Banging on about guns!

 Banging on about guns!

This is supposed to be a long rant, addressed to the Editor of an important American newspaper, (any one will do) on the subject of gun control.  Have any of you tried to do that?  This article is too long for Facebook, and tweets are what birds are famous for.  If you try the letters page of a newspaper or press the Editor link, you can read other people's letters, or an article written by the Editor, accompanied by a request to pay for future issues, when all you want to do is rant for some length so that people can read your opinions on some subject or other.

I am genuinely scared by guns.  I was once a Training Manager in a TV factory, and I was sent on a "living rough" management course in the Highlands of Scotland.  We had an activities day.  Some of our lot taught canoeing to deprived youths, others were sent to organise an Orienteering Course.

Muggins found himself, after half an hour's instruction, teaching Clay Pigeon Shooting with a 12 bore shotgun to some unemployed Glasgow youths from Maryhill.  So of course I don't like guns!

Of course, that was then, and this is now, where my opinions are stronger than my legs.

I am very proud to have been fortunate to have been born in Britain 76 years ago, when life was, in many ways simpler, where letters were made up of letters, (think about it!), and America was the land that Cunard pointed the "Queen Mary" at.

British police are wonderful - they really are!  Even in the "Troubles" it was rare to see a PC with a gun.  And yet, when was the last gun massacre in the UK?  There was one in Lockerbie, and one in Hungerford, forty years ago.  It is a fallacy that you can only stop a bad man with a gun by a good man with a gun.  Many Americans carry guns because they believe they will be protected by other Americans who carry guns to protect themselves from other people with - (you get the idea).  Two massacres in forty years!  What a lovely country.  Guns are regulated, licences are mandatory, and guns have to be locked up somewhere safe.

Over thirty years ago, we moved to Australia.  I was a little disturbed by Australian police, as they carried a pistol on their belts.  That didn't seem at all safe.  It was the time of the Irish troubles in the UK, so we were all rather alert (bomb scares we called them).  One day, I saw a policeman sit down in a food court in Bondi.  I didn't think anything of it until a second PC sauntered in and sat down at the same table.  Five minutes later a third and then a fourth, armed with guns, wandered round a couple of times, bought burgers surreptitiously, and sat down with the first two.  By the time eight policemen, all armed, were sat down, I had started to panic.  Eight policeman with a lot of firepower, all in one place.

A police sergeant bought a cheeseburger and a coffee, and sat down at the head of the table.  They had a committee meeting.  Nine guns and an Agenda.

Then, about twenty five years ago we had the Port Arthur Tragedy.  Quite a few tourists were shot and killed by a lone guy with an assault rifle.  In a few months, Parliament, almost unanimously banned assault rifles, and all other guns were severely restricted.  There have been no major incidents, since..  About five years ago, someone shot up a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.  Within two months, their Parliament had banned most firearms.

Britain, Australia and New Zealand are three of the safest countries in the world.  There must have been half a million people in the Mall for the Platinum Anniversary of H.M.  How many people didn't feel safe?  How many police were openly armed? I rest my case.

Well, I've gone on a bit, so look out for the armed citizens of the US and Switzerland in a few days time.