There isn't much that can be said about this article that it doesn't already say...
One of the key measures of a society's health is how easily you can insulate yourself from its underclass. In America, unless one resides in a very small number of problematic inner-city quarters or wishes to make a career in the drug trade, one will live a life blessedly untouched by crime. In Britain, alas, it's the peculiar genius of Home Office policy to have turned the entire country into one big, rundown, inner-city, no-go slum estate, extending from prosperous suburbs to leafy villages, even unto Upper Cheyne Row.
...but I'm gonna say something anyway.
When are they going to realize that disarming the law-abiding only makes them bigger targets for the criminals?
In countless movies, in the genre usually referred to as "post-apocalyptic," we are presented with a ravaged world where marauding bandits roam the country, preying on the defenseless. Civilization has collapsed and the rule of law has been swept away, along with any pretense of government. As the name implies, these worlds are usually the result of some sort of massive global catastrophe such as full-blown nuclear war, an asteroid impact, a genetically engineered super-plague, or similar. Yet, if thise keeps up, I can see this as the fate of much of Britain (and Australia as well with its disarmament laws). The traditional first form of deterrence against crime, the victim who can defend him- or herself effectively, has been outlawed. If the situation continues on its current trend, it won't be much longer before we have those bands of marauders roaming across the British countryside, preying on the defenseless and returning to their hidden bases before the ineffective police response arrives. After all, can the future be anything but bleak in a country about which the following can be said?
These days, even as he or she is being clobbered, the more thoughtful British subject is usually keeping an eye (the one that hasn't been poked out) on potential liability. Four years ago, Shirley Best, proprietor of the Rolander Fashion emporium, whose clients include Zara Phillips, was ironing some clothes when the proverbial two youths showed up. They pressed the hot iron into her flesh, burning her badly, and then stole her watch. "I was frightened to defend myself," said Miss Best. "I thought if I did anything I would be arrested." There speaks the modern British crime victim.
The British backbone was forged in steel during two world wars, the civilians' no less than the military's. And although the British military continues to prove it's mettle (or is that metal?) in Iraq alongside US forces, the disarmament laws back home have only served to replace the spines of law-abiding citizens with ones of flaccid jelly. I hope that someday soon Great Britain, and Australia as well, come to their senses and allow the law-abiding citizenry the tools with which to defend themselves. It would be a tragedy if the world of the Road Warrior came about not with a bang but with a whimper.
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