What Do You Dislike About The UK...

[Kyle B]

And the swimming pool analogy is redundant, unless you could prove that people who suffer accidents in swimming pool accidents have a proprotionally equal fatality and casualty rate to those who suffer gun related accidents.

According to the CDC:

"In 2005, there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day. An additional 710 people died, from drowning and other causes, in boating-related incidents."

According to the National Center for Health Statistics:

"The firearm accident death rate is at an all-time annual low, 0.2 per 100,000 population, down 94% since the all-time high in 1904."

If my math is correct that would be 600 deaths caused by accidents involving guns.

There are 10 Million swimming pools. 270 Million guns.

 

[Wilfred Richard]

Interesting conversations, all of You. And the thread just reached a 100 reply count. Please continue, it's been a good read.
Thank You.


Regards,
Richard.

 

[edgray]

Gun control hurts average people more than the criminals. Ed was discussing how the people of Britain gladly turned in their weapons because they wanted a safer country. Oh my, that sounds beautiful. Only thing is, I highly doubt the criminals who own firearms were waiting in line with average Charles six scones to turn over their guns to the authorities.

I think there are more factors to consider when it comes to the United States and gun crime. The UK has one city with over 1 million people. The US has nine cities with over a million people. I think it's safe to assume that violent gun crime is more likely to occur in the inner city where other factors come into play such as poverty, racial tension, drug use, broken homes etc.

Oh, and you Brits seem to have this delusion that everyone in the US carries a gun, the streets are riddled with bullets, and we're all living in fear that we're going to get shot. I can't remember ever hearing a gunshot in my entire life other than when there were hunters around or the shots were planned, such as at a memorial service etc.

Well the gun armistice was quite successful at getting illegal firearms off the streets as a lot of criminals, believe it or not, turned over their weapons. Illegal firearm ownership in the UK isn't taken lightly, and most petty criminals wouldn't want an extra few years tacked on a robbery sentence for the sake of a firearm.

We don't think everyone carries a gun. I've lived there and didn't meet any gun owners myself. But the chances of a crook having a gun over there is far higher than in Britain.

 

[edgray]

London has a population of over one million, but is not larger than every US city. New York City has a population of 8.3 million and London has a population of 7.5 million. Los Angeles and Chicago are quite large as well with a multitude of problems that contribute to violence. Sure USA has a lot more people, but the amount of large cities (over 1 million) in the US compared to Britain is still disproportionate. 1 large city in Britain for 60 million people, 1 large city in the US for only 30 million people.

Sure lots of innocent people may be killed because of accidents involving a gun in the home. However, lots of innocent people die in swimming pools. In fact, more accidental deaths are caused by swimming pools than accidental deaths caused by guns, so should they be outlawed too?

We tend to have more problems with violence in suburbia than in the cities. Most of Britain is one giant interconnected suburbia, where vast tracts of impoverished areas bring lots of violent crime. But, the violent crime rarely involves guns, so murder rates are low.

I don't think the swimming pool analogy is a good one. Swimming pools serve a purpose and if everyone was taught to swim then the drownings would disappear. Guns are only for killing things. No matter how much you educate people, no matter how well trained they are at using them, the end result is someone dying. They make killing too easy. The idea of killing someone, even in self-defense or defense of property is a horrible thought to me. Possessions aren't worth someone's life, in any circumstance.

 

[Peter Parka]

According to the CDC:

"In 2005, there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day. An additional 710 people died, from drowning and other causes, in boating-related incidents."

According to the National Center for Health Statistics:

"The firearm accident death rate is at an all-time annual low, 0.2 per 100,000 population, down 94% since the all-time high in 1904."

If my math is correct that would be 600 deaths caused by accidents involving guns.

There are 10 Million swimming pools. 270 Million guns.

Completely pointless and irrelevant argument unless you're trying to tell me that all or most of these drownings happened because the person was forced to go swimming. Apart from suicide victims, no one chooses to put themself in a position where they will be shot.