I guess you didn't read the 10,000 (2002) vs 25,000 (2003) numbers in the article? The article posted shows a rappid increase in gun related crimes despite guns being illegal.
The only problem is, they've made up the figures. From the official crime statistics:
"The changes in both homicides and firearm offences were small in 2003/04: there was an increase of less than one per cent in firearm offences, and a fall of around two per cent in homicides (after excluding retrospectively recorded Harold Shipman murders from the 2002/03 total)."
and
"In 2003/04 there were a provisional 10,340 firearm offences in England and Wales. This was an increase of less than one per cent since 2002/03 (Figure 5.6). The number of offences has risen each year since 1997/98, but the 2003/04 rise is the smallest."
The only way to get the figures up to 25,000 is to add the air gun crimes to the firearms crimes. Firearms crimes were just over 10,000, air gun crimes just over 14,000.
What they've done is take the previous year's figures for firearms crimes, and 2003's figures for firearms crimes AND air gun crimes, and lump them together.
But stick to that "68" number... especially since it looks better than that "97" number quoted in the article.
The "97" number is wrong, plain and simple. Again, the official statistics:
2000-01 73
2001-02 97
2002-03 81
2003-04 68
You can get the official crime statistics at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hosb1004.pdfMind you, it still sounds the same even if you use the (false) 97 figure:
"What I find funny is some Americans claiming Britain's 97 gun murders last year prove gun control doesn't work, but America's 10,000 gun murders a year prove more guns = less crime."
Using the real figure, 147 times as many people were murdered with a gun in the US. Using the false figure, it's still 103 times as many.
It seems that comparing the pre-ban to post-ban numbers in the UK will no longer work for you. I just find it funny that you are still blindly flailing away with that one.
I've never supported the virtual ban on handguns in the UK. It was silly, because we already had very good gun controls before that.
My position is that gun control is much better than the virtual free for all in the US. The 68 to 10,000 firearms murder figure would seem to support that.