Already, following the Derrick Bird shooting spree in Cumbria, there have been calls for toughening of the gun laws in this country. This is the typical knee jerk reaction that we saw after Hungerford and Dunblane.
I ask you how would that help ? How would tougher laws have helped Derrick Birds victims ? Derrick Bird had, apparently, held a gun license for over 20 years with no signs that he was anything other than a law-abiding citizen. No indications that he was a risk.
There have been mass killings or attacks in the past where either guns or knives have been used and we have had legislation for years.
The UK knife legislation makes it illegal to carry certain types of knife or knives with blades over a certain size. That doesn’t stop the yobs from wandering our streets carrying everything from flick knives thru hunting knives to samurai swords. It didn’t stop a machete wielding individual from attacking children in a Wolverhampton school.
There will always be bad people out there who will circumvent all the legal controls to get what they want. And then there are the folks who just explode into bad actions as a result of drugs, alcohol, mental or anger issues.
You cannot legislate for spontaneous events which, so far, the events in Cumbria appear to have been.
WrAnTz 