Posted on 06/02/2010 9:37:13 AM PDT by OldDeckHand
LONDON - British police said the death toll from a shooting spree in northwest England earlier on Wednesday had risen to 12.
A taxi driver described as quiet but friendly went on a shooting spree across a picturesque rural area before apparently turning the gun on himself, police said.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Anyone with a reasonable amount of practice can un-holster and fire their weapon is a surprisingly short period of time.
"It was "successful" because it was unexpected. "
As opposed to the expected random shooter. Again, I'm quite sure those security guards in the DC Jewish museum weren't expecting to shoot a man dead when they went to work that day, but that is why you train.
Despite your protestations, this man operated in an environment where he knew he wouldn't be challenged because law-abiding people were all unarmed. He was the de facto apex predator today. Had he been seeking victims in a environment full of people who could shoot back, he would have been stopped, even if shooting from a moving vehicle.
OK, got it. Harrison was evil and wrote music/lyrics to be used as a force of ill against those that are easily swayed.
Gun owners are more prevalent in the countryside in Britain than in the towns and cities. He didn’t choose the most target rich enviroment.
Plus the DC museum incident you mentioned was perpetrated by an octogenarian whose sight and reflexes weren’t what they once were, and he’d already shot and killed one security guard by the time the other shot him....
There are sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. I trust that my “gun-toting compatriots” would be sheepdogs and spring to action in a situation like this.
Quickly is a subjective word, especially to the Left. Since the concept of private gun ownership is anathema to them, any story would be twisted to suit their need:
“He may have stopped the suspect, but look how many were killed because of the suspect’s gun!”
“He may have stopped the suspect, but look how many were put in danger with TWO people shooting! It was like the Wild West!”
“He may have stopped the suspect, but he didn’t react quickly enough!”
“He many have stopped the suspect, but there are emotional scars by those surprised that he had a gun - how many more are out there?”
He was killed by his own gun, so yes, he would have been stopped by someone armed with a gun or at least restrained.
IIRC, they were all suicides in Utah. I don’t think there were any murders at the ranges.
That’s true, but this isn’t a “Minority Report” world in which we’re able to know upcoming crimes beforehand. Having said that, I think the meaning of the post to which you responded concerned mass shootings. Those do not happen, because they would be put down before the police got there.
Sorry Vanders9 for the senseless death and injury of so many of your fellow countrymen and women.
As regards to your question, depending on the state in which someone would choose to do this, I do think that they might be stopped more quickly...or never start.
Here in the States there has been very interesting data which indicates that the ability to bear arms makes for polite neighbors. The tragic shootings I can recall here were in gun free zones.
Google John Lott- a fellow Marylander and research Professor who hastracked yankee crime rates for over a decade. Just published his most recent update- data shows where folks have an easier time of keeping/baring arms the crime rate is lower. Throw in a Castle Doctrine and it further improves.
Read an interesting history of gun regulation in your country. The picture I got was the gov’t was not enamoured of an armed populace; prohibiting handguns and making the process for owning a long gun quite onerous. Post WWII , as
the ships were sailing for the white cliffs of Dover, I read the government took back many of the weapons the troops had been using that were donated by US citizens?
Apologise for the wordy response, but this is an issue that fascinates me. I’ve a conservative British friend,
and we agree on much, but go ‘round and ‘round on this issue! He is convinced we yanks are barbarians. I agree- we disagree on whether that is a positive or negative attribute. Virtually all of the gun owners I know have successfully hunted and fed the family with the kill. None have had to shoot an intruder or other criminally minded type, but they all would, if needed. All are college-educated, white collar types. Barbarian or just aware of human foibles and unwilling to be a statistic?
You should fix the typo in the headline. It has to have been a “U.S. shooting rampage,” since guns have been illegal in the United Kingdom for years.
Yes-People need to read before they post-What is this DU? My condolences to all the victims’s family and friends. It’s especially bad that one man’s troubles are spread to so many others.
May the LORD bless all those involved, both directly and indirectly, by this tragedy. We may have our differences when it comes to guns, but we are united in our expression of condolences to those who have been affected by this horrendous act.
“This kind of thing doesn’t happen in our part of the world,”....
Really?....tell it to the 12 dead....
There was another thread posted about McCartney and BP, and how wonderful he thought Obama was. I think nmh might have posted to the wrong thread.
So, in the UK (and elsewhere) when criminals and the insane use a gun it is the legal and sane that are forced to disarm and become even more sheep-like. Makes no sense to disarm in the face of rising crime and violence in the UK.
Regarding number of dead and wounded, terrible for sure, but how many would now be alive and uninjured if there were people on the street legally carrying a firearm? John Lott certainly documented the fact that more people in the US are alive and uninjured because of our legal right to carry resulted in many more crimes being stopped. But wait, the UK is now trying to ban knifes, too. Are cricket bats next?
Hulka, with long standing official, professional and friendship ties to The City, and having lived there for years.
30 crime scenes but only 12 victims? A lot of work to be done, however that calculates.
May God bless the loved ones of the victims with comfort and peace.
“They used to stand together having a craic on the rank.”
Translation?
Because in every US mass shooting the suspect is shot dead by the millions of armed Americans?
Oh right the stupity of such a statement is in the name ‘mass shooting’.
I would agree that concealed carry wouldn’t do much in this case as it is really hard to stop a drive by shooting of this type. So yes all the people beating their chests and saying it would be different in the US are not thinking, just look at what happens in the hood, most gang bangers are armed AND expecting a drive-by to happen but rarely have time to react, other than diving for cover. Certainly in rural UK (or in most of the rural US) you are not expecting something like this to happen and even if armed would not be able to react.
The real question is what caused this guy to go postal? My bet is he was on some sort of anti-depressant or Prozac type drug or just going off of it. These drugs ARE more dangerous than a loaded gun because of these types if reactions. Most mass shooters in the US were on or going off of these type of drugs. Unfortunately there will be no call to ban the drugs but most likely a call to ban shotguns will definitely be heard after this.
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