Posted on 01/29/2007 12:45:40 PM PST by TC Rider
Labour has been accused of losing control of gun crime as new figures show a sharp rise in armed robberies.
Guns were used in 4,120 robberies last year - a 10% jump - including a 9% rise to 1,439 in the number of street robberies where guns were used.
There was also a rapid and unexplained increase in the number of times householders were confronted in their own homes by armed criminals. Residential firearms robberies show a 46% leap, a record 645 cases in England and Wales - up 204 on the previous year and four times the level recorded in 2000-01.
The figures come a day after two men armed with a replica gun robbed a Home Office worker on his way home after sharing a curry with Home Secretary John Reid. The 29-year-old civil servant was making his way home in Beckenham, Kent, shortly before midnight when he was attacked.
A Met Police spokeswoman said the man's wallet and mobile phone were taken and confirmed that two teenage men remain in custody at a south London police station.
The Home Office report shows that handguns are the most commonly used firearm in robberies, reported in 2,888 cases.
Shadow home secretary David Davis said of the figures: "This shows Labour is losing control of gun crime across the board, whether it be on the street or in innocent people's homes.
"Gun crime is mainly fuelled by gang warfare and drug addiction, which is a consequence of Labour's failing drugs policy. It is exacerbated by our porous borders, which allow illegal weapons to flow into the country."
Home Office minister Tony McNulty said: "Firearm offences have fallen significantly, by 14% in the year up to September 2006, which amounts to 1,642 fewer incidents.
"While there is a small rise in residential firearm robberies, these account for a tiny proportion of recorded offences overall, although we recognise any firearm incident is traumatic for victims." He added: "We have some of the toughest firearm legislation in Europe."
Well, criminals aren't at risk from legally armed citizens, anyway...
So, obviously, the answer is MORE GUN CONTROL.
Morons, absolute morons...........
That implies that government had control of it in the first place.
Those crooks in the UK must be getting their guns from VA, NC and Georgia!!!
Paging Mikey Bloomberg!
Fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity . - Sigmund Freud
Quemadmoeum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est." (A sword is never a killer, it's a tool in the killer's hands.) - Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the Younger" (ca. 4 BC-65 AD)
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms...disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.
Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants;
they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one.
- Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria, Criminologist 1764.
I can explain it. It's because the crooks know the householders probably aren't armed.
Unfortunately, every member may not always format his posts properly.
It is also a consequence of prosecuting householders for defending themselves from the perpetrators of home invasion robberies. The crooks know the householders are not armed and dare not fight back for fear of being prosecuted themselves. The inmates are running the asylum.
Criminals don't comply with gun laws?? Can't be.
This is what happens when a regime seizes guns from law-abiding citizens. Only the crooks have guns. The law-abiding people can't defend themselves.
Rule #1 of survival, that all animals and humans must obey: protect your own existence. Since the liberal regime is preventing humans from saving their own existence, the liberal regime is violating a fundamental law of animal and human nature.
And I don't expect them to understand what I just said.
Exactly. I've noticed that when liberal laws fail, as they inevitably do, liberals call for more of the same laws that failed.
Here's a fun exercise. How many false statements can you find in this quote?
Don't you know the liberal law makers know this? When the new gun law fails and new law will be written that forces the law abiding deeper into hiding. And the politicians will tell them how fortunate they are.
So how's that banning gun thingy working out ??? Really helped reduce crime didn't it ... you bunch of friggin idiots
"This is what happens when a regime seizes guns from law-abiding citizens. Only the crooks have guns. The law-abiding people can't defend themselves."
Can we get this straight? I'm not defending our gun laws (my handguns were made illegal 10 years ago), but shotguns and rifles are very much legal, albeit tightly controlled.
Just for the record.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.