Headline in 'no-guns" Great Britain - "Gun crime goes up by 89% in a decade"

Despite the fact that handguns were banned in that country in 1997, Great Britain's Daily Mail is reporting that gun crime has almost doubled in the past decade.

From the article:

The latest Government figures show that the total number of firearm offences in England and Wales has increased from 5,209 in 1998/99 to 9,865 last year - a rise of 89 per cent.

In some parts of the country, the number of offences has increased more than five-fold.

In eighteen police areas, gun crime at least doubled.

The report goes on to say that the number of women charged with firearms offences in London has increased six-fold in the past year - 12 have been charged since January.

Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Grayling, is quoted as saying 'In areas dominated by gang culture, we're now seeing guns used to settle scores between rivals as well as turf wars between rival drug dealers.

According to the article, last week, police in London revealed they had begun carrying out armed patrols on some streets. The move means officers armed with sub-machine guns are engaged in routine policing for the first time.

When American gun ban extremists push to enforce British-style gun control laws here, gun rights advocates are quick to point out that criminals will be undeterred by such bans and will still be able to gain access to firearms. This is clearly the case in Great Britain, where armed criminals are having their way with a disarmed populace, who themselves are often prosecuted for trying to defend themselves.

When this same phenomenon of increasing crime happens in American cities or states with oppressive gun control laws, officials quickly seek to blame neighboring states that still recognize the right to bear arms. No word yet on which free American state is to be blamed for all the gun crime across the pond.

The failed foreign social experiment of gun bans must never be allowed to meet our shores. It is up to all of us. It is up to you.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.