The UK was rocked by a rare multiple shooting incident on Wednesday. At least 12 people were killed and 25 injured when taxi driver Derrick Bird opened fire in a shooting rampage in Boot, West Cumbria. For around six hours, Police were unable to apprehend him as he was loose in the area. Bird was later found to have committed suicide in a nearby forest.
The firearm used appears to be a shotgun. Although Britain has one of the world’s strictest gun control laws, shotguns and rifles are still permitted for farmers and some sportsmen. Handguns are completely banned. Yet despite outlawing guns from virtually all civilians, the shooting still occurred. The firearm used in this case could possibly have been one of the few legal shotguns permitted, although we still don’t know how the taxi driver acquired it. Nevertheless, figures show that Cumbria’s gun crime doubled in 2009.
No doubt, this tragic event will have the public calling for even tighter firearms controls. There will be an outcry about how guns have no place in a the hands of civilians.
Powerless police, unarmed victims
There is one thing, though, that I’m sure will get very little attention. It is the fact that for the entire time, the people of several towns in one of the world’s most powerful countries were reduced to lambs in fear of a predatory wolf. The British police, with all its manpower, technology, advanced crime fighting science and specialized training could not stop Derrick Bird. In the end, only he had the power to stop the killing, and he did it by ending his own life. Derrick Bird was the only one in control.
His unarmed victims did not have a chance. In the UK, possession of even a pocket knife could lead to jail. Instead, the residents of the area cowered behind their locked doors as Police advised people to stay at home. Banks were closed, hospitals canceled operations and even a nearby nuclear power plant had to lock their staff in. ‘We were worried he could pop out from anywhere,’ said one local. The people of West Cumbria were completely dependent on their police force who, in turn, were powerless to protect them.
The nation that once stood up to the evil of Nazi Germany is reduced to terrified sheep. It is a land where predators pick on easy prey because they have been disarmed by their government. And this is what the anti-gun groups want for us in the Philippines.
This group have some hidden agenda and just masquerading behind the anti-gun group. Nobody knows what really their intentions and that is very scary. All of a sudden we will be under the power of some country or individual who wants to own and rule everything or world.
On Wednesday, October 16, 1991, Suzanna Gratia Hupp (later a member of the Texas House of Representatives) and her parents were having lunch at the Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen. She had left her gun in her car to comply with Texas state law at the time, which forbade carrying a concealed weapon. When George Hennard drove his truck into the cafeteria and opened fire on the patrons, Hupp instinctively reached into her purse for her weapon, but it was in her vehicle. Her father, Al Gratia, tried to rush Hennard and was shot in the chest. As the gunman reloaded, Hupp escaped through a broken window and believed that her mother, Ursula Gratia, was behind her. Hennard put a gun to her mother’s head as she cradled her mortally wounded husband. Hupp’s mother and father were killed along with twenty-one other persons. Hennard also wounded some twenty others. As a survivor of the Luby’s massacre, Hupp testified across the country in support of concealed-handgun laws. She said that had there been a second chance to prevent the slaughter, she would have violated the Texas law and carried the handgun inside her purse into the restaurant
As Hupp later testified, “We were not in a place were were not supposed to be, we were not in some dark alley. It was broad daylight and we were in a restaurant having lunch.” This clearly disproves such thing as “gun free zones”. It also proves how ordinary citizens pay the price for unreasonable and restrictive gun laws, which leave us defenseless against ruthless criminals.
Police have confirmed that Derrick Bird was a licensed gun holder. It is also possible that the shotgun and .22 rifle that he used in the attacks could have been legally acquired.
The reaction is completely predictable. There will be public hysteria about how this could have been allowed to happen. The anti-gun groups will jump on this tragedy as proof that the civilians cannot be trusted with firearms. Even tighter firearms controls will follow.
Official figures show that in England, Wales and Scotland, almost 714,000 people are licensed to own rifles and almost 625,000 are licensed to own shotguns. (Handguns are completely banned.) None of these people went on a rampage but they will bear the stigma and collective guilt of Derrick Bird’s actions.
The only way to prevent further killings, people will say, is a 100% gunless society. There will be focus on even more government control in a misguided attempt to prevent the loss of any more lives.
Only a few will notice the futility of further prohibition. Society cannot outlaw insanity and there will always be people intent on causing others harm. As this terrible incident has shown, the disarmed victims were sitting ducks and could only rely on fate to save them. The answer is not to strip people of their natural right to self-defense but to allow individuals to protect themselves.
Unfortunately, the people of Britain have already accepted their state of powerlessness. They have given up their independence and can only hope that their government can save them in times of need. As this case has shown, it was a foolish hope. The police were able only collect the bodies and document the crime scene.
The Police Chief Constable Craig Mackey said in a conference that 42 armed officers deployed to contain and apprehend Bird. He added, “At no stage did any police officer have the chance to end this any sooner“.
His comment does more to support civilian ownership of firearms than any other so far…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/10241479.stm