Gun law ?

[eddy51]

It is now known that Derick Bird, the Cumbria gunman, was threatening to get his gun and kill people over 9 months ago. Yet more proof that the existing law is just not being applied. We do not need new laws just correct application of the existing laws. It is now obvious that this guy repeatedly did things and made threats that should have ment his guns were confiscated but nothing happened.
What measures do you think should be put in place?

[boxtops]

How would you do it Eddie? When this happened a consultant in criminal law said on TV that you can't legislate against someone flipping his lid. I guess perhaps nobody took Derrick's comments seriously enough to think he would actually DO it and report their worries to the police.
PS- still no luck with getting your name back, then?

[dinsdale]

Futher bans would result in an increased black market. I think it would make more sense to ensure that guns are kept in gun club or police station armourys. Only being released with 2 or more club members present. Thus legitimate use can continue and guns (at least legal ones) wont be kept in peoples homes. I accept that this would not stop illegal guns though.

[ummmm]

How many people say things like "do that again and I'll kill ya"?

Do you take them seriously....errrr....NO.

[eddy51]

I don't know what to suggest, it's just that we are so unaware about guns here in the UK. Most of us have even never seen anything other than a shotgun in real life. We just don't take it seriously if some one makes such threats. If I had known the guy and that he was a registered gun owner I hope I would have reported him to the police when he started threatening to kill people. I would definately have gone straight to the police if I had been the'' friend'' who had to disarm him the night before the shootings.
The whole thing has been a b@lls up , the police should have regularly checked that he still needed the guns but didn't.
Boxtops, still no word on why I was banned as EDDIE51 , I have emailed twice now but no reply, thanks for asking.

[OrcadianOil]

Absolute twaddle - had any such information been known to the Police, the relevant certificates would have been rescinded long ago.

Hindsight's such a wonderful thing.

[eddy51]

ummm I see your point , I think along the same lines. But supposedly this guy was well known by his friends to be a licenced gun owner, if a gun owner starts to make such threats it needs to be taken a bit more seriously.

[eddy51]

OrcadainOil , that the police were not informed is exactly the point. We have to change our thinking so that if a known gun owner starts acting as this guy did the matter gets reported. If for instance a person started to boast about being a child molester , I am sure a report would be made to the police in very short order. If a well known gun owner , as this guy was, starts to make such threats it needs to be treated seriously.

[VHG]

This guy killed 12 people and everyone mad about it.

EVERY DAY in the UK about 10 people are killed in road accidents.

Is anything done to reduce them?

No, not much.

[olddutch]

eddy - a sort organised nutterwatch then - bit like neighbourhood watch for psychos with guns - i heard a suggestion on tv today that GPs should perform continual assessments of their own patients who own guns - with gun ownership being forever recorded on medical records - dont know if there is any mileage in this - or how it would sit with patient confidentiality ?

[R1Geezer]

you cannot do owt about what someone says they are going to do. I'm going to burn down Tony Blairs house next month, there arrest me!

[scotman]

R1G
If you go round an airport saying "I have a bomb" you might find quite a bit of action taken.

[eddy51]

scotsman's airport '' bomb'' idea has some merit.
A few years ago if you were in an airport and joked that you had a bomb, it would have been just that a joke, and everyone would have a laugh. Try doing the same now !
We need to have the same sort of reaction if a known gun owner starts '' joking'' that he is going to get his gun and kill somebody.

[jackthehat]

If a gun-owner says "I'm going to kill someone", presently he can go into his own house, arm himself with his legally-held guns, stuff his pockets with a stockpile of ammunition and then go out on a shooting rampage............

If guns had to be held somewhere outside the house, obtaining the weapon would, at least, serve as another hurdle to be overcome before they can 'go-postal'.....!!

[joeluke]

Keeping guns in some kind of local armoury wouldn't be practical, plus it would be a target for criminals - why buy guns and ammo when they can break in there and get them for nothing?

Ban people from having guns at residential properties and surely you have to do the same with all 'weapons' people may have in their homes........large knives, machetes, baseball bats, rottweilers/bull terriers

[DrFilth]

don't mention bomb at manchester airport

http://menmedia.co.uk...o&publication_id=1001

[jno]

airports are small(ish) areas, easily policeable. But who's going to monitor every statement in the entire country? Or haven't we got enough of a surveillance state yet?

[jackthehat]

Yada, yada, yada...........
...........and heavy-based statues and lamps, and electrical flex, and spanners, monkey-wrenches, screwdrivers, plastic bags, pillows, baths, buckets, bricks, large stones, bottles, etc, etc...........

That people will find objects with which to kill others is part of the human condition.

Guns give the unhinged an opportunity to kill, from a distance, many, many people......one person with every round (two if they get a ricochet or a through and through). There is, presently, NO goodreason to have a gun in your house *unless* you need one in the course of your employment............and these 'tools' should be held securely elsewhere.

[joeluke]

Is a yada a weapon?

[DrFilth]

will people have to keep a cricket bat at a police station in the future. what reason would anyone want to keep a cricket bat at home

http://www.timesonlin...me/article6956044.ece

[jackthehat]

Sorry, I forgot to mention cricket bats in my *household items that have been used to kill people but aren't actually intended for that purpose, whereas guns only have one function* list..............

Please feel free to add further 'murder-weapons' to bolster your argument, but I think you know exactly the point I am making.