Americans React to British Gun Laws 

@youcallthishell. FREEDOM not FREEDOME.

The trouble walking round with others who have guns doesn't make anyone feel safe and consequently you are less free.

No, that’s naivety not freedom.

@@michaeltagg492not if they’re licensed firearm owners, they save lives. All these millennials who just don’t understand reality..

@@bushbabybotha9943 And when you are walking down the street how do you know what their intention is. I live in the UK, and apart from 1/2 dozen inner city shithole neighborhoods in the whole country I would be quite happy walking at night. Despite what you hear we have less than 1000 murders a year and most of those are either gang on gang or acts of domestic violence. Visiting my daughter last year near Portland Oregon we went to Cannon Beach, beautiful spot to walk her dog, This place is rich mans holiday destination. While walking we met a lady whose dog was playing with ours and we stopped for a chat, I couldn't help noticing she had a gun in a chest holster. I couldn't help thinking if I felt so unsafe that I needed a gun walking on beach I would go 300 miles north and live in Vancouver Canada. Thankfully most people in Oregon don't buy into this stupid idea that guns keep you free, they don't they imprison you in fear, like the woman on the beach.

Really important comment. It's a talking point in the US that there's a lot of knife crime here, as if it's merely a weapon substitution issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even if the US didn't have a gun crime issue, the knife crime rate would still be significantly worse.

You should always ask Americans to show you the data on mass stabbings here in the UK lol@@stephengay5373

The argument is used by pro gun lobbies in the US to discredit the lack of guns in the UK.

Yes and knives are an 'up close and personal' weapons meaning as an ordinary law abiding member of the public you're very unlikely to get caught up in a stabbing.

The USA suffers 5x more murders per capita every year than us, and about every country in Europe. So however many knife murders we might have in the UK, it's barely an issue compared to what's happening in the USA.

I'd agree with the 'young men between 14-22' statement. From personal experience though, that's all you need to be wary in small-town UK. No need to be gang/drugs related. Just a young male at the wrong time, wrong pub. I actually felt safer moving to London as it was easier to avoid the dodgy pubs. Chance of being mugged was probably higher in London but much less likely some over-hormoned yob would decide you'd be his next 'fun' target on the walk home.

I used to live in the 'East End' of London (a pretty rough area). In the 10 years I lived there, I heard of only two fatal stabbings and not a single person being shot. (There may have been more, but never featured on the local news; when it did happen, it got major coverage)

I live in an area of London with a large black population that has had several stabbings yet I as a middle aged white man have no fear for my safety, even if I go out at 2am to find a shop when I've run out of gaming chocolate!

And they are mostly of a specific racial group

@@CHINZIG_UK Absolutely not in my case. Usual chav in pub experience or wandering down the street getting accosted by some football firm. I'm old enough to remember having to avoid skinheads every night when coming back from the pub just cos I had blue hair or something.

Per capita it's significantly lower than at least some states in the USA and about on par with the safer US States.... The only time statistics show the UK to be significantly more stabby than the USA is the number of stabbings as a percentage of total homicides. 41% of UK homicides involve a sharp object (knives machetes etc) whereas only 4% of total homicides involve a firearm which is less than strangulation and no additional weapons (kicking, punching etc) In the USA only 11% of homicides are stabbings whereas 46% are from handguns and a further 15% from other guns or firearm of unspecified type

It fits their agenda of "look, people are dicks with or without guns, so better to have a gun in case someone comes at you with a knife"

Guns only purpose is to kill people, knives purpose is to cut food (some people misuse them granted and doesn’t negate its purpose)

Yep, was going to post the same.

It's highlighted by a certain group to try and suggest what happens when you don't have guns everywhere. The fact that the US has higher rates of knife crime as well is overlooked in the argument.

@@lewisb6623 its done per 1000 people so size of country doesnt matter

@@lewisb6623That’s why the comment included ‘per capita’, so the size of the country is irrelevant.

@@lewisb6623 You seem to have missed the term "per capita." According to the World Population Review website, the UK has 0.08 stabbings per 100,000 people while the USA has 0.6 per 100,000. In other words, the USA's knife problem is an order of magnitude larger than the UK's.

@@lewisb6623🙄

@@lewisb6623 How to tell everyone you don't know what per capita means

and the British are the best at it. lol.

The only thing louder that a glock is the ‘P’ when a British person calls you a pussyhole

@@shaunwild8797 100%. Though honourable mention should go to our Australian cousins.

@@smockboyAbsolutely. The Aussies can certainly hold their own.

@@smockboy Not far behind us.lol.

Fun facts as well. Knives kill 3 times more people annually than all rifles, including AR 15s. Hands and feet kill almost double as well. Violence is also on a downward trend annually especially after the cough cough 2020,21 years. Yet gun sales have skyrocketed. Also these numbers include gang related violence which is the vast majority of our violence, gun violence and mass shootings. UK only has about 4000 members while the US has over 1,000,000. Thus is why our numbers are higher.

That does actually make me feel a lot better in terms of safety since I live in England

@Lewis-py8jl It's because they do not have many huge cities like we do. They also have very very little gangs which is already the vast majority of our crimes and violence.

fun fact, if you remove a certain group from America, the murder rates with guns are actually fairly close or equal to the lowest European countries but it's racist to point that out.

@@brianbailey7858 Isnt this a bit like saying if you remove the people that murder people from a country then the murder rate will drop.

Unfortunately, US citizens still hold dear a ‘Wild West’ mentality.

I think there's a lot of truth to that, actually. Something that should be stated more often. In fact, I'm going to write that down so I remember it. Well said that man!

What's ironic is you guys are the reason why it's a protected right here. Because your kings and queens decided to be A holes and we were forced to use our own Arms to defeat the most powerful empire at the time.

@@S1D3W1ND3R015 I think that was French Arms.

@@stephenlee5929 Doesn't matter. It was privately owned firearms, whether bought or made themselves. Which is why the 2A was enshrined because they knew historically governments cannot simply enforce its will on well armed citizens.

UK isn't even the size of cali, so kind of makes sense.

@@charliecosta3971 didn't see your name tagged, the guy I replied to was clearly on about all together, stating that it's still higher in the US than UK, obviously that makes sense 😂 Per capita is a different statistic to compare than the statement he made.

@@charliecosta3971 where did you get those statistics?

​@@charliecosta3971he is a she. Not talking about cities. I was talking about the countries. In July 2022 Latest figures show 4.96 homicides “due to knives or cutting instruments” in America for every million of the population in 2016. In Britain the figure was 3.26.

@@charliecosta3971 No buddy, you do yours - Knife crime IS higher per capita in the whole USA than the whole of the UK, which is what was stated, not New York versus London. Your gun crime and knife crime is what puts the USA 157th on the global peace index, and the UK 64th.

#truth

💯 why would anyone wanna live in America Lol

@@JemmaThomas-se7sb 💯 Me either, don’t mind going to America for a holiday but NOT to emigrate.

@@mannym7849 even the schools ain't safe you get a death at least every week or more

Another great Labour Party policy after Dunblane.

I have a over and under 12 bore, i have never had a inspection

@@spyidr1892 Are you that farmer out of Hot Fuzz?

Ever heard about gypsy gunfights?

​@@spyidr1892an easy way to consider the difference between shotgun certs and an FAC is that a shotgun certificate is broadly issued based on "is there any reason to deny access?" A firearms cert is issued based on "is there any reason to permit access?". That may explain your lack of inspection.

@@lmaoroflcopter not really. the FAC is determined on what purpose you need the weapon for. Deterrance is not really on the list. vermin control is. you can be a little political with the language I suppose...vermin contol is generally deemed to be rats and foxes,which present a danger to your stock either physically or biologically.

and drive a 3ton truck at 14

@ justme-ks8qc To the best of my knowledge. That came about because they lowered adult age to draft people for WW2 and the fact that many 18 year olds wanted to hunt so they brought the legal age to buy a long gun down from 21 to 18. Imo I think 18 year olds should be legally able to do anything 21 year olds can do because they are both expected to have the same responsibilities.

In the UK there isn't an age limit for gun ownership. It's very very common for under 18s to own guns in England with the youngest gun owner being a 7 year old!! Reference "Youngest holder of a shotgun licence is just seven years" Telegraph 23 Jul 2020

Given their proclivity for gun violence, I'd say letting them drink at a younger age while having access to guns would be worse...though that's not saying much.

Problem is you cant say someone is an adult than not give them the same rights as adults while at the same time giving them all the responsibility of being an adult

Never seen a gun? But seen some shotguns...er...🤔

@@SeeDaRipper... the magic word been "except"....der

@@SeeDaRipper... Perhaps I should have said ‘firearms or bullety guns’. To be honest, I would have expected most adults to have understood my meaning.

@@terryspeck3896The term 'except' holds no relevance as the term 'never' was used...Dur.

@@primalengland I understood alright, it was just the contradictory nature of the sentence. The term you're looking for is 'pistol'.😉

So 18, 19 and 20 year olds are kids now? 🤔

meanwhile in america lets not ignore the 1600 knife crimes or 40000+ gun crimes in the same period, dont try to justify it as a valid point until you look at your own figures, and at least its our own police force killing us

@@S1D3W1ND3R015 pretty much. I've never known a 20 year old that I'd say was mature enough to be thought of as an adult.

@@S1D3W1ND3R015 The term "under 20" generally doesn't include individuals aged 20. In the US, under its sale of alcohol legislation anyone under 21 is considered insufficiently adult to buy a beer.

@t.a.k.palfrey3882 By federal law, you are an adult at 18. Be tried as an adult, taxes, vote, move out, do as you please without parents consent, join the military, go to war. Alcohol used to be 18 btw here. Alcohol is a privilege, so the government can restrict the age if they want. Guns are a constitutional right.

Uk knife crime better than 100 years ago with the gangs in Scotland and North England. The tv show peaky blinders used fact to create a fiction. Good programme though

Yeah - it's rarely a stranger getting killed (so the flip-side is you probably shouldn't be worried about it happening to you) - it's two young men who have an issue with each other and no father around to tell them not to do it.

Not a right, a paid-for privilege.

Yes Britain, the Country that literally has separate firearms rules for rich and poor. Until Section 5 of the 1968 firearms act is abolished, or one man company licences are no longer shall issue British laws will be a mockery.

@@davedavids57 I think what makes mockery of gun laws in the US is that some parents feel they have to buy flak-packs for their kids for school I'll take our inqiuitous gun laws for now thanks

@@bestbehave There are around 160 countries in the world with more liberal gun laws than the UK, 50 or so of which that have less violent crime than the UK, and you can only talk about the USA. The US is an outlier for dozens of reasons. No non residential publicly funded mental health care, 30X the drug deaths per head of population compared to European countries, some of the highest inequality levels in the world, extreme poverty, poor to nonexistent public health care, unemployment help for just six months, terrible gang controlled prisons etc etc. The US has a problem with mass shootings, but it also has a massive problem with mental health, drug dependency, gangs, corruption, poverty etc etc. Until crime starts to reduce in the US the population aren't going to accept stricter gun laws. Because they use their firearms to literally defend themselves. Britain is more like EU nations in regard to it's social structures but the question you should be asking yourself is why Britain has more violent crime and even mass shootings than countries in the EU with liberal gun laws (With very nasty mass shootings in 2010 (Cumbria) and 2022 (Plymouth). If it's all about the gun laws then why is heavily armed central Europe so much safer. Perhaps Britain needs to improve it's mental health and social inclusion policies. But the British way is to just ban things. This can be seen in the fact that Britain is still experiencing mass shootings decades after introducing some of the toughest gun and weapon laws in the world.

@@davedavids57 yeah but the video was about Americans ( who displayed a sensible attitude to guns) talking about British gun laws

Grateful to be Canadian due to similar laws/regulation. Only problem we face are Americans who bring their guns here.

Pump action shotguns are banned unless they Have the baffle which limits them to 2 rounds. Automatic weapons can be legally owned with special licenses. Semi automatic Rifles can be owned, but semi automatic handguns cannot. However, if you permanently weld a suppressor onto a handgun it becomes a rifle, as defined by barrel length, and can be owned with the correct license.

​@@Rachel_M_ Pump action can do 3 shots in the UK.

@@EddieTheH perhaps i should have been more specific I was referring to 2 in the magazine, I wasn't referring to the additional one in the chamber. My bad.

@@Rachel_M_ No worries, I wasn't sure if you were referring to here or Australia. So is it the same 2+1 rule there?

@@EddieTheH as far as I'm aware it's the same 2+1 rule

Must be near Croydon then. I used to work there.

I live in Croydon and I agree with this comment.

Ealing reporting in and I agree.

I’m not going to name where I live (I’m OP under a different account), but I’ll just say I live smack dab in the middle of a cluster of particularly interesting estates that whenever you google their names all you see is a string of news stories like “Murder”, “Brutal murder” “Murder” “Two murdered” “Murder”, etc lol And yet I as a fairly nondescript-looking white bloke walking through them go entirely without notice, given I’m not a roadman violating anyone’s turf.

I would love to hear some of your experiences 🙂👍

Refuse? In spite of the applicant having served his or her six months probie time in a club, and having been deemed fit by the club secretary and two other referees? That's VERY unusual.

interesting, if you are a magistrate. Would you not concur,then, that a lot of current legislation is technically illegal? the right to protect oneself(as per petition of right), is actually a legal obligation...as was enacted back in jacobite uprising days.. If I were to walk down the street on a sunday morning fully tooled up with a longbow and projectiles, and if stopped, say I am doing training.....that IS still a legal requirement under the law.That has never been repealed as it is common law, not statute. The foes have changed, but the concept has not.

@@bigmacntings7451 that's bollocks, unfortunately. The law (if it ever existed) was certainly replealed in 1843, and by subsequent legislation, and it was obvious a statute law if it was passed by Parliament since it's difficult to see how the common law could oblige anyone to actually practice any skill (other than common sense). The right to protect oneself doesn't permit the carrying of offensive weapons or dangerous items, and predates the Jacobites ( an odd reference since those with very tenuous grip on legal history often claim all laws since the forced departure of James II are invalid).

You cannot appeal to magistrates court as firearms licencing appeals are dealth with by the Crown Court. To do this you have to pay your own legal costs and even if you win the case cannot claim your costs back from the police unless you are able to prove they were not just wrong in their decsion making but also negligent. The system is designed to prevent appeals by sheer weight of cost.

100% same for me. I'm from Belgium. I've barely seen a gun in my life and I'm very happy for that. But if I lived in the US I would probably get one. I mean, it's an argument against going to live in the US for me. I have plenty of countries I can move to. Already own a place in Spain. /cheers

Maybe they should allow guns in the home for protection in the USA, but make it illegal to walk around with one. Even pepper spray is illegal in the UK, though I keep it in the car.

@@barrymitchell6444the problem with that is criminals will walk around with guns anyway leaving the people who follow laws defenseless

@@igorzisky We have loads of criminals walking around the UK with guns, leaving law-abiding people defenceless. But few get shot. You should try it over there.

@@barrymitchell6444 its only in the cities that most people get shot I have never seen a gun on the streets outside of on police and a few licensed concealed carriers. Just like in the UK in America if you avoid the cities you should be fine.

I wonder if that will still be true with an Islamic horde on your doorstep.

I live in UK, I want guns.

Fool@@LastEuropaKiss

i have never wanted a gun in my 59 years in england. I want one Know@@LastEuropaKiss

​@@davidsivills3599 And why is that? I could say you're a fool for not wanting one. Laws don't stop criminals.

@PokhrajRoy They are Americans, to them it`s not serious as it`s part of their culture.

@@williamgardner2739 i think their point was that its actually an uncomfortable topic seeing as howbig of an issue it really is

It's nowhere near as bad as you're making out. I've spent time in the US, and unless I was actively looking for firearms I didn't see any. The only people I saw openly carrying firearms were military and law enforcement personnel, and people in gun stores. My ex's father has half a dozen guns. Several handguns and two rifles. I didn't see any of their guns until I asked to. This was in and around St Louis too - the most dangerous city in the US. Because I'm British, I naturally can't carry a firearm. Despite being unarmed in a nation with over 120 guns to every 100 people, not once did I feel like I was about to get shot. The possibility didn't even cross my mind once.

It was meant for militia (law enforcement) to bear arms to protect one State against aggression from another State.

It was put in because they needed to justify the revolution and Britain had wanted to take their arms,as they kept shooting people and starting wars. Because of the 2nd amendment America is theoretically always on the brink of revolution against its government.

Very true! One thing that most Americans don't do, is read their Constitution! The Amendments on their own are just a quick snapshot as to a US citizens rights, the actual meat of their rights are stated in the Articles of the Constitution. For example, Article 1 Section 8, Powers of Congress: To provide for the for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, supress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organising, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

​@@cornishmaid9138What the actual fuck is this? I'm an American and can confirm that this is inherently false, and that anyone who has studied the founding fathers would know this is complete bullshit. The 2nd amendment was made for the people to arm themselves against government tyranny. How do I know this? Because the fucking founding fathers said so themselves!

​@cornishmaid9138 False. It is to defend against tyranny whether that comes in the form of foreign agents or domestic. History has shown that a tyrannical government cannot simply enforce its will against a well armed citizen population.

Not strictly true. Northern Irish police are all armed, but are non-threatening.

Plus the increasing number carrying tasers, which are also considered a firearm under UK law.

@@tony1kenobi468 Dude said "majority police officers are unarmed" not "only armed response units have guns". Given that NI both has the smallest population of the home nations and the smallest number of law enforcement members in the home nations - that pretty much makes what he said "strictly true".

@@smockboy The entirety of Northern Irish police offerers are armed, it's obvious the person (not dude) didn't know this, hence 'whilst the majority' part of his statement. Land mass or population size is redundant, as Northern Ireland is a country. Being on the Ireland of Ireland, I could also say every police officer serving on the land mass of Ireland is armed, which would be useful to a traveller to the Ireland.

@@tony1kenobi468*Island of Ireland.

There is a 'common' theme there, as they are both commonwealth countries.

And under the previous government they were doing the best to revoke as many firearms licenses and seize firearms as fast and as unlawfully as they could. Mine was revoked after 35 years of holding 1 and jumping through every hoop they dictated we had to now adhere too. No evidence, no charges laid against me or any contact with police before and after that day. License taken firearms transferred to a friend or be destroyed. And the most unbelievable letter delivered by the Sargent of Blenheim Police stating I could reapply for my license after 6 months and pay the exorbitant fees now charged to sit and be issued with it.. Corruption at it finest, I couldn’t afford to fight the system

I’ve been to NZ a couple of times bow hunting. I’m in the uk and have 9+1 semi shotguns for practical shotgun and rifles .308/.223 for deer (i’m on a farm) you can buy any bow/crossbow in the uk but illegal to shoot anything but targets !!!

@@Dan-wo4bx I have a very good friend that goes pig shooting every few months. The farmers let them stay in the shearers quarters & his rifles must be kept in the boot of his car unless being used. A few times he went rabbiting for a friend's farm & was happy to help out.

Please google New Zealand gun laws. Literally you have absolutely totally no idea. They literally had some of the most liberal gun laws in the world until 2019. Now they are a bit stricter but much much much more liberal than Britain. The UK has no restriction whatsoever on magazine capacity.

I actually, myself, forget that my school in the late 90's had a CCF and armoury, I remember thinking it was really weird that there was ~20 aging L1A1's stored on the school premises (although all the stored ammo was blanks)

I’m sure your Muslim overlords love the fact you English have no guns.

Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, Poland, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania etc etc all have very liberal gun laws and have far less mass shootings per head of population than Britain. In fact the place which is safest in the UK, Northern Ireland actually has the most liberal gun laws.

@@davedavids57 True, but those nations also require licensing/training before acquisition. That's a key point, so while they may be more liberal in purchasing, licensing is till required. Also forgot to mention that caliber, magazines and enhancements are restricted in many of the aforementioned nations as well, it's not the free for all you're implying.

@@JonInCanada1 No but they all have laws more liberal than the UK had prior to the Hungerford attacks in 1987. Also many nations don't require licences or training before the buying of a firearm or ammunition. Switzerland and Austria don't require licences for most guns. In Austria if you want a gun you can buy it straight from a shop US style, no licence needed for cat c guns or ammo. Just a weapons ban database check and three day cooling off period. That's actually more liberal than the US as non violent felony convictions don't ban you from keeping weapons. No countries I know of at least in Europe (apart from the anti gun countries of Ireland, UK, Holland) restrict caliber below 50 BMG (like the USA). There are magazine laws, but only Germany doesn't allow loop holes. I am British and I moved out to Central Euorpe to get away from the increasingly crazy British system and it's amazing what in a healthy society people can own without a problem.

Speak for yourself!

Yes, he has settled in well, and makes a good partner for Joel.

Years ago, the UK government said 10 years in prison if caught carrying a knife. It never happened.

In UK shops are not allowed to sell fire arms, there are shops everywhere that sell cutlery. Some large and small knifes, and most homes have all sorts of knifes, so how can we crack down on knifes?

​@williamgardner2739 uk shops are allowed to sell shotguns and firearms, my local gun shop is also a pet shop. As long as the shop holds the correct licencing then thwy can sell guns. Shotgun cartriges can be sold by any buidness for example pubs, and anyone can possess shotgun cartriges without a licence

Tight for the poor, liberal for the rich. Section 5 in the UK needs to be abolished.

Knife crime is already lower than the USA, even though they also have Guns ... it gets in the news because it's unusual not because it common

We have Long Bows built into ours, in general these became a bit cumbersome, so we moved to Darts. Must practice my Arrows 1 per week, preferably Sunday afternoon, in the pub.

He has reacted to that.

What are your arguments lets discuss it. 😃

Jim Jeffries does a brilliant sketch on gun ownership. It should be compulsory viewing

​@nuttycommuter3718 "DONT TAKE MY GUNS!,brilliant routine

@@nuttycommuter3718 The problem with Jim Jefferies is that he thinks humor instantly makes him correct. I could not find much data on Australian mass shootings but I did find data on the murder rate in Australia when guns were banned. In 1996 murders were already on a down trend from 1990 which is where my data begins. Then when guns were banned in 1996 we don’t see the numbers drop instantly its a slow down trend with many small spikes until 2003 (six years after the gun buy back ended) where we get our first major decline since our data started in 1990. The main problem is that before the gun buyback murder rates had dropped just as fast. What Jim did was set up mass shootings and used it to push his argument and then just straight up ignores murder rates as a whole because the ban had no effect on them.

@@nuttycommuter3718 Jim also thinks that there is only one good argument for having guns and that is “I like guns” this is a straight up wrong statement. There are many reasons to own a firearm other than just the I like guns. First off, the police will not always get their in time (or at all) to help you. Second, the second amendment was written to ensure that we had the tools we would need to overthrow the government if the need ever arose and guns are the tool we need to do just that. Third, to put food on the table. Fourth, sporting (target practice.). Jim seams to not realize that these “assault rifles” are a perfectly good means of self defense. He has absolutely no ground on which to stand the fact that the media likes calling black guns with a telescoping stock and a pistol grip an assault weapons does not mean that they are not great defensive tools. They work just the same as any other semiautomatic rifle they just look a little different.

If it's the same video I saw apart from it being very moving and shocking what happened, I was extremely shocked that the Conservative party had been planning before that to loosen the gun laws. Thank goodness we now have the laws we do.

The gun laws were only slightly amended in 1997 to require revolvers like the one used at Dunblane to be longer than 60cm. So now in Britain you can only own a long barrelled pistol. The change was purely cosmetic. In fact the revolvers are now actually more deadly as the long barrels produce more energy in the bullet. Since 2010 British gun laws (Northern Ireland didn't change their laws after Dunblane) are being gradually relaxed. Britain has always had two forms of licencing. Normal through the police, special through the home office (under section 5, 7.1 or 7.3 of the firearm act). The Home office is issuing thousands of hand gun licences a year in Britain. Just without the publicity.

I thought that the reason for only being able to have guns over a certain length was so they can't be easily concealed? I openly admit that I know next to nothing about this, btw, so am happy to be corrected.

yes, we've seen quite a few in the US too now, and the response by the politico's is similar. The cynic in some of us says there's an ulterior motive using defenseless kids as emotional pawns.

Oh absolutely! I'm Scottish with a Swiss partner and it's such a weird feeling to me knowing there's a gun in his home but I know there's no ammo or any way it can fire. So unique

Your partner is also significantly less likely to be an absolute psychopath lol@@LittleWispMarshy

I visited Switzerland when military exercises were in progress. The train was loaded with heavily armed men some carrying heavy machine guns they kept at home. All part of a well-regulated militia, or citizen army quite immune to control by a tyrannical king.

@@rascalnz9983 Most Tyrants are supported by a significant portion of the population, especially the military. Caligula was loved by the legions.

@michaelrogers2080 ... and you can easily buy a 9mm handgun (if you want, for self defense or sporting reasons) or a rifle, but background checks are very extensive too. I live there, as a German-Austrian (Austria also has liberal gun laws)

You have to remember that laws in the US are not written according to the wishes of the majority of the population, but how much power lobby and religious groups have over politicians. For example, 61% are in favour of a woman's right to choose abortion, that doesn't stop numerous anti-abortion laws being passed. Sometimes a politician is safer by doing nothing.

@@grahvis No I do understand that it is lobbying groups like the NRA that wield the power. Politicians are weak minded puppets that only have their own interests at heart. It doesn't make it right.

The Americans were never the brightest country in the world 🙄

While an Amendment, it's Emboldened by our bill of rights. And with a significant portion of the population being armed, there will never be a major majority vote to Amend the 2A.

I think the creator of the video confused the population of England with the UK.

I bet in reality its more like 80m.

@@scottythedawg Yes, plus factor in net migration over the last 15 years.

Interestingly, the 2021 Census showed 40% of London were immigrants and 60% were ethnic minorities.

I imagine it's probably the 2011 census figure for England & Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own censuses which might not have been factored in.

I think they confused the population of the UK with the population of England.

I think the person who created the Video must have looked up the population of England and not the UK as a whole.

​@@scottythedawgnope it is a older video made a few years ago, not many years ago but because of the mass migration of immigrants legal and illegal the population of this tiny island has skyrocketed

@@spyidr1892 unless he made the video in 1988 you are mistaken.

Pedantry, such an unpleasant trait.@@scottythedawg

@@simonfunwithtrains1572 I beg your pardon?

56 million is the population of England and the UK population would have been about 67 when it was made so I think they just took the wrong numbers

He should have said people who get guns are dicks! 😆

IRC there are some parts of the States (California?) that have similar restrictions re possession, size of certain types of knife and reason to have it on your person.

@@I_Evo To be fair California has heavy restrictions on guns too.

That for possession in a public place - you may possess most knives and other bladed items in your own home.

@@GuardOfGaia Correct. Many laws in the UK, as in most other countries, apply to public places and not to one's home. Other examples would be drinking alcohol, having sex, or even hate speech.

yes the knives are banned now..just wait for spork crime😀 camping utensils of sufficien capacity to bear or incise 15g of baked beans through the skin, one chipolata size lincolnshire sausage, or medium cooked beefburger are hereby prohibited.

The culture in the UK is people who love guns. Just have the guns on the condition that they don't publicize the fact. If you have the money, you can own anything you like. You just have to own it under a company.

It's never that simple

Me too, but look how disciplined we were.

I fired a .303 too in the Air Cadets. It's a sore shoulder you never forget lol

The right to live in a dreamworld I suppose, because criminals don't exist, it's all fairies and unicorns here in old Blighty.

Its ironic that UK army soldiers only have experience using their rifles, not pistols (unless they are officers), So if they pass Special Forces selection, they have to do extensive hand gun training.

Sport shooting, shooting wild game, pest control

Vermin clearance (it's easier to hit crows on the wing with a shotgun than a rifle, and if you've got a rat problem a shotgun blast can handle multiple rats at once), clay pigeon and target shooting, sometimes putting down injured animals that you can't approach to use a captive bolt gun, and are thrashing around too much for a rifle shot - or of course you can load the shotgun with slug instead of shot if you could take a rifle shot. They're more flexible, so a shotgun with different ammunition is a better option. Mostly it's farmers and land management types though.

London is a terrible place for crime by English standards. It's still way lower than Americas big cities, way lower

My American friend was nervous about coming to the UK, because of all the knife crime he's been told about. I pointed out statistically this would be the safest two weeks of his life so far.

@@panchomcsporran2083 exactly, Americans don't seem to realise how dangerous their country actually is.

Most knife crime in London involves gangs mostly younger people

@@panchomcsporran2083 it's so true, i moved to England from Ulster Northern Ireland and both London and Glasgow is way safer than Belfast (even though i would not call Belfast unsafe ) there is just less tension, the worst place i have ever been to was Baltimore in the US its dangerous just walking around in daylight, you'd have to have a screw loose to go out after dark there, heard plenty of gunshots and police sirens constantly. its like a warzone where i was. id rather go to Syria

True, and it's surely horrible for the survivors, but people generally survive. But even with last year's numbers (which were 69% up on the previous year), it would still take over 56 *YEARS* to reach the number of people killed by guns in the US *SO* *FAR* in 2023

Aussie insults are deadlier than any weapon!

Personal protection is a reason to have a hand gun in Australia. There isn't a country on earth which doesn't have some law allowing it. It's a thing in the UK as well (under section 5). They are just issued with zero publicity to people who are either rich or know people in high places. It makes sense as imagine a James Bond type retiring from spying. Highly trained, lots of people wanting to hurt him. It makes no sense to assign him a bodyguard 25/7 with less training than him at massive expense. Same with politicians, if they are ex army or ex military letting them have a hand gun saves the tax payer 100,000s a year on police costs. They would just have to do the Firearms Safety Test for professionals every year. The way Australia seems to do it is your licenced to body guard yourself.

In the US we have over 350 million “documented” people but the numbers are probably closer to 400 million. We have a terrible prison system and the mental health system is even worse. We do have restrictions on firearms and who can legally carry them. The problem their are more violent criminals and mentally unstable people who are not treated and will not stop doing what they do. Crime was much lower when we had state mental institutions (a lot of them were horrible places). More people are murdered by fists, feet and objects than they are by all rifles combined in the US. More than 60% of firearms deaths in the US are by suicide. Most of the other deaths are gang and drug related and or police involved shootings with suspects. Majority happen in the inner cities. Their are a lot of stolen firearms used in the gang and drug related crimes do to improper storage weather it be in a car or home. Their are around 400 million guns in the US. It is and would be impossible to confiscate them regardless of the constitution because those are the known guns, not the privately manufactured or illegally transported (from out of the country) guns. The only people that would hand them in are the “law abiding” which probably wouldn’t go to well. The criminals who are armed to the teeth with illegal weapons, some of which are illegally modified to fully automatic would never hand them in. Many towns and cities do police buyback’s (which actually makes no sense since they were not bought from the city, town or police in the first place) but most of them are old junk and the people turning them in just use the money for new stuff or ammunition. We need to do a whole hell of a lot better with our mental health system and definitely need to stop the revolving door of multiple offenses violent criminals be let back out on the streets. We are not perfect by any means as a country but until outsiders see the psychotic mentality ill people and violent criminals we have roaming our streets up close and personal, you would get a better understanding of why firearms owners are reluctant to deal with more bureaucratic restrictions while DA’s in the cities hand down light sentences or no sentences at all for criminals and maniacs.

They are still legal to own they are known as dispatch pistols, they are used to cull livestock eithically and they are also used by comercial deer hunters just in case a giant stag isnt quite dead when you approach it

You also have section 7 which is pistols

@@spyidr1892 7.1 (shooting a pre 1990 pistol at a closed range, weapon kept at range) and 7.3 (keeping a pre 1990 pistol at home but not shooting it). But in reality with long barrelled pistols and muzzle loading black power pistols there are other options.

Also cartridge operated tools.

I have often wondered after all the public statements after so many massacres, that membership of the NRA in the US should be a valid reason to refuse entry into the UK?

@@petereastwood1 If the UK Gov. declare the NRA as a terrorist organization, then yes :)

​@@petereastwood1can i just point out that the NRA started in britain first

Thats based on Jasper Carrots old joke about owning a machine gun. If I remember the the joke went something like this 'There shouldn't be ten pages of questions about owning a machine gun, there should just be one question which is :do you want to own a machine gun'?' If you answer yes you are clearly not a sane person to do so.

@@spyidr1892 @petereastwood1I think you need to use the full title National Rifle Association of America(NRA). Although the UK had a National Rifle Association earlier the NRA has no Affiliation with the UK based one.

British firearm officers are actually fairly poorly trained. That officer probably just had 25 days (non residential) of basic training on both pistol and long gun. The door kickers get much more training but only about 50 days. The elite get a lot more but it's surprising how little training most armed officers have. There is retraining but that's barely 10 days a year. Especially given that the basic infantry course in the British army for non front line troops (cooks, mechanics, rear end staff) is about 26 weeks (170ish days residential) and that just qualifies a soldier on one platform (long gun) and not to be near the enemy, (source Requirements to become a firearms officer Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.022570 Met Police.)

But even that number, those with military firearms at home, has dropped considerably in Switzerland as the size of their armed forces and thus number of reservists has reduced in the last 20 to 30 years.

Wow I didn't know that interesting

It really depends on where you live and your social circles / hobbies. I am a coach / range officer here in the UK and our range has about 40 .22 rifles and quite a few air pistols / rifles. Most of the people I know do know my hobby! Safety is taken very seriously, we kicked one member out once and he will never be around any firearm again as it's in his police file.

It does seem a bit messed up. In the UK, a person over 5 can consume alcohol but must be 14 and over to be granted a firearm certificate, be gifted or possess a firearm. (There are exemptions, such as a member of a club or recognised cadet corps may have one in his possession at a younger age).

Actually mass stabbings happen far frequently than you think. It happened in Canada recently. Also mass stabbings, mass ramming, mass bombings, mass anything. If a person is willing to cause chaos and mass events. They will do so regardless. If there is a will there is a way.

Base

One mass shooting in the UK and gun laws were tightened a lot, one mass shooting every month in the US and nothing changes!

They got even tighter after Dunblane in 1996 ( same in Australia after the Tasmania mass shooting in the late 90s) restricting gun ownership DOES work

i can see why living in the woods/forest/wilds of Alaska that a gun would be a useful tool and can provide food and protection, so i would NEVER say a total ban. but in a city? do you need a 50cal for the rats? or a AR15 for the street beggars?

You would change your tune if you were ever raped, attacked or assaulted in the streets. Women can’t walk home from pubs at Night alone. The streets Havant been safer for women for decades and they should be

It's to do with fear. Basically if you fear for your safety a gun can protect you.