Posted by Cockney Robin |
As a humble Brit, I am perpetually bemused by American gun-love. Don't you lot know those things are dangerous? And isn't the right to own a gun yourself sort of outbalanced by the possibility that the hypothetical person against whom you might conceivably have to defend yourself might have a greater strike capability?
For example: In Florida, a "no questions asked" gun amnesty that encouraged people to hand in their guns in return for a $50 pair of Reeboks or a gift certificate prompted prompted one man to hand in a rocket launcher. According to the BBC, police were "surprised." (BBC News) I can only imagine their surprise. It's not every man who would trade in a surface-to-air missile in exchange for footwear for his daughter. (BBC News)
The man said he found it---this gun designed to shoot airplanes out of the sky--- in a shed. Then the poor sod couldn't get rid of it however hard he tried:
The unidentified man said he had tried in vain to get rid of the launcher, which is designed to blow aircraft out of the sky.
"I took it to three dumps to try to get rid of it and they told me to get lost."
"I didn't know what to do with it, so I brought it here," he told the newspaper.(BBC News)
Yes, you can see how it would be a bit of an albatross. Have a look! There's a photo right here.
In addition to the surface-to-air missile launcher, the police in Orlando got quite a varied haul:
Ancient pistols, zip guns, shotguns and assault rifles began appearing shortly after 7 a.m. in the most successful gun exchange in Orlando and Orange County. In all, 310 firearms were turned in.
"Anytime we can sit out here and have people bring us guns, it's good for the community," sheriff's Cmdr. Al Rollins said....
And each gun came with a story never to be told.
"No questions asked, right?" asked one man, who questioned the promise of anonymity for everyone turning in a gun.
"Absolutely," said deputies, who described the fellow as looking like an old biker.
Moments later, he returned with a plastic bag and extracted what deputies described as a portable crime scene worth a five-year mandatory minimum sentence in federal prison. The homemade, 40-shot assault pistol turned out to be a cut-down rifle with an illegal short barrel.
"That would scare the pants off you," Rollins said.(Orlando Sentinel)
It certainly would mine. I am frightened even by the gun aisle at WalMart. In WalMart you can evidently buy a gun even on days and at times when it's not possible to buy liquor.
Elsewhere, someone turned in a 100 year old gun worth $1400. But "[f]ew of the exchanged weapons were late-model 9 mm and .45-caliber pistols, the sort used in many of the more than 100 murders last year in Orlando and Orange County." (Orlando Sentinel)
One hundred gun murders, just in two Florida counties? I'm pretty certain that's more than in all of England during all of last year. In 2005-2006, there were 50 in England; the year before, 78.
LINKS:
I didn't realize you were a Brit. I'm from Leeds. What about you?
Yeah--I'm not enamoured of the whole gun thing, either.
Posted by: Linda R. Moore | August 19, 2007 at 05:45 PM