This is very disturbing. Apparently, guns are not illegal enough in jolly 'ol England
The variety of weapons on offer in Britain is extensive and includes machine guns and shotguns, as well as pistols and converted replicas. A source close to the trade in illegal weapons contacted by the Guardian listed a menu of firearms that are available on the streets of the capital. "You can get a clean [unused] 9mm automatic for £1,500, a Glock for a couple of grand and you can even make an order for a couple of MAC-10s," he said. "Or you can get a little sawn-off for £150. They're easy enough to get hold of. You'll find one in any poverty area, every estate in London, and it's even easier in Manchester, where there are areas where the police don't go.
The variety of weapons on offer in Britain is extensive and includes machine guns and shotguns, as well as pistols and converted replicas. A source close to the trade in illegal weapons contacted by the Guardian listed a menu of firearms that are available on the streets of the capital.
"You can get a clean [unused] 9mm automatic for £1,500, a Glock for a couple of grand and you can even make an order for a couple of MAC-10s," he said. "Or you can get a little sawn-off for £150. They're easy enough to get hold of. You'll find one in any poverty area, every estate in London, and it's even easier in Manchester, where there are areas where the police don't go.
Wait a second? You mean to tell me criminals somehow still get guns even though they're illegal?
According to David Dyson, a leading firearms consultant, it is possible to learn through the internet how to make a firearm, given a degree of skill, and converted deactivated weapons also feature in shootings.
That would be because guns are not difficult objects to create. Anyone with a lathe a a modicum of skill can turn out weapons in no time flat. They won't necessarily be quality firearms, but rarely do criminals discriminate in the selection of the tools of their trade.
To prevent this, the best thing to do is prevent the upstanding citizen from being able to purchase a gun legally, which will stop the criminals from... wait a minute...
But it is the arrival of eastern European weapons that, alongside a homegrown industry in converting them, has contributed to the firearms glut. "There has been an influx from eastern Europe and particularly from Poland, and there are also a lot coming in from people who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq," said the source. "In Liverpool docks, you can put in an order for 10 guns and some grenades and they'll say OK and two weeks later, they will be there - and they are straight goers."
Next you'll be telling me there's a drug problem and that people can obtain illegal substances! OH NOES!
According to Dyson, the latest "weapon of choice" is a Russian 8mm Baikal self-defence pistol, originally used for firing CS gas. "They are legally sold in Germany and won't fire a bullet but they can be converted by removing the partially blocked barrel, and replacing it with a rifled barrel," he said. "After other small alterations, it can then fire 9mm bulleted ammunition. The replacement barrel is longer than the original, and is threaded so that it will accept a silencer, which is commonly sold as part of the package.
Imagine that! Turning ordinary objects into weapons. It won't be long before we hear about people taking knives that are designed for cutting steak and killing others with them. It's almost like the design of an object has no bearing on how it's used!
Home Office data shows that gun crime is up since last year, despite the recent doubling of sentences for possessing or supplying firearms. There were 9,803 firearms offences in England and Wales in the year to March 2008 with most in London, Manchester and the West Midlands.
UNPOSSIBLE! How can gun crime go up when you keep making it harder and harder to get them? The Brady Campaign (who aren't convicted child molesters... yet) has built it's entire empire of lies on the assumption that if we remove the guns, even from law abiding citizens, that this will not happen.
Most buyers are involved with drug dealing, the source said. Some are used to rob other dealers in crimes that go unreported, others are used as protection while a deal is under way. "Someone will have a tool and there is always one guy in a posse willing to use it. They will have one guy who doesn't give a fuck.
That guy needs to be reminded he might spend four years in prison instead of two! That'll make him give a fuck. It's a sad day when I have to point to a criminal to remind the anti's what I've been saying all along - the gun is a TOOL, nothing more, nothing less. All it takes is one guy who doesn't give a fuck about laws to use that tool in an evil way.
While the conviction of Wilkinson was seen as a breakthrough, it is accepted that with the increased traffic between Britain and eastern Europe, stemming the flow of weapons remains an almost impossible task. "Guns are always available," said Dyson. "You can go to the former Soviet Union, or countries with less stringent regulations than ours, and although British Customs have their successes, many guns appear to be smuggled into the UK."
While the conviction of Wilkinson was seen as a breakthrough, it is accepted that with the increased traffic between Britain and eastern Europe, stemming the flow of weapons remains an almost impossible task.
"Guns are always available," said Dyson. "You can go to the former Soviet Union, or countries with less stringent regulations than ours, and although British Customs have their successes, many guns appear to be smuggled into the UK."
Read those two paragraphs again. Guns are always available and stemming the flow of weapons remains an almost impossible task. 5 quid says being impossible doesn't stop them from trying by restricting the rights of their citizens ten-fold.
It's impossible because only the law abiding follow the law. When you prevent the law abiding from being able to protect themselves, this is what happens.
Amnesties for people to hand over weapons are greeted with scepticism by criminals. "The gun amnesties are meaningless," the source said.
Maybe they should try "buy back" programs. Look at Chicago, they have one like every few days and their crime rate is only double the national average.
The Guardian's source said that guns were becoming a first rather than a last recourse. "A gun used to be used as a mediator; now everything is revolved with a gun. It's brought the heat on everyone. Before you would get a two [years jail sentence], now it's a five. It's getting like the US now, like The Wire. It's like a prediction of what will happen here. I think they all think they're playing Grand Theft Auto. It's madness out there."
5 years???? No wonder the criminals are running scared. NOT.
This is what Barack All for One and One for All Obama and his cronies want - this style of gun control and this is exactly where it leads. All the while, forcing innocent people to wait three days, trying to limit purchases to one gun a month, presuming everyone guilty before proving them innocent, and worrying about cosmetics and then having the audacity to claim that the reason crime hasn't dropped is because they're not stomping your rights enough.
Sorry, but England puts that lie to rest.
Guns are always available and stemming the flow of weapons remains an almost impossible task. 5 quid says being impossible doesn't stop them from trying by restricting the rights of their citizens ten-fold.