Despite draconian gun-control laws British gun crime goes up by 89% in a decade

[Wehrwolfen]

Despite draconian gun-control laws…British gun crime goes up by 89% in a decade​

Instapundit:


Gun crime has almost doubled since Labour came to power as a culture of extreme gang violence has taken hold.

The latest Government figures show that the total number of firearm offences in England and Wales has increased from 5,209 in 1998/99 to 9,865 last year – a rise of 89 per cent.
In some parts of the country, the number of offences has increased more than five-fold.

In eighteen police areas, gun crime at least doubled.

The statistic will fuel fears that the police are struggling to contain gang-related violence, in which the carrying of a firearm has become increasingly common place.

Last week, police in London revealed they had begun carrying out armed patrols on some streets.

The move means officers armed with sub-machine guns are engaged in routine policing for the first time.

Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, said last night: ‘In areas dominated by gang culture, we’re now seeing guns used to settle scores between rivals as well as turf wars between rival drug dealers.

‘We need to redouble our efforts to deal with the challenge.’

He added: ‘These figures are all the more alarming given that it is only a week since the Metropolitan Police said it was increasing regular armed patrols in some areas of the capital’.

The gun crime figures, which were obtained by the Tories from official Parliamentary answers, do not include air weapons.

But they provide the first regional breakdown of the increasing use of firearms.

Lancashire suffered the single largest rise in gun crime, with recorded offences increasing from 50 in 1998/99 to 349 in 2007/08, an increase of 598 per cent.

Only four police forces – Cleveland-Humberside, Cambridgeshire and Sussex – recorded falls in gun crime.

The number of people injured or killed by guns, excluding air weapons, has increased from 864 in 1998/99 to a provisional figure of 1,760 in 2008/09, an increase of 104 per cent .

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Instapundit » Blog Archive » PIERS MORGAN, PLEASE TAKE NOTE: British Culture of violence: Gun crime goes up by 89% in a decade. …

 

[waltky]

He's right, ya know...

Thousands sign US petition to deport Piers Morgan
24 Dec.`12 — Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition calling for British CNN host Piers Morgan to be deported from the U.S. over his gun control views.

Morgan has taken an aggressive stand for tighter U.S. gun laws in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting. Last week, he called a gun advocate appearing on his "Piers Morgan Tonight" show an "unbelievably stupid man."

Now, gun rights activists are fighting back. A petition created Dec. 21 on the White House e-petition website by a user in Texas accuses Morgan of engaging in a "hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution" by targeting the Second Amendment. It demands he be deported immediately for "exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens."

The petition has already hit the 25,000 signature threshold to get a White House response. By Monday, it had 31,813 signatures. Morgan seemed unfazed — and even amused — by the movement.

In a series of Twitter messages, he alternately urged his followers to sign the petition and in response to one article about the petition said "bring it on" as he appeared to track the petition's progress. "If I do get deported from America for wanting fewer gun murders, are there any other countries that will have me?" he wrote.

Thousands sign US petition to deport Piers Morgan - Yahoo! News

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4 firefighters shot, 2 killed at Webster, N.Y., fire
December 24, 2012 - The gunman was found dead of a gunshot wound at the scene

A gunman ambushed firefighters responding to a house fire in the Rochester suburb of Webster, N.Y., early today, killing two firemen and injuring two others. The shooter was later found dead of gunshot wounds near the scene, according to Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering. Pickering, choking up frequently as he spoke to reporters, said all four firefighters who responded to the call at 5:35 a.m. ET came under fire when they drove up. Two firemen where killed at the scene. One was treated at the scene and the the fourth fireman was taken a hospital where he underwent surgery. An off-duty police officer who was driving by at the time also was injured by flying shrapnel. "It is a very difficult situation," Pickering said, his voice quavering.

He said the case is still under investigation, but "does appear to be a trap that was set for first responders." "People get up in the middle of the night to fight fires," Pickering said. "They don't expect to be shot and killed." Four small vacation homes near Lake Ontario were destroyed by flames as firefighters let the blaze spread until the area was secured. A SWAT team escorted some residents to a bus that took them from the neighborhood. Pickering said the unidentified shooter was found dead of a gunshot wound outside one of the houses. He said it was not immediately clear whether the wounds were self-inflicted or the result of gunfire from police. PIckering also said he could not determine yet whether the gunman set the fire and called in the 911 alarm.

At West Webster Fire Department, the flag outside was lowered to half-staff. "These firemen are part of our family. You go into a fire with these guys. To see them go down with something like this is totally unexpected. We are in shock," said fire district commissioner Billy Gross. Webster resident Michael Damico was among those neighbors who were evacuated. "The whole strip's been evacuated," he said. "They're evacuating all of the houses and going through them." Damico's son woke him up around 8 a.m. to tell him about the fire that was burning down the street. "We looked out the window and we saw the SWAT team and everyone around," he said. "Some people on this bus already watched their houses burn," Damico said. "They're not happy." Webster, with a population of 5,000, is located northeast of Rochester.

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