Gun crime drops by almost 50% (Scotland)

[CO Liberal]

Gun crime drops by almost 50%

Gun crime in Scotland has almost halved over the last 10 years. New figures from the Scottish Executive today reveal firearms offences fell by 2% last year - and shotgun crime reached its lowest ever level.

The total number of firearms offences is 48% below the 1992 level.
Since then there has been a gun amnesty and the ban on pistols after the Dunblane massacre.

<snip>

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson welcomed the reduction and highlighted statistics showing the number of gun homicides dropped from eight in 1993 to three last year.

But she warned: "There is no need for complacency.
"There are still too many illegally-held firearms in our society, but we have made progress."

<more>

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5019555.html

[GCP]

1. Note the numbers - from 8 in 1993 down to 3 last year

In a population numbering just over 5 millions according to the latest census.

Extrapolated to US population numbers that would be 216 gun homicides a year.

Oh, but guns don't shoot people, people shoot people, silly me.

[Romulus]

2. hey wise guy

why don't you analyze other than firearms homicides before you try to draw some kind of comparison between the two countries. Or before you try to say that guns are what "caused" the deaths of all American homicide victims.

After all, only people with guns can kill other people.

http://www.scottishexecutive.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00205-00.asp#c2
(check out chart 2)

(edited to add):

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/tables/weaponstab.htm

Homicides by Weapon Type

Year 2000
Handgun - 7950; Other gun - 2209
Knife - 2090; Blunt Object- 724; Other Weapon -2545

[MrBenchley]

4. So the five million people in Scotland

had half the total homicides of JUST Houston, Texas....

"only people with guns can kill other people."
Jeeze, with thinking like that, no wonder the RKBA crowd thinks Mary Rosh is a scientist...

[Romulus]

5. s -u -u -u -r -e it is

and sarah brady is the Queen Mum . . .

[MrBenchley]

6. Better practice that curtsey, rom....

Houston had 267 murders of all sorts in 2001.....Scotland, with more than twice the population had 107.....

[demsrule4life]

7. Ever been to Scotland Mr B?

A beautiful country but so many of the people have such a bleak outlook on life, guess why they have one of the highest deathrates in Europe from alcohol and tobacco use. Guess it is a good thing that handguns are banned, think of what their firearm suicide rate would be? As for me? yes been there several times, my daughter married a scotsman and lives outside of Perth, he drinks like a fish and I hope she doesnt get dragged down that road with him.

[iverglas]

9. what???

"Guess it is a good thing that handguns are banned, think of what their firearm suicide rate would be?"

Shurely you are not suggesting that access to firearms has come causal connection with use of firearms???

.

[demsrule4life]

10. I have never denied that

I don't agree with the majority being penalized over the actions of a few.

[DoNotRefill]

13. I don't think that's what he's saying...

I think what he's saying is that firearms are generally the method of choice for a lot of suicidal people, and there'd be a substitution effect. The numbers of firearms-related suicide deaths would increase, while the number of non-firearms related suicides would decrease. The total number of suicides would stay the same, and only the method would change.

[iverglas]

15. yeah ...

Except he didn't say that.

.

[1a2b3c]

26. Wouldnt common sense tell you

That if you had to choose between killing yourself by a quick painless shot in the head or a slow strangulation by hanging....most would take the quick shot in the head? Then again, not everyone believes in people having the CHOICE to live or die like i do.

[MrBenchley]

29. Gee, dems...

what a post! Wonder how the scots manage to carry on....if only they had assault weapons to cheer themselves up, eh?

[DoNotRefill]

14. Apples and oranges...

look at population density.

[CO Liberal]

28. Yep - We Have A Lot More Dense People Here In America

They're called Republicans.

:-)

[1a2b3c]

25. So is that a gun problem or

maybe something else.

[iverglas]

8. I must have neglected to draw to your attention

I am the Queen Mum.

.

[DoNotRefill]

19. Finally....

your posts start to make sense. ;-)

[1a2b3c]

24. Sounds more like a cultural problem to me

seeing how there are more blacks killed than whites in the US even though whites far out number blacks.

[MrBenchley]

3. So the five million people in Scotland

had fewer gun homicides than the 700,000 in Tuscaloosa....

Shows that gun control not only works, but works spectacularly well....

[slackmaster]

11. Great example of a "Gee Whiz" statistic

:D

[MrBenchley]

30. As in "Gee whiz....

Wish we had the low level of gun violence that Scotland has...maybe we should follow their lead on gun control."

[RoeBear]

12. Does this mean...

"But she warned: "There is no need for complacency.
"There are still too many illegally-held firearms in our society, but we have made progress."

...that they should be waiting for a knock on the door?

[mddemo]

16. scots view

But in Scotland thethugs have a free reign, my father in glasgow has been burgled 4 times, and mugged twice, thank god hes moving soon. In scotland old people and women are fair game, why, because the crooks know they are unarmed, i was lucky as i was armed all the time, made crims think twice about messing with me. I would rather live here, were at least if i am confronted by a knife or gun wielding nutter, theres a good chance an armed citizen can come to my aid.

[iverglas]

17. how unfortunate

... that the facts don't bear out your tale, eh?

What, do the cops just not bother writing it down when an Old Age Pensioner is burgled or mugged, so the statistics look nice?

.

[mddemo]

18. facts

have you any idea what the scottis inner cities are like, they are a warzone, the elderly are scared to go out at night, Glasgow has one hell of a high crime rate. If you want to believe that there are no guns on the streets your nuts, i could land in glasgow and within an hour i could be packing. The only difference is that the criminals have all the weapons.

[demsrule4life]

27. That is the problem with stats

You don't know if they are correct or not unless you go out in the field and check for yourself. There has been many police dept's accused of fixing crime stats in the states which I'am sure is caused by political pressure from the mayor's office. In germany something that bothered me is we would see the Polizei reports of neo nazi attacks and at the same time I would never see these attacks in the press, I can only guess if they were being included in their stat reporting.
http://www.gothamgazette.com/commentary/91.barrett.shtml

[Gun Runner]

20. Any more stats to go with this one?

How did it drop in proportion to other types of violent crime? Crime in general? Chances are home invassions have gone up in the same time period. The way it has in Austrailia and England.

[LibLabUK]

33. Ummm

"Chances are home invassions have gone up in the same time period. The way it has in Austrailia and England."

According to the latest stats for England and Wales(http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hosb703.pdf), burglaries have actually dropped 39% since 1997, and there's only been a 2% increase in violent crime since 1997. Robberies have fallen 14% in the past year.


So where's this increase in "home invasions" you're talking about.

What exactly constitutes a "home invasion"?

[MrBenchley]

36. It's a mythical crime

spawned by the mythical bloodbath gun nuts here claim Australia and Great Britain are suffering due to a shortage of armed neurotics such as we "enjoy" here...

[LastDemInIdaho]

21. How hard is it to get citizenship in Scotland?

I'm sure their gun-free doors are wide open.

[mddemo]

23. scottish citizenship

as such there is no such thing, we are british subjects, so you have to get visa for the UK, or you can get citizenship for any of the EU countries and then move, its also easier if you belong to the commonwealth. Though be prepared for the poverty and tiny cars. :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. Tiny cars? Oh, the horror!

God forbid that anyone should conserve fuel or not feel the need to play cowboy by driving an SUV to the shopping mall.

[MrBenchley]

32. No wonder the Scots are so "suicidal"

If only they had gun shows and assault weapons to cheer themselves up with....

[LibLabUK]

34. Well..

"God forbid that anyone should conserve fuel or not feel the need to play cowboy by driving an SUV to the shopping mall."

Petrol's expensive, and the roads are narrow :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. Well, gasoline is expensive

because your government taxes it heavily to encourage conservation, and the roads are narrow because you haven't gotten into the highway building madness that wreaked havoc on the physical and social fabrics of American communities beginning in the 1960s and continuing to this day.

Count your blessings.

[Character Assassin]

37. Come again?

and the roads are narrow because you haven't gotten into the highway building madness that wreaked havoc on the physical and social fabrics of American communities beginning in the 1960s and continuing to this day.

So better transportation infrastructure, easier freedom of and access to movement/mobility and less transportation transit time has been 'wreaking havoc' on our physical and social fabrics?

[Superfly]

22. In related news...

AP Newswire - The murder rate due to firearms on the Ross Ice Shelf has remained a constant 0% for the 4.6 billionth year. The Ross Ice Shelf has had a defacto ban on firearms since Ernest Shackleton was stranded here over 100 years ago.

When reporters tried to ask residents why this gun ban was so effective, the resounding answer was "Squack, squack, squack!" So, there you have it folks, from the mouths of Emporer Penguins, gun control can work!

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It's late...sorry.