Sunday, April 13, 2014

It's time to reform our weapon laws.

Each year in this country, thousands of people are victims of serious violent crimes, even murdered, because they are rendered defenseless by ill-conceived, unjust and draconian legislation. People are mercilessly prosecuted if they take precautions to protect themselves and their families, with many losing their freedom, their jobs and even their homes as a result.

We are constantly being told that prohibitions on the private possession of weapons work and that we are all safer because of them. This is a lie.

In 1970, police in England and Wales recorded 687 crimes involving firearms, excluding airguns and replicas. By 2005, this figure has jumped to 11,088 crimes involving firearms, again excluding airguns and replicas. A rise of 1,513 percent in just 35 years.

The figures for crime involving handguns are even higher. In 1970, just 213 crimes involving handguns were reported by police in England and Wales. In 2001, that figure had risen to 5,874 crimes. A shocking increase of 2,657 percent in just 31 years. 

Back in 1997, when handguns were banned, we were told that it would lead to a safer, less violent society. Yet our society has seen no significant change in violent crime or homicide rates, with previous trends continuing unimpeded.





We often hear claims that "the bad guys will arm themselves and everything will get worse if we allow people to own weapons for self-defense". This is another lie, designed simply to further the prohibitionist's cause.

Countries where armed self-defense is legal have lower violent crime rates than countries where it is prohibited. The same is also true within countries such as the US, where states with liberal weapon laws have lower violent crime rates than states with prohibitive weapon laws, and where the legalization of concealed carry has led to massive, nation-wide drops in violent crime and homicide rates.





Surely we should look at reforming our weapon laws, with the aim of making them fair and sensible.

- Graham Showell & The lizard. 

Monday, April 7, 2014

Chicago's crime rate plummets after Illinois legalizes concealed carry.

Chicago, known for being the most dangerous city in the US, has seen a massive drop in it's violent crime and homicide rates since the legalization of concealed carry.

In April 2014, roughly two months after the state of Illinois began issuing concealed carry permits, Chicago police announced that the city’s first quarter homicide rate was the lowest recorded since 1958:

- The first three months of 2014 saw 6 fewer homicides than the same time frame in 2013, a 9 percent drop, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

- The first three months of 2014 saw 55 fewer homicides than the same time frame in 2012, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

- Compared to the first quarter of 2013, there have been 90 fewer shootings and 119 fewer shooting victims, drops of 26 and 29 percent respectively, according to police statistics.

- Compared to the first quarter of 2012, there have been 222 fewer shootings and 292 fewer shooting victims.

- Overall crime is down 25 percent from 2013.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/04/126664-coincidence-illinois-enacts-concealed-carry-law-chicago-murder-rate-plummets-immediately/

- The lizard.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

UKIP: Adopt clear policies in favour of armed self-defence



Please sign the petition below to show your support to the UK Independence Party for the addition of clear policies in favour of firearm ownership and armed self-defence to their manifesto. With enough support, UKIP can be shown that this is an issue cared about by many and with such policy additions they can become a concrete medium through which self-defence and gun rights can be championed.

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-uk-independence-party-ukip-adopt-a-clear-set-of-polices-in-favour-of-armed-self-defence#

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Danny Nightingale - Just one of the many victims of Britain's War on Guns

Government lawyer takes just 40 MINUTES to dismiss Defence Secretary's call for urgent review of SAS soldier jailed for keeping Iraq pistol


The root of the problem here is the five year mandatory sentence for prohibited firearm possession. Nothing is going to change by focusing on a single case. Any 'exceptional circumstance' sentence is still going to reflect the draconian mandatory one.

The Daily Mail and The Sun have no reason to brand themselves as campaigners against his sentence and should instead be rejoicing at this injustice. It was after all they in part who were originally demanding for this type of punishment to be inflicted upon those illegally in possession of firearms.


71 year old licensed gun owner jailed for five years for owning a few technically illegal guns.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6905852/Pensioner-jailed-for-hoarding-Aladdins-cave-of-firearms.html

Grandmother jailed for five years for having father's 80 year old pistol
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/10335003.stm

Man jailed for three years for having forgotten pistol in storage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7964280.stm

Man faced five years and dragged through court for handing in abandoned shotgun:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/alexmassie/5650566/paul-clarke-sentenced-today.thtml


Thursday, October 25, 2012

Tim Larkin to expose hypocrite UK government

Self Defence instructor Tim Larkin will expose UK ministers as the hypocrites they are by suing them for the decision to have him banned from the UK, despite their attempts to shroud themselves in 'tough on crime' rhetoric and promises of introducing empty gimmicks.


 Target Focus Training
Bash a burglar’ ministers sued by self-defence expert: Ministers face embarrassment for encouraging householders to fight back against burglars, as they are being sued by a self-defence expert who has been banned from Britain.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9602393/Bash-a-burglar-ministers-sued-by-self-defence-expert.html
——————————————————-
Interesting developments in my legal battle to overturn the UK Home Secretary’s travel ban against me.
Seems the UK Prime Minister agrees with me about UK citizens being able to protect themselves from predators doing grievous bodily harm.
Now… if there was just a way he could get his Home Secretary to understand this we’d be well on our way to settling things over there.
And in the process letting the folks in the UK make their own decisions about how they choose to protect themselves from thugs on the streets.
Stay tuned.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

More UK 'justice' at work

Five years in jail for raping an 11 year old girl.


Nine years in jail for harmless collector who had one illegal firearm.


One crime has a victim, the other is a paperwork offence. Apparently committing a paperwork offence is worse than raping someone.

It looks as though Judge Lloyd-Jones also thinks the crime of having a firearm without permission is worse than killing your four month old daughter.

 








Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Self-defence instructor Tim Larkin banned from entering UK



Time Larkin, who runs Target Focus Training has been officially banned from entering the UK on grounds of his presence being "not conducive of the public good". This highlights the creeping restrictions on free speech being enacted in the UK and the government's general disdain for universally accepted natural rights.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Jail for owning pepper spray or stun gun in one's home

Punishment for those caught taking precautions for their own safety go beyond draconian and into outright lunacy in the United Kingdom. While prison spaces become more and more crowded and expensive for the taxpayer to maintain, judges are willing to put people behind bars for simple possession of defensive items, in the case of  Christopher Steven Loveridge, a novelty electronic stun-gun brought back from Thailand by an ex-girlfriend.


The 25-year-old said it was only when police raided his home in Spencer Road, Coseley on November 11 looking for the high voltage device that he realised that it was illegal. Mr Howard Searle prosecuting, told the court  Loveridge had immediately retrieved the device which he had kept inside a coat at the top of a wardrobe and handed it to police. Mr Searle said: “It had a button and toggle switch to be operated, and it produced a very high voltage, which would cause harm.”
Loveridge gave evidence in court and said he had been given the device in a gift box by his ex-girlfriend. He said: “At the beginning I just thought it was a torch. It was given to me as a novelty, a joke. I didn’t use it.” Loveridge told the court it was only later that he was told it would give an electric shock, and even then he did not realise it was dangerous. He told the court he had put it away at the top of his wardrobe and not looked at it again.
For this victimless crime he was sentenced to 21 months in prison at your expense. Pepper spray also can award you a similar sentence, as Aberdeen resident Miles Walker recently found out. Sentences such as these do not increase public safety nor deter violent criminals. In fact, treating non-lethal weapons as firearms increases the likely hood of a criminal carrying a knife instead. Items such as pepper spray and stun guns offer the ability to defend against violent criminals, who thanks to the government have an unarmed prey to carry out their crimes upon. To deter violent criminals from acting out their crimes, they must be made to fear immediate consequences from their victim - not abstract and distant criminal justice proceedings of which they are unlikely to be affected by.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Five years in jail for replica starting pistol

Farther of five, Michael Bryce is serving five years in prison after being convicted of selling a blank firing replica pistol to a buyer in Northern Ireland. Such blank firing pistols are popular in Europe among collectors, film makers, and for disorientating muggers in self-defence.Those prosecuting claim that the replica in question could be 'converted' into a 'potentially lethal' weapon. I suggest they also might want to look into prosecuting retail outlets which sell common staple-guns to the public - far more suitable and easier to convert into a live firearm than a replica made from cast alloys similar to that of toy cap guns, and likely to explode after a couple of shots if drilled out and chambered for live ammunition.


Not only is this sentence draconian in the extreme, the comments by the judge in this case are worrying. Why exactly does the buyer's location in Northern Ireland make for an 'aggravating factor'? The Internet searches, pulled from the defendent's computer are also perfectly normal and expected web browsing for someone interested in firearms. No matter what your view on firearms is, five years in jail for a harmless object that isn't even a weapon is absolutely absurd.

Please sign the petition below and express your outrage at this sentence to your MP. Also, make your thoughts known to Bedfordshire Police via email.


Repeal the mandatory minimum sentence of five years for firearm possession

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/13928