Originally posted by Toad
The problem with your theory is that England had essentially the same low rate for ages BEFORE the latest ban/confiscation laws AND English rates have certainly not materially decreased since the laws. They may have trended slightly upwards since.
So much for your theory.
You're obsessed with that 1996 ban, and it has bugger all to do with anything. It would have been very difficult to get a handgun before the ban, and it might have been even harder after it. I don't even know what that ban did - (something to do with calibre?) - except maybe portray Blair's government as caring, and trustworthy -
So if we accept for one moment (and I'm sure you'll agree) that the new legislation made bugger all difference, then what we have now as the status quo also existed before 1996/97 or whenever the hell it was.
So why do you keep talking about a piece of legislation that in your opinion did nothing? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the gun control we've
always had. You seem to be making the mistake of thinking that gun ownership in Britain before 1996 was akin to that of the US in 1881.
There has been no discernible trend with regard to gun
homicides. It's been between 50 and 100 for the past 20 years, except 1985 (45) and 1996 (49). In 1987 it was 77 (Hungerford Massacre) and in 1995 it was 70 (Dunblane).
I'm not aware of any "confiscations". There have been two amnesties.