Newsflash!. Still Not Enough "Gun Control" In England!

No, I'm not kidding:

Thugs 'using spent shells'

Chris Osuh
7/ 8/2007

DEADLY 'dum-dum' bullets are being made by criminals using spent shells from shooting ranges, a leading gun crime campaigner has claimed.

A "leading gun crime campaigner" who wouldn't recognize a "dum-dum" bullet if one hit her in the ass, I imagine.

Lucy Cope of Mothers Against Guns said thugs in cities like Manchester are loading guns with home-made bullets designed to explode on impact and cause greater damage.

Right! Now they're explosive bullets!

Ms Cope, whose son was shot dead outside a London nightspot in 2002, wants the government to introduce a law that requires shooting ranges and licensed gun holders to return spent shells before they can buy more ammunition.

Er, wait...

The cartridge cases or the "bullet tips," as Ebay calls them? And does this have anything to do with barrel shrouds? Regardless, her answer is the same-old same-old: Pass a new law making it even more difficult to be a law-abiding gun owner.

She said the M.E.N. gun murder statistics were `horrific', and said a DNA database of licensed firearms and the banning of replicas would help tackle a `serious epidemic' of gun crime.

Um, I've already pretty thoroughly debunked the concept of "gun DNA," but that never stops these people. The last sixty attempts didn't improve the situation? It's worse now? The philosophy cannot be wrong! It had to be the implementation that was at fault! Do it again, only harder! Magical thinking is their MO. Or, if you wish to be less charitable: insanity.

The campaigner described gun criminals as urban terrorists, and said mandatory 10-year sentences for possessing a firearm would curb their activities.

Because mandatory 5-year sentences don't?

Manchester campaigner Raymond Bell said unsolved murders helped fuel a cycle of revenge.

No, it's just that criminals can't turn to the "justice" system when they're ripped off or shot, so they have to handle it themselves.

"Some young people see relatives shot dead and the crime go unsolved," he said. "Then, because they can get access to guns, they are taking their own justice."

Uh, wait. THEY CAN GET ACCESS TO GUNS?!?!? That's UNPOSSIBLE^®! Guns are outlawed or very strictly controlled!

Aren't they?

Mr Bell, of the group Carisma, said better relations between the police and the community in inner city neighbourhoods was key to tackling an `epidemic' of killing.

Actually arresting and jailing known perps qualifies as "better relations" doesn't it?

Mistrust

Mr Bell said: "Some officers on the ground are antagonising the youths. We need a force that reflects the community, but that won't happen while there is a climate of mistrust."

No, I guess not. Arresting and jailing known perps qualifies as "antagonizing the youths," it seems.

Meanwhile, Moss Side councillor Roy Walters urged people with information about unsolved crimes to talk to the police. He said: "The community is hurt more with every young death. But there are people in the community who know who has committed these crimes.

And if they go to the police, the "antagonized youth" will then threaten the witnessess - or worse - and the cops will do nothing. And the witnesses know it.

So not much gets solved.

"If they come forward, the police will do everything in their power to protect them."

"Everything in their power" being pretty much limited to handing out ASBOs, if that much.

Khan Moghal, of Manchester Council for Community Relations, said it could take years to end the tit for tat gun culture.

Here's a hint: It won't end. At best, only the technology will change. And the volume of violence.

He said: "Big communities have these problems.

"There was a time when these gangs were allowed to flourish and they have maintained a link - it's become a generational thing and it's not easy to just root it out."

He added: "If you can get rid of the perpetrators, you can end the spiral, because it will give people a breathing space."

Damned straight. But you're not "getting rid of the perpetrators." You're still doing silly shit like blaming the few remaining legal gun owners for the violence that you do dick-all about because anything positive in that direction is considered "antagonizing the youth."

("Unpossible" - a registered trademark of Say Uncle. Used with permission. Or at least forgiveness.)