100 years, and which some are suggesting an unsavory relationship between the killer (a serial paedophile and child pornographer) and government officials, which might explain how he managed to a get a handgun permit despite his known illegal proclivities.

British book on Dunblane Massacre

Posted by David Hardy · 6 March 2006 12:46 PM

The 1996 Dunblane Massacre -- where a shooter killed students and teachers at a school -- led to Britain's 1997 complete ban on handguns. A new book on the subject is now raising serious controversy over there. ['nother hat tip to Dan Gifford]

Instapunk on Swedish gun laws

Posted by David Hardy · 2 March 2006 11:49 AM

The always-interesting Instapunk has a note on Swedish laws and gun laws in particular. Yes, Sweden has stricter gun laws than the US, and a lower homicide rate -- but other Scandanvian countries have much looser gun laws than Sweden, and lower homicide rates that that country.

[The notes about regimentation -- until fairly recently, alcohol was rationed by the government, to make sure nobody could drink more than it felt proper -- remind me of a couple of jokes about Germany. (1) You can't have a revolution in Germany, because the police won't issue the permit; (2) You can't have anti-government riots, either, because all the government buildings have "keep off the grass" signs in front of them.]

British police take down owner of penknife

Posted by David Hardy · 19 February 2006 02:37 PM

Yep, this will do a lot to stop terrorism.

[Hat tip to Prof. Joe Olson]

Australia

Posted by David Hardy · 19 February 2006 02:34 PM

Numbers of guns (at least registered ones) are surging in Australia, and the antigunners are complaining that the government is starting to act a bit pro-gun, says the Daily Telegraph.

Brazil, Canada, now start of movement in Australia. Might we be seeing an international trend beginning here?

Canada moves to kill gun registry

Posted by David Hardy · 17 February 2006 08:09 AM

Alphecca reports that the new Canadian government has appointed a committee, with an eye to terminating its gun registry. [via Instapundit]

Ending England's Gun Culture???

Posted by David Hardy · 15 February 2006 09:27 AM

From the London Telegraph comes "kill this gun culture".

[Hat tip to Dan Gifford].

Continue reading "Canadian column on failure of their gun control"

Canadian column on failure of their gun control

Posted by David Hardy · 13 February 2006 09:22 AM

From the National Post (subscription only) comes an editorial that points out that as gun density declines, crime rates increase.

Canadian gun registry gets targetted

Posted by David Hardy · 4 February 2006 09:31 AM

The Bradnon Sun has the story.

Another tale of Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 30 January 2006 06:23 PM

A lady teacher who was plagued by thugs dared to fire an air gun at them.

Result: a sentence of three years' imprisonment (reduced on appeal to 36 days), and a firing.

Italy enacts self-defence law

Posted by David Hardy · 25 January 2006 01:02 PM

Italy has enacted a law authorizing use of arms in self-defense. The news articles don't make clear just how it changes the law. The New Zealand Herald says "The measure was put forward after a series of headline-grabbing cases in which shopkeepers were accused of manslaughter for killing their robbers and applies only if there is a "risk of aggression" for the victim of the break-in and no sign that the intruder is backing down."

[Hat tip to, in order of appearance, Prester Scott, Stacy Lear, Bruce Stern, and Don Kates].

Changeover in Canada

Posted by David Hardy · 24 January 2006 08:49 AM

In our book on Moore, Jason Clark and I explore how every cause he's endorsed (Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, John Kerry, etc., etc.) goes down in flames.

We could add another -- on the eve of the Canadian elections, Moore endorsed the Liberal Party, and the Conservatives went on to win their first election in 18 years.

The Conservatives have proposed ending Canada's expensive gun registryand spend the money on law enforcement.

Street crime in Great Britain

Posted by David Hardy · 16 January 2006 09:50 PM

From the Daily Mail [Great Britain]:

"Ordinary people should carry weapons if they want to be safe on Britain's crime-ridden streets, the father of murdered lawyer Tom Ap Rhys Pryce's fiancee said last night.

In a bitter denunciation of the lack of police officers on the beat and the lenience of the courts, Rod Eastman said it was better to risk arrest for carrying an offensive weapon than risk being murdered by muggers."

[Hat tip to Dan Gifford]

Right to Bear Arms -- in Iraq

Posted by David Hardy · 14 January 2006 08:19 PM

Iraq the Model reports on the situation over there:

"Meanwhile, there are some good news coming from Anbar.
Al-Qaeda is apparently being chased down and confronted by Iraqis in Anbar and Samarra according to a report from al-Sabah.
Mohammed al-Ubaidi is a citizen of Anbar who took part in a battle against al-Qaeda fighters said that people were enraged by the attacks that kill civilians in Anbar and other provinces and therefore have decided to form squads from the residents to rid Anbar from the foreign terrorists.
The reports mentions that several tribes’ sheikhs had a meeting in the home of a sheikh of the Dulaim tribe where they pledged to fight al-Qaeda and throw them out of the province. There are also news that some 120 al-Qaeda members have already fled outside Iraq after a series of battles between their cells and the residents of Ramadi and other towns and suburbs of Anbar.
According to the same report, similar measures are being taken by the residents in Samarra and have succeeded in forcing foreign terrorists out of their city."

UN conference

Posted by David Hardy · 12 January 2006 08:17 AM

The agenda, and proposals, from the UN's 2006 Small Arms Review Conference are available here.

News from Switzerland

Posted by David Hardy · 11 January 2006 02:00 PM

1. The Swiss Army is now letting members who have completed their service take home the latest assault rifle, the SIG 90, provided they pay to make it semiauto only. Previously they were only allowed to take home the earlier SIG 57.

2. The Swiss cabinet has recommended to the legislature that they conform to the European Union's Schengen accord, by instituting a system where all firearms acquisitions are reported to the government, and apparently some manner of permit is required (although the grounds for issuance sound broad). Enough signatures have been collected in opposition to require the matter to be put to a public referendum, and opposition is forming.

New Lott article on internat'l comparisons

Posted by David Hardy · 11 January 2006 12:36 PM

John Lott has an article in the NY Sun, which goes into gun bans in other countries and the rising homicide rates that followed.

Marksmanship in Monrovia

Posted by David Hardy · 9 December 2005 09:46 AM

The latest marksmanship competitions in street fighting in Monrovia apparently feature rules that forbid use of sights, taking a firing stance, taking cover, or shooting from the shoulder. Or maybe even from the hip. The preferred stance appears to be holding the rifle sideways over the shooter's head. (Hat tip to Nancy Norell).

I suppose it does keep the casualty rates down, since someone can only get hit if they have very bad luck. (Which may actually be the unspoken purpose... it's been noted that even in the 18th century very few bayonet charges led to use of cold steel. One side or the other backed down and ran off before it got to that. This may be a variant: shoot a lot of ammo, look aggressive, and the other side bails out. Actually start shooting them, and they may do the same to you, and there will be a pile of bodies).

[UPDATE: I suspect that the "gangsta" sideways hold is mostly movie hype -- I recall hearing that it was used on some movie, and after that street thugs thought it was the stylish way to shoot. I can only guess that it might have some slight utility if the shooter had a pistol and didn't know a real shooting grip. Under those conditions, the natural (and wrong) grip tends to throw the shot to the right, assuming a right handed shooter. Turning the gun sideways would tend to throw it up. Since human beings (other than Michael Moore) are taller than they are wide, a shot too high is more likely to hit than a shot too far right. Whether the same holds true is an untrained rifle shooter I'd doubt, since with a rifle the heavier firearm doesn't move very much during the instant between when the trigger releases and when the bullet exits the barrel).
The problem with gripping a pistol is that the natural grip (owing the shape of our hand and fingers) has the gun pointing about 30-45 degrees to the right, and then wrist then cocking to point it forward. The finger compresses the trigger, and the gun is pressed back into the ball of the thumb. When the trigger releases the ball of the thumb presses forward and in that instant the gun is pushed to the right. One of the first bits of handgun marksmanship training is to grip the gun so that it is a natural extension of the arm, which requires that the trigger be pulled with the last portion of the finger, rather than the stronger intermediate portion. Then, at the moment of trigger release, any movement is straight ahead.]

Canadian handgun ban proposed

Posted by David Hardy · 8 December 2005 10:06 AM

David Kopel, over at Volokh Conspiracy, notes that Canada's possibly outgoing (and thoroughly corrupt) Liberal government is proposing a handgun ban. He also notes that members of Parliament had previously been saying that registration wouldn't lead to confiscation, and even that registration might improve the value of private firearms.

British police blog

Posted by David Hardy · 6 December 2005 10:03 PM

While on the topic of law enforcement, I just came across a British policeman's blog.

His entries confirm what Joyce Malcolm has told me regarding their nanny-state. Apparently an officer has to be very careful what he puts in his reports (as in avoiding naming suspects unless there is sufficient evidence).

He comments on assault against officers over there: "None of the officers in Newtown got murdered over the weekend, but 3 out of 10 (1 female officer) sustained minor injuries at the hands of drunken idiots who seem to think that people in scruffy flourescent jackets are fair game. I was single crewed because the nightshift was odd numbered (five as opposed to six officers). Would I have felt safer with a Glock and an AR15? Yes. Would people have magically sobered up and gone home when faced with the business end of a shotgun? Yes."

South Africa

Posted by David Hardy · 6 December 2005 08:05 AM

South Africa is having serious trouble with its gun permit system.

(I seem to recall hearing about this before--the requirement is for firearms training, and there are only a handful of certified instructors, spread out all over the country).

Don Kates on international comparisons

Posted by David Hardy · 28 November 2005 10:15 AM

Don Kates has an excellent article on international comparisons, at the Independent Institute. A few excepts:

"Anti-gun advocacy is built on decades of erroneous claims that the United States, with the world's highest gun ownership rate (true), has the highest murder rate (false). Russia’s recently disclosed murder rates since 1965 have consistently exceeded U.S. rates despite Russia’ ban of handguns and strict control of long guns. Since the 1990s Russian murder rates have remained almost four times greater than American.

.....

If more guns mean more violence, nations with high gun-ownership rates should have high murder rates. But two international studies comparing gun ownership with murder rates in 36 and 21 nations (respectively) found “no significant correlations.”

Anti-gun advocates never mention these facts. Nor do they mention all the European nations with high gun ownership rates but very low murder. Norway, with the highest gun ownership rate in Western Europe, has the lowest murder rate—far below England's. The only European nation that bans all guns, Luxembourg, has the highest murder rate (except for Russia): 30 percent higher than the U.S. and ten times that of gun-dense Norway. Holland, with Western Europe's lowest rate of gun ownership, has a 50 percent higher murder rate than Norway. Greece has much higher gun ownership than the Czech Republic but much less murder. Finland has 14 times more gun ownership than neighboring Estonia but much lower murder rates."

British gov't opposes liberalizing home defense

Posted by David Hardy · 20 November 2005 10:26 AM

The London Telegraph reports that a Conservative MP is pushing a bill to broaden self-defense in the home, and the Home Secretary has come out in opposition.

The bill would change the standard of "reasonable force" into "all but grossly disproportionate force." As commentators such as Joyce Malcolm have pointed out "reasonable force" is construed by British courts as allowing almost no self defense. (She pointed one piece of government advice, to the effect that if you run into a burglar in the dark and bonk him with a crowbar, you will be put on trial but probably win. But if you hit him a second time, you are almost certain to be convicted. Note that even the first blow is predicated to result in a criminal charge. Where I live, the prosecution wouldn't waste time asking for a grand jury's opinion. If you killed the guy, they might bother the grand jury, just enough to get a "no true bill" so that they could say they asked for a second opinion, so to speak.

Hat tip to Dan Gifford...

Kuwaiti gun prohibition

Posted by David Hardy · 18 November 2005 09:56 AM

Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Dave Kopel has a posting on Kuwaiti gun prohibition. The kingdom has a near-complete ban on all guns, and just doubled the penalty to ten years in the slammer. A major issue is the Kuwaiti resistance (to the Iraqi invasion of some years ago), which understandably does not propose to disarm, nor quite understand why its rulers don't trust it. [The kingdom seems to be a perfect illustration of what people of the founding period here foresaw: (1) absolute rulers must disarm their people; (2) they are then forced to rely upon a mercenary army, which (a) must be weak enough to where it cannot take over and (b) must thus be too weak to defend the state... or else be strong enough both to defend it and to take over, and, as Machiavelli put it, what reason is there for an armed man to obey a disarmed one?]