Echoes of "Fahrenheit 451" Haunt England

Keep and Bear Arms ^ | August 3, 2002 | Dr. Michael S. Brown

[handk]

Echoes of "Fahrenheit 451" Haunt England

by Dr. Michael S. Brown

August 3, 2002

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's famous novel of a totalitarian future where books are burned is being acted out in England. But instead of destroying books, authorities seek out and destroy guns owned by citizens in defiance of the national ban. 

Those who remember Bradbury's book know the way that subtle alterations of terminology and a slow erosion of common sense can pervert an entire society to the point that it destroys itself in the quest for perfection. In this case, the perfection they seek is a society without violence, but like all utopian experiments this one too is doomed to failure.

A chilling article appeared recently in the Sun describing how several ordinary, middle-class men were arrested for keeping guns hidden in their homes in defiance of the ban. The article was loaded with propaganda terms reminiscent of Bradbury's imagination. Two retired teachers were called "gun-mad", "gun obsessives", and "gun nuts." Other arrestees were an engineer and fireman. The caption under one man's smiling photo labeled him a "monster." It is tempting to conclude that the article was a parody even though it seemed deadly serious.

It is fascinating to read the growing flood of news reports in the British press about the exploding rate of violent crime in the UK, especially gun crime. Many stories about gun crimes mention the harsh gun laws enacted after the "Dunblane Massacre" in 1996. The reporters seem perplexed at the failure of these laws to reduce crime, but never seem to make the connection that would occur to most Americans. 

Scholars Joseph Olsen and David Kopel pointed out a few years ago the uncanny relationship between the enactment of English gun laws and subsequent increases in crime. Even a small child could look at the 100-year graph showing the crime rate vs. gun laws and see the tragic conclusion.

A new book by respected history professor Joyce Lee Malcom explains how twin attacks on gun rights and self-defense rights have made England into the most crime-ridden country in the developed world.

The strictest gun laws on the planet have effectively disarmed law abiding citizens, allowing criminals to run amok with illegally owned guns, knives and even fake guns. Instead of a gun-free society, they have created a situation where guns are more useful and valuable to criminals than ever before. A thriving black market imports guns from Eastern Europe and distributes makeshift guns produced by local craftsmen out to make a quick pound.


"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

Criminals are now certain that citizens have no effective means to resist an armed attack. The gun-armed criminal is thus a king free to rape and plunder at will. 

At least Britain deserves credit for thoroughness. In contrast with American practice, where the rich and famous are effectively exempt from gun laws, English gun controls are so tight that even celebrities are unarmed, leading to many reports of celebrity mansion burglaries and street assaults.

Attempts to counter this avalanche of crime with more police are hampered by limited budgets and a liberal criminal justice system. Thousands of video surveillance cameras have sprouted everywhere, reducing privacy, but failing to provide the desired protection.

Laws against self-defense have sent Englishmen to jail who would have been hailed as crime-fighting heroes in America. Years of expenditures and sacrifice have simply created the world's safest working conditions for criminals. Instead of repealing the counterproductive laws, English politicians prefer to pile on more laws outlawing knives, air guns and toys. Their utter faith in government and their complete ignorance of human nature is stunning.

Americans have good reason to point at our English cousins and laugh as they laughed at us during the era of alcohol prohibition, but I suggest we thank them for conducting one of the great social experiments of our time. By showing the counterproductive nature of gun control, they are teaching us a powerful lesson. We can only hope they see the light before their society is too badly damaged.

Dr. Michael S. Brown is an optometrist and member of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws - www.dsgl.org. Email the author at: rkba2000@yahoo.com. 

References:

Gun-Mad Teachers Arrested
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002260304,00.html 

All the way down the slippery slope… Olsen and Kopel
http://www.guncite.com/journals/okslip.html 

Guns and Violence, The English Experience, Joyce Lee Malcom
Harvard University Press
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/MALGUN.html 

Gun crime stories from the UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1741336.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/england/1765622.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2168430.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/uk/2001/life_of_crime/police.stm

 

[yendu bwam]

Criminals are now certain that citizens have no effective means to resist an armed attack. The gun-armed criminal is thus a king free to rape and plunder at will.

The Brits are first stupid to have this ban, and it has led predictably to a great rise in armed crime against innocent and unarmed people. But even worse, they are pitiful and gutless peons for allowing their government to dictate to them in this way.

[Commander8]

To give you another idea of how insane it is over there, a pen pal of mine who lives in England informed me that people can't even own pepper spray or mace. It's as if the government there is saying, "If you are mugged or raped do not resist, just lay down and take it."

[IronJack]

subtle alterations of terminology and a slow erosion of common sense can pervert an entire society to the point that it destroys itself in the quest for perfection.

Policies that discriminate against white people are called "affirmative action." The same policies, if employed against other races, are called "bigotry."

A woman orders coffee from a fast food restaurant and spills it in her crotch while she's driving. She sues the restaurant and wins.

Parents trust their young sons to learn wholesome values in the Boy Scouts. Yet people are surprised when that group forbids homosexual Scout leaders. Major charities withdraw donations because the Boy Scouts are "intolerant."

The President of the United States, caught in an undeniable lie about a tawdry affair with a junior subordinate, defends himself by parsing the meaning of the word "is." Feminists, who a scant few years before had howled for the head of a Supreme Court nominee on the flimsy accusations of a deranged co-worker, ignore the harrassment of the President's subordinate by the most powerful executive in the land on the grounds that he is a friend to women. This same executive is later accused of raping a campaign worker and pays a settlement to another women he admitted harrassing. The feminists are silent.

subtle alterations of terminology and a slow erosion of common sense can pervert an entire society to the point that it destroys itself in the quest for perfection.

[gitmo]

2nd Amendment BUMP

[mamelukesabre]

I'm eagerly waiting for the bush administration to reverse some of the gun banning policies we currently are forced to endure. When the * is GW going to get these nuisances taken care of?!?!

There is absolutely no reason why the average law abiding citizen shouldn't own a fully automatic sub machine gun with a silencer, folding buttstock and a high capacity magazine.....make mine a .45 caliber MAC10, or possibly a tommy gun.

There is no reason whatsoever why every law abiding citizen shouldn't be able to carry a concealed handgun on his person and high capacity magazines.

[gitmo]

From the SUN article linked above:

TWO gun-mad teachers were behind bars last night after hiding a sickening arsenal of weapons at their homes.

The obsessed pair had hoarded their lethal collections despite a nationwide ban after the Dunblane massacre six years ago.

... police found a network of middle-class gun nuts who had refused to hand in weapons after Dunblane

... Last night a police source said: “We were shocked that two teachers, one at a primary school, should be involved given the horrors of Dunblane.

“We are sure that a great many firearms are still being held illegally by gun obsessives such as these and that is obviously a danger to the public.”

He added: “Hosty said he had guns to protect his family because there had been a rise in crime in his area.

“But there had been no more than a handful of crimes in the past two years.”

If there haven't been crimes, why are they worried about these guns?

The Brit Press is fully cooperating with the government in confiscating their weapons.

This could be the US in a couple of years! Fight for the 2nd Amendment now.

[JZoback]

Their utter faith in government and their complete ignorance of human nature is stunning.

Maybe to "subjects" but not to "citizens" unless you are a democrat

[handk]

?i?To give you another idea of how insane it is over there, a pen pal of mine who lives in England informed me that people can?t even own pepper spray or mace. It?s as if the government there is saying, ?If you are mugged or raped do not resist, just lay down and take it.??/i??p?

Draw the obvious (maybe) conclusion. The British government ?b?wants?/b? high crime rates, they want chaos, they want fear. The only other conclusion is that the British government is insane.

[uncbob]

The Brits are first stupid to have this ban, and it has led predictably to a great rise in armed crime against innocent and unarmed people. But even worse, they are pitiful and gutless peons for allowing their government to dictate to them in this way.

Creeping socialism and the welfare tend to do that to people's spirit

[goodieD]

Where is our local Brit defender 'tonycavanagh' to tell us how we are just overreacting and how we just don't understand England? I guess it's hard to defend the indefensible.