The real focus should be on violent crime, which is a legitimate problem. So that really was my fault, setting a trap for you like that, Lorric, I apologize.
Alright, don't worry about it.
And I don't know where you get the idea violent crime is going up in the UK, it's going down, and has been year on year for a long time, and quite sharply too:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22275280I was talking about specifically the last gun control debate and more specific things in general. Sorry about the confusion, but there's a distinct pattern.
1) Telling someone, who is part of a certain culture or country, that his culture or country is not like that at all, even though he himself lives there and experiences it every day. This is an extremely arrogant thing to do, and won't help your arguments in any way.
2) Making very broad stroke assumptions about first world countries, even though they are all very much different from one another, what with the various different cultures and semi-constant warfare and/or rivalry since the 'nation state' became a thing.
Again, I'm sorry, it wasn't my intent to make Lorric feel like an idiot or belittle him, and I think he knows this. Lorric and I are pretty much internet friends, and I wouldn't insult him (or anyone else here, without cause). I merely meant to point out that from an anthropological perspective, Britain, and indeed Anglo-Saxon cultures in general, have long been very friendly to gun ownership. Lorric himself pointed out that prior to the Dunblane/Hungerford shooting, nobody in Britain supported a ban on most firearms.
Listen to him Nakura. I made the mistake of no.1 in a gun control debate on here badly a while back. Try not to over-rely on data alone.
I don't know how Brits felt about guns prior to Dunblane, but it had the feeling of a "that's it, no more" moment, which might mean guns had a low opinion even then.
On another note, you can own a gun in the UK. I know, as someone I know has at least one rifle, I think he has more, and belongs to a rifle club. He could also gun down an intruder in his home legally if in self-defence. National Rifle Association your NRA is, well don't worry, you can own a rifle in this country if you want. I know there's more to it than that, but you can own a gun in the UK, there isn't a blanket ban. Though it will take considerable effort to be allowed to.