Cumbria shootings

No doubt – interestingly the shootings were down from 30 in 2007 and the knifings up from 75 in 2007.

Which must say something about the people involved. After all a shooting can be done at a distance, yet a stabbing is that much more involved and “personal”.

No doubt – interestingly the shootings were down from 30 in 2007 and the knifings up from 75 in 2007.

Crumbs that many!:eek:
Says it all really, and I bet most of the shootings were from unlicenced owners.

In London in 2008 there were 83 fatal stabbings and 17 fatal shootings.

With all this talk of gun control, how many people were knifed to death in London last year?
I think the fact that these horrific events are thankfully so few and far between in the UK, show that our gun licencing regulations are currently adequate.

WHY
I have a question for you, what about the upper classes, lords, peers etc is it ok for them to own loads of weapons?

Which is one reason why they won’t be banned.

As to an earlier posting about arming all the British Police, that would be all well and good if they wanted to be armed, but I think that the general public, and the serving poilicemen would rather have small groups of armed experts. It’s all very well having a gun in your hands, but putting the end to another life is a decision that I suspect most policemen would rather not have to take.

Myself, I am against any more banning – the last one hasn’t helped gun crime one iota, in fact it’s increased, criminals don’t pay attention to the ban.

and for what it is worth i have correct weapons training and armourer training

my brother also earned the rank of marksman in the army !!

and i say again firearms are only safe in correct establishments

and should not be available to the general public

they should only be available to police , millitary , correctly monitored pest control organisations etc

there is no place for firearms in civillian homes !!

Statism defined…

Whatcha goin’ to do when a bad guy gets control of those folks and they come for you?

Ryan

and for what it is worth i have correct weapons training and armourer training

my brother also earned the rank of marksman in the army !!

and i say again firearms are only safe in correct establishments

and should not be available to the general public

they should only be available to police , millitary , correctly monitored pest control organisations etc

there is no place for firearms in civillian homes !!

WHY
I and a lot of friend have owned rifles and shotguns for years, i take offence to people saying the general public cannot be trusted.
I have a question for you, what about the upper classes, lords, peers etc is it ok for them to own loads of weapons?

The discussed area is not fox hunting but the shootings in Cumbria. You couldn’t possibly mean that the victims of Derrick Bird were fortunate in that they died instantly? Could you? Or are you suggesting that it is perfectly acceptable for “any mamal” (sic) to suffer for a day before dying?

Regards,

kev35

Hmmm. You might want to have a good long think about what you’ve just said.

why??

in the context of fox hunting ( the discussed area ) it is 100 %

few like the reality of being shot is seldom instant death ( unless a spot on shot !! )

i make no appologies for the reality !!

certainly true , rareley any mamal has the fortune of dying instantly !! including humans

however the same day is good enough for me…..

Hmmm. You might want to have a good long think about what you’ve just said.

and for what it is worth i have correct weapons training and armourer training

my brother also earned the rank of marksman in the army !!

and i say again firearms are only safe in correct establishments

and should not be available to the general public

they should only be available to police , millitary , correctly monitored pest control organisations etc

there is no place for firearms in civillian homes !!

I used to fox hunt in my youth, I have to say it is a cruel sport, they certainly don’t die instantly. 🙁 It is a cruel sport.

certainly true , rareley any mamal has the fortune of dying instantly !! including humans

however the same day is good enough for me , as opposed to days or weeks from a p**s poor aleged marksman

Another awful tragedy carried out by someone who had been granted a weapons licence. There should be stricter conditions on the licences and they should be reviewed more often than they are at the moment.

Agreed Flygirl and Bob, in fact…

for rats a good jack russel ratter or ferrets are worth ten shotguns !!

a fox is mainly far too wily for letting a human near with a gun ( a hunt is far more apropriate control !! ) unfortunately know nothings stopped that !!

i would far sooner see a fox die instantly by hounds than writhe about in pain for days or weeks through a poor shot !!

as for birds if left alone predatory birds etc will move in to keep them down

birds are left to their own devices where i am and the merlins , kestrels , etc keep levels pretty steady

there is some trouble near myself with a mink decimating a hen house ( but then , what sort of an idiot puts a hen house next to a water course in an area known to have mink

again a lot would shoot a mink as a pest but if you have mink ( unless it is a fish farm ) it can be a bonus as it will kill other pests

…absolutely none of the above makes sense, and is actually untrue. I can see you are trying to argue against keeping guns but it is a bit silly posting false info to back up the argument.

I fear however that we maybe drifting away from the main issues of the topic

I used to fox hunt in my youth, I have to say it is a cruel sport, they certainly don’t die instantly. 🙁 It is a cruel sport.

i would far sooner see a fox die instantly by hounds than writhe about in pain for days or weeks through a poor shot !!

Instantly? What about the prolonged incessant chase, animal exhausted to the point of not being able to run anymore, set upon by a pack of hounds then ripped apart while still alive but unable to fight or flee? All the while, the mounted hunters revelling in the thrill of the chase and the ‘social’ event they see it as, watch from on high, like some perverted gods. Jolly good fun.

Instant indeed……..

Sorry Tornado, but I think you are living in some sort of ‘idealistic’ parallel world somewhere.
I hear shotgun fire every day, farmers and poachers are out with them, there’s a firing range up the road from me, there is a large estate next to where I work which has a large pheasant shoot on it, and teenagers are frequently seen wondering around with air rifles. All this goes for where I used to live aswel – it’s called rural life. What do you think all those people in bumblebee statistics are doing with their guns, all practising to be potentialy deranged killers?!
I am a form of pest controller myself, in the flight safety field, I hold firearms and shotgun certs, and I can tell you what you have written is complete nonsence I’m afraid.

Just to make the point, I’m not nescesarily agreeing with what guns are kept for, but just pointing out the simple facts as they exist.
I have lived in rural areas of Cornwall and Wales, and I cannot believe for one minute that what happens in these places, does not happen in the three very large counties that you mention.

Some statistics from a Financial Times article dated May 21st 2010 ( FT copyright,so can’t post a link ) –

There are currently some 138,000 firearms certificates held,covering 430,000 weapons.
Shotgun certificates are issued separately,and there are 1 million of them.

Obviously a lot of people want to own weapons for various reasons,as this works out to one firearm for every twenty-five adults.

The number of crimes using firearms is actually falling though,with the number of fatalities from shooting being 39 in 2008/09,the lowest number for 20 years.

Obviously you can prove anything you like with statistics,and any death by shooting is one too much,but it does suggest that the overwhelming majority of legally-held firearms holders are responsible citizens.

Where I live it is not that uncommon to hear gunfire, and it has in the past been known for weapons to be used in the eradication of vermin. Where I live NONE of the weapons are legally held but seem readily enough available when one drug gang wants to have a go at another. Legal gun ownership in this area is very low, I suspect the most predominant owners are farmers in the bits of green that still exist between areas of urban expansion.

There are circumstances where guns are necessary. I suspect vermin control by farmers being one very strong area. For all tornado asserts that farmers shoot indiscriminately, can he honestly that the hunting by hounds is any less indiscriminate? It’s not only the foxes that get killed you know.

As I’ve said before I don’t know the answer. I wonder whether it is tighter gun control that is needed or tighter control on the owners. perhaps yearly medical and psychitric and psychometric testing. The introduction of a legal requirement for GP’s to report symptoms affecting licensed gun holders which might have a bearing on their use. It won’t catch everyone falling through the cracks but wouldn’t it be worth it if it just caught one?

Regards,

kev35