Gun Control Failure: British Residents Trained to Treat Gunshot Wounds
June 1, 2004
British Broadcasting Corp.
Red Cross officials are providing first-aid training to British residents living in high gun-crime areas so that they can provide basic first aid at the scenes of shootings, the BBC reported June 1.
Training has begun in parts of Manchester, including Moss Side and Hulme. According to Red Cross officials, the goal is to save lives by providing residents with the skills to treat gun victims in the vital few minutes before emergency personnel arrive.
"We will be targeting ordinary people from those communities most affected by gun crime who will be willing to help out," said Lindsay Wong, a support worker from the Moss Side-based DASH/Positive Futures. "They will be given basic first-aid training and be made readily identifiable, so that in the event of an emergency people know where to turn."
The Manchester City Council said the effort might also encourage people to work together to fight gun crime.
Funding for the training was provided by the British government through Voluntary Action Manchester, an agency that provides support to community groups.
Commentary:
Great Britain banned private ownership of handguns in 1997. Yet crime did not fall after handguns were banned - it rose sharply. Serious violent crime rates from 1997 to 2002 averaged 29 percent higher than 1996; robbery was 24 percent higher; murders 27 percent higher. Before the law, armed robberies had fallen by 50 percent from 1993 to 1997, but as soon as handguns were banned, the robbery rate shot back up, almost back to their 1993 levels.
Special thanks to the anti-gun Brady Campaign for raising awareness to this problem on their website - we always enjoy it when they publish stories that prove they are wrong. This story is proof once again that if having guns is criminal, only criminals will have guns.
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