THE WASHINGTON TIMES
  March 3, 2001
 
  UNARMED AND UNSAFE
 
http://208.147.41.153/printarticle.asp?action=print&ArticleID=commentary-200132141844
 
  By Paul Craig Roberts
  CREATORS SYNDICATE
 
  The last vestige of civilized Britain has fallen away - the unarmed
  British "Bobbie." For 170 years, British police functioned without guns.
  Since their founding by Sir Robert Peel in 1829, Bobbies walked their
  beats armed only with their nightsticks. Until the last few years of
  these 17 decades, the British public was armed. Now it is the other way
  around. The police have guns, and the law-abiding public doesn't. What
  happened?
 
  Britain has the most severe "gun control" laws in the world. Not even
  members of the British Olympic Shooting Team are allowed pistols. The
  British are reduced to registered single- and double-barreled shotguns,
  and the maximum permitted shell load is birdshot.
 
  According to the arguments of gun-control advocates, Britain should be
  safe and crime free. But, alas, violent crime and robberies have
  skyrocketed. Gunfights between rival immigrant gangs caused the
  revolution in British policing. In Robin Hood's Nottinghamshire,
  constables now patrol in pairs armed with semi-automatic pistols. They
  are backed up by armed-response vehicles stocked with submachine guns.
 
  If gun control makes society safe, why was it necessary to overthrow
  British police tradition, arm police with semiautomatic weapons and
  provide machinegun backup? As a test case in gun control, Britain proves
  it to be a total failure. The result is exactly the one predicted by the
  National Rifle Association: "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will
  have guns."
 
  In Britain, a man's home may be his castle where the king of England
  cannot enter without a warrant, but robbers and rapists enter at will.
  It is easier and less risky for a criminal to have his way with a victim
  in the privacy of the victim's home than in public. Gun control has made
  home invasion safe for criminals.
 
  In the United States, experts have proven time and again that widespread
  gun ownership is a deterrent to crime and prevents between 1 million and
  3 million criminal acts each year. Gun ownership saves numerous lives
  and foils large numbers of rapes and robberies. Yet, gun controllers
  persist in their attempts to disarm the public.
 
  A person can't help but wonder whether gun-control advocates are
  uninformed fools or have a secret agenda. Once gun control enters
  politics, the lying makes even Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton blush. As
  the 20th century came to a close, Canadian Justice Minister Allan Rock
  fended off criticisms of a gun-registration bill his government was
  pushing by giving assurances that "there is no reason to confiscate
  legally owned firearms."
 
  Within 10 months of the minister's assurances, 553,000 legally
  registered handguns were confiscated. Now, rifles and shotguns must be
  licensed and registered. Having learned that the only purpose of
  registration is to tell the government where the guns are, compliance
  has collapsed. Large numbers of law-abiding Canadians prefer to risk
  five years in prison than to register their guns.
 
  Gun-control laws dramatically reduce public safety and turn law-abiding
  citizens into law-breakers. Licensing and registration increase crime by
  devoting police resources to paperwork. Gun-registration databases
  cannot prevent crimes or aid in their solving, because criminals do not
  register their guns.
 
  The people most dangerous to the public are not on the FBI's "Most
  Wanted List." Far more dangerous to our safety than criminals are
  gun-control extremists like New York Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer
  and Clinton and Sarah Brady of Handgun Control.
 
  These are the people who will leave us defenseless as they abrogate the
  Constitution and destroy respect for law, while promising an end to "gun
  violence."
 
  The American Rifleman reports that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
  Firearms - the guys who brought us Waco - are using intimidation and
  threats to compile an illegal registry of gun owners. The BATF thumbs
  its nose at federal court decisions and continues to harass legitimate
  gun dealers and purchasers as if they were criminals.
 
  We need to ask ourselves why liberals have made gun confiscation such a
  priority. I think it is to distract us from the disastrous results of
  liberal social engineering. When high school students shoot their
  classmates and workers open fire on their co-workers, the fault lies not
  in guns. It lies in the breakdown in self-control and moral integrity.
  The irrational shootings stem from the success of liberals in achieving
  their goals.

Paul Craig Roberts