coming back to haunt them

In 1903, the Pistols Act forbade selling pistols to anyone who did not have a license.
The 1920 Firearms Act repealed the Pistols Act of 1903, but also expanded the licensing requirement to the purchases of all all firearms and ammunition. The license specified not only the weapon the person was eligible to purchase, but also the quantity of ammunition, and in order to procure a license, applicants had to convince their local constables that they had a sufficiently compelling reason for the license, and did not have “intemperate habits” or an “unsound mind”.
The 1937 Firearms Act expanded the purchase licensing to include shotguns, effectively banned all fully-automatic firearms from civilian ownership, regulated firearm dealers, allowed constables to add conditions to individual licenses, and mandated that “self-defense” was no longer a sufficient reason for requesting a firearm license.
The 1968 Firearms Act codified all of the previous firearm-related laws into one document, and included licensing for long-barreled shotguns, allowed constables to stop and search anyone who the constable suspects of having a firearm, and allowed constabulatory inspections, at any time, of firearm licenses (and if licenses are not provided, constabulatory confiscation of all firearms and ammunition at the premises).
The Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1988 prohibited all pump-action and semi-automatic rifles other than those chambered in .22, any pump-action or semi-automatic smooth-bore firearm not chambered in .22 but with a barrel less than 24 inches or an overall length less than 40 inches, smooth-bore revolvers that were not muzzle loaders nor chambered for 9mm rimfire ammunition, any firearm “not lawfully on sale in Great Britain in substantial numbers at any time before 1988″, and any firearm that meets that date requirement but is “specially dangerous”. Additionally, registration and secure storage of otherwise legal shotguns was required, shotguns were required to have fixed magazines capable of holding no more than 2 rounds, and further leeway was granted to constables concerning firearm licenses.
The Firearms (Amendment) and Firearms (Amendment) (No.2) Act of 1997, when combined, effectively banned almost all cartridge ammunition handguns, regardless of caliber. The only permitted handguns were antique and muzzle-loading black powder guns, firearms of historical interest, and air pistols. Expanding ammunition was banned, and even more leeway was granted to constables when issuing firearm licenses.
Simultaneous to all of this firearm-related legislation, knives and the carrying of knives have been gradually outlawed, culminating in the Criminal Justice Act of 1988, which banned all pocket knives with blades exceeding three inches. Furthermore, there have been movements to ban any knives with points, including kitchen cutlery.
After all this time, and all this legislation, and all these registrations, regulations, restrictions, bans, and confiscations, there are those in who would proclaim that all of these various and sundry laws should have made England (this is the country we are talking about, after all…) into the safest place in the world. After all, all of the supposedly “dangerous” tools have been outlawed in that country, and the country is, after all, an island – enforcement of these bans should not be difficult.
Unfortunately, the ban has been somewhat difficult to execute and maintain, though most English subjects abided by the word of the law. At any rate, forcibly disarming the law-abiding populace of England may have had some unintended consequences:

Britain’s violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European union, it is revealed today.

Official crime figures show the UK also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa – widely considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries.

(Emphasis added.)
The article goes on to provide these numbers: The violent crime rate, per 100,000 people, in England is 2,034, while the violent crime rate here in America is 466.
England has banned handguns, banned rifles, restricted the hell out of shotguns, and is starting to ban knives, and yet their violent crime rate is over four times America’s. Is there a better indication that banning inanimate objects does not stop criminals?
Potentially worse than the bans, though, is the societal attitude that has accompanied them. England has gradually demonized firearms, firearm ownership, firearm sports, self-defense, and self-reliance over the years, to the point where defending yourself from criminal assaults is almost likely to wind you up in prison. And just as the subjects of England have been trained not to fight back, the criminals know their victims will not resist, which makes them them that much more daring, and their lives that much easier. Hell, even England’s own Olympic shooting team has to practice out of the country, on their own dime, because they would be committing a crime if they dared hone their skills inside England.
Unfortunately, the totemists, gun-grabbers, and other hoplophobes in England will only use this unfortunate situation as backing for their endless “do it again, only HARDER” mentaliy, as if continued bans and regulations will stop people who do not care about bans or regulations. Thankfully, we Americans have the opportunity to learn from our once rulers, and not succumb to the idiocy of pointless and ineffective bans that, in reality, only serve to aid and abet criminals in their illegal activities. We, as a country, have no reason to follow in the failed footsteps of once-Great Britain, and I will do my damnest to ensure we never do.
(Courtesy of Say Uncle and Newsalert.)
(And now, I disappear for the weekend. Toodles.)