The Guns Of Neverown

I have been thinking about guns lately. Mostly because of Newtown, but also because, like the Americans, we have an ancient right to arm and defend ourselves.

Hence the dodgy title.

We are permitted to own weapons "...as allowed by law"*. The last four words in the statement (originally giving Protestants the right to arm themselves, like already-armed Catholics) are the most important, and successive governments have all but removed our right to own a weapon. Although, shotgun licenses may be granted, rifles too, and under some rare circumstances, pistols. My problem with that is the "licensed" part. A license may or may not be granted, and it may or may not be revoked. And of course, because the license can be taken away on a whim, we never own the weapon. Not truly. Not as long as it is in someone's gift to take that "right" away. No real freedom there.

* "Subjects’ Arms. That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law." Link here: Bill of Rights 1688 which, by the way, has never been amended or repealed in whole or part.


This is purely anecdotal, but I have learnt that those most terrified of guns are the same people that have never been taught to use one, safely and responsibly. In the military I fired many shooty bangy things, and it was almost always a pleasure. Safety is a huge thing in the armed forces, and a negligent discharge (known as an ND), on the range or anywhere else, is frowned upon and punished harshly. My brother was fined £100 for an ND and his next promotion was delayed by a year.

Among the weapons I have fired are: the 7.62MM SLR (Self Loading Rifle), 9MM Browning pistol, Sterling SMG (Sub Machine Gun), 7.62MM LMG (Light Machine Gun), GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun), Blowpipe (I missed the target), and I lobbed a few hand grenades. I was also taught how to use PE4 (Plastic Explosives) and can still clearly recall where to place charges to bring down a tree (Route Denial), a bridge (for the same reason) or a medium sized building. I also stood within a couple of feet of a tactical nuclear weapon but they wouldn't let me play with that.

My time in the daft and barmy was in the eighties and while the weapons may have changed, handling techniques have not. Basic safety is still the most important lesson to be taught, and repeated, endlessly.

My point? Weapons are only as dangerous as the people using/abusing them. I was and am comfortable around weapons. I just don't like the business end. On my travels in Africa I have had more than one AK-47 shoved in my face and I almost always gently reach out, and with a finger, move the barrel away from my face. I meet with few problems when doing this. It is usually the police, usually in Nigeria, and they usually have no magazine fitted to the weapon and only rarely do the possess any rounds. (In fact, because the government doesn't pay them very often, it is more likely that they have sold the magazine and the 30 rounds to buy food for their families). Which is why they stick the gun in my face in the first place: they want a bribe. They never get anything from me, AK-47 or no AK-47. It is not my responsibility to pay them, and I tell them so.

But, I digress.

The Newtown massacre.

Is all as it seems? I doubt it very much. I don't even need to concoct a theory for this one. (Note: this does not mean I understand what went on).

Have a look at this: Official Story Spins Out Of Control

Thanks to Harbinger, who kindly sent me the link. If you want a different, but no less messy account of the shooting, please pop over to The Tap's Place for a selection of posts on Sandy Hook.

As the author in the first link says, in the early stages of an event, the media get many facts wrong and later correct them. Nothing unusual in that: things are moving fast and as we all know, what they don't know they will make up. Like I said, adjustments can be made later.

The problem here is with the officials. Their story does not add up at all.

To add (unnecessary) fuel to a blazing inferno, British newspapers do what they can to confuse and conflate.

Look at this from the Daily Mail: Trigger Happy Families

Trigger happy families? In not one case does a family (or family member) say that they just simply love shooting weapons. None of them. They have them for sporting or utilitarian reasons. They have them so that they can defend themselves. I can just picture hordes of tutting, outraged DM readers....

I have been to the USA many times. Mostly to southern states like Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. You won't be surprised to learn that they are big fans of the bangy things. They are also (coincidentally?) more religious than the northern states. They can quote huge tracts of their Constitution verbatim, with no reference notes. They do not (all) register their weapons because that information is then held publicly. Any bad guy can simply peruse the records down at County Hall or in their local library, identify who has guns at home and who doesn't, tool up, and off they go on a burglary/killing/raping spree. Friends of mine are proud of their gun collections. I never yet saw a collection that included automatic weapons though. They mostly have a couple of pistols, a shotgun or two, and more often than not, sporting rifles.

We think that we have guns under control in the UK. After all, did we not legislate against them? Did we not, over several decades, disarm the public? Hand guns are banned. Rifles are (mostly) banned. Automatic weapons are banned. Gun crime never happens, right? Oh, yeah. Dunblane. Hungerford. Those armed robberies. The shootings in the drug-turf wars, using MAC-10's and TEC-9's. But just those.

Now, only the bad guys have guns. And the police. But I repeat myself.

There will come a time, I reckon, when you will look wistfully into the corner of your lounge or bedroom and wish that what you were looking at was a gunsafe. We live in a nasty world. Mostly, we need protection. Not just from those thieving gits that smash a window, creep around and steal all your stuff, but from the very people who have no desire for you to be able to once again carry a weapon, lawfully.

The government needs us to be unarmed.

And that is the most powerful reason I know of that makes me want a gun.

CR.