Monday, February 11, 2008

Where's the crime reduction?

We keep talking about England's out-of-control violent crime. We keep pointing out that the British government said that a drop in gun ownership would result in a drop in violent crime. We keep seeing stories where kids are being murdered anyway:

Kodjo Yenga was ambushed in a quiet London street by about a dozen youngsters armed with knives and bats. The 16-year-old tried to escape but was cornered and stabbed in the heart. The gang ran away laughing as the teenager lay bleeding in his girlfriend's arms. He died later in hospital.

There it is again folks. Guns didn't kill Yenga, people did. If they had had guns there's little doubt that they would have used them to murder him. However, even if they did not have knives and baseball bats they would have proceeded to stomp the guy to death or beat his skull in with a brick. They were out for blood and Kodjo Yenga was unarmed.

Murderers are predators. They'll kill simply because they want to, because they think it's fun, because they won't control themselves, because they want to show how powerful they are, or maybe just because they're animals. They don't kill because they have a weapon in their hands. The weapon is only a convenient tool. They would be just as lethal without weapons, just less efficient.

Yenga may have been lured into a bad situation in a moment of youthful pride, but the simple harsh reality remains that in London the criminals are armed and the citizens are easily lead to the slaughter. In the face of such a brutal reality, it is absolutely unfathomable why England has declared that the thugs can run free in the streets, but honest law-abiding subjects are not allowed to defend themselves with the only weapon available that could even the odds in such a situation.

It's worse than unfathomable. It's immoral.