Monday, January 14, 2008

Discriminating against minorities

Has become a signature of this Labour government. Replica gun collectors are the latest target, and this attack on a harmless minority is supported by the Liberal Democrats.

How big a problem is the use of reactivated guns?

... the most recent Home Office firearms figures from 2005/6 show that reactivated or deactivated firearms were recorded as being used in just eight offences, out of a total of 11,084.
In other words entirely insignificant.

The reason for this is simple. It isn't worth bothering. Illegal weapons are just too easy to buy. It is, after all, simple to make even a machine gun from scratch in a small workshop. But there's no need when you can buy a gun down the pub.

Attacks against harmless minorities intended to disguise the ineffectiveness of your broader civil policies are contemptible. But to call a Labour cabinet minister contemptible has become tautological.

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