mrken30

I assume it is still illegal to own handguns in the UK

SultanOfSwing

If they would just ban MPs, that would never have happened ...

Pulaski

Machine pistols?

SultanOfSwing

Not quite.

mrken30

As in MP-5s

Anian

Americans gloating over a gun death in the UK is the worst part of this.

sir_eccles

Clearly gun control doesn't work! /sarcasm

dc koop

Only the asshole kind

Pulaski

It's only the flip side to British attitude of superiority over the lack of effective gun control in the US.

Neither is attractive.

robin1234

Ok, to an extent, I agree with you.
BUT.
In terms of public policy, the UK has got it just about right with firearms legislation & controls. The policy is humane, life affirming and generally effective.
The U.S., perfectly obviously, has got it wrong. To the extent that thousands of Americans die needlessly every year.

Hiro11

This, like so many in the UK press, is smug and reductive. I assume you've noticed that the murder rate in the US is roughly half what it was twenty years ago and is currently at a level last seen in the early 60s:

Homicide Rate (per 100,000), 1950–2014

Clearly the US hasn't just been sitting there.

Also, you make it sound as if there's an obvious and easy solution to the problem. What exactly do you propose?

Rete

I've not seen any Americans gloating about her death. It is sad and so unnecessary. A waste of human life.

mrken30

I propose that they enforce strict gun controls for new purchases. Bill Gates puts up $1500 for each gun handed in as an incentive. This would probably clear up about 80% of the guns out there. Or you could go the California route and just make them illegal

Rete

That doesn't really solve the problem does it? You can still cross the state line and purchase a gun and bring it back to California.

LondonSquirrel

Obviously we don't know the assailant's story yet. But it may well be he's part of the failed 'care in the community' policy where these days the authorities seem to refuse to lock anybody up, no matter how much of a threat they may be. Seems like things have swung completely the other way, where they'd lock you up for any mental health problem and never let you out whether you were no danger or not. Why do things that are supposed to make things better always go too far and cause more problems? Like teachers being bullies to kids (some were sadistic) so they banned corporal punishment in schools, which is fair enough, but they also took away the right to use any force at all, and now the kids hit the teachers!

Both Britain and America seem to have the mental health care problems.