London riots

[Watercooler]

Not the whole USA is armed, some states have bans on gun ownership and shockingly enough, those are the areas with the highest rates of violent crime. Chicago, DC, NYC come to mind.

If you ban guns and take gun ownership out of the hands of normal law abiding citizens, the only ones that will be armed are the criminals.

Criminals do not walk into a gun store and buy a gun and have it registered.

Funny how despite legal ownership of guns in the US, the US still has more violent crime and deaths than Europe. There are more cases of road rage murders than in Europe or Asia. There are far more school shootings and gun battles than Europe or Asia. Are American criminals really thinking twice about their "victim" having a gun? Nope, I think they simply armed themselves with bigger guns with heavier firepower. The average criminal has this mentality: You got a pistol? Well guess what, I've got a AK-47. Not to mention the death penalty. Advocates say it is a deterrence to crime, but clearly that has not been the case.

That being said, part of me agree with you. My gut tells me that I would love the police to just point their automatics at those rioter scum and let them "have it". I bet after "eating some lead", those rioters will quickly back down and cease their activities. Too bad that approach isn't allowed in "democracies".

[jacky_se]

That being said, part of me agree with you. My gut tells me that I would love the police to just point their automatics at those rioter scum and let them "have it". I bet after "eating some lead", those rioters will quickly back down and cease their activities. Too bad that approach isn't allowed in "democracies".

The dead certainly would (cease their activities). But those still alive? I doubt it.

The level of gun violence in the US would be considered a civil war if it happened in Europe

[Mat]

Min07, your view presupposes that someone who finished school/college/university from 2008 to now can walk into a job if they are not "useless twat[s] who wagged school". I think you are misguided in this view. There are little to no jobs in the UK for 16-25 year olds and that has been the case (as I say) for three or four years now.

If there are no jobs, they can create one for themselves too... that is an available option.

[hullexile]

If there are no jobs, they can create one for themselves too... that is an available option.

I just came back from the UK, shops are closing, businesses are closing, tradesmen are hanging around with little to do (watched 5 men doing some retiling on a roof when only two could have done it), not sure what jobs they could create for themselves.

[Freetrader]

The level of gun violence in the US would be considered a civil war if it happened in Europe

I was curious about that. Although that statement is an exaggeration, the murder rate in the US is twice to three times as high as in Western Europe, which has as a region the lowest murder rates in the world.

List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One can't conduct a scientific study of these things since you don't have a 'control' to test against, but there is little doubt that the relative proliferation of firearms in the US must account for a significant portion of the difference in murder rates.

[penguinsix]

Interesting tidbit from Amazon UK

Baseball bat sales in the UK trending upwards today. Guess they really like the sport?

Amazon.co.uk: Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment & more

[jacky_se]

I was curious about that. Although that statement is an exaggeration, the murder rate in the US is twice to three times as high as in Western Europe, which has as a region the lowest murder rates in the world.

More like four to five times higher (six times higher than Germany, the largest EU country).

[penguinsix]

The murder rate is considerably higher in the US but the 'violent crime' rate in the US is below many European countries (assaults, rapes, etc). HOWEVER, there is a big caveat in that not all countries classify "violent crime" in the same manner which skews some of the numbers.

The most violent country in Europe: Britain is also worse than South Africa and U.S. | Mail Online

[Freetrader]

More like four to five times higher (six times higher than Germany, the largest EU country).

Um, nope. Actually about five times for Germany which has the second lowest rate in Europe. Two to three for almost everyone else.

[jacky_se]

Um, nope. Actually about five times for Germany which has the second lowest rate in Europe. Two to three for almost everyone else.

You should really try to check the website you linked to. Germany has a murder rate that is 5.95 times lower than the US', and Switzerland, Norway, Slovenia, Austria, Iceland, Monaco have a lower murder rate than Germany.