Gun interlude

Freeper the scotsman is from England. He's mostly as crazy as most Freepers, but living in England, he tends to correct his fellows when they insist England is overrun by Muslims or is a warzone of gun-toting murderers.

The statistics on the efficacy of gun control in America are awful. But one thing that's clear is that America's gun violence is waaaay beyond England's. Of course, the idea that a country where the cops don't have guns could be anything but a bullet hell nightmare does not compute for Freepers.

So someone posts a story of two British cops who got shot last year. It's a story because it's the only 2 British cops killed in the line of duty in like five years. the scotsman shows up and does his duty, mostly attempting to make SkyDancer look at statistics.

the scotsman tells the poster:

This was over a year ago.

the scotsman corrects the narrative:

“gun control” in england: criminals control all the guns.

Erm, no.

2.3m legal guns in the UK.

the scotsman notes that the shooter wasn't a Muslim. null and void posits that all murderers are kinda like Muslims...

No, just a follower of the Church of Murdering Scumbags.

Ah. Different sect of the same cult...

SkyDancer argues that the only reason UK has so few murders is that it's so much smaller:

Whilst I oppose most of the UK’s gun laws, really mate, you are on a losing wicket if you want to compare the UK and US on violence, guns and murder.

It’s percentages. It’s the deaths from guns in a country of around 63 million vs a country of 300 million plus. Since the UK is so tight on guns why is the deaths per guns higher in the UK than the US? If you want to extrapolate the UK population to the US’ you’ll find the gun deaths higher for the UK. Just saying.

Given stats, SkyDancer tries to argue that 32/6 = 40.

US 10.4
UK 0.26

Your gun death rate is exactly FORTY TIMES ours!.

Again, I really really don’t know what figures you have been reading.

And our population of 320 million is how many more people? The UK can fit in to our states of Washington, Oregon and a bit of Idaho. If you want to extrapolate 60 million Brits to 300 million Yanks, your percentage goes through the stratosphere.

SkyDancer's next tactic is to just be pissy:

We agree on gun laws.

But you are just wrong on UK vs US gun deaths/murders. America in every category is just miles ahead. Sorry, but it just is.

I didn’t count suicides and accidents, just murders, and that’s consistently 14-15000 a year. THEN another several thousand in suicides and accidents. Usually the same number again.

America has regularly had 30000 approx. death by guns totalled. The UK will be lucky if it has A HUNDRED all in by murder and accident/suicide!.

Sorry when it comes to guns and death, there is simply no comparison.

Well said as your unarmed police are gunned down.

SkyDancer then explains that he needs a gun to feel safe:

Bottom line to me is I can protect myself here where I feel endangered in the UK. A story several years ago about this woman who was accosted in the Tube by three thugs. All she had was a penknife. Long story short she was arrested and the judge said to her they didn’t need that American defense stuff here in the UK and had her deported.

Societal policies and gun control paranoia are one thing, but SkyDancer seems to really have a neurosis:

As a person, male or female, you are safer in the UK. As a 45 year old, with 27 years as an adult, living some part of that in the UK’s toughest city, as well as travelling to many UK cities, I have been the victim of crime once.

And I’ve been pretty much all over the US and never have been attacked. There are some pretty scary areas around airports but I don’t walk them alone. Even still, I feel more safe in the US than anywhere in the UK. I spent a bit over four years in Oz, fortunately in the bush where it’s pretty safe except for the critters. I had to get a license to have a pellet pistol (which is not a firearm) for protection from them.