by
Larry Pratt
Part V — His Deadly “Domestic Disarmament” Scheme Has Resulted In Soaring Gun Crime, Violent Crime Rate In England

Among the outrageous, absurd, un-Constitutional and deadly positions held by Prof. Amitai Etzioni is his support for the kind of gun control that has been legislated in England. In our interview, when we ask Etzioni if he is still an enthusiastic advocate of the kind of domestic disarmament they have in England, he replies quickly: “Very much so.”

In 1991, in an editorial, suggesting what should be done in America, Etzioni said: “What is needed is domestic disarmament [emphasis his]. This is the policy of practically all other Western democracies, from Canada to Britain to Germany, from France to Scandinavia. Domestic disarmament entails the removal of arms from private hands and, ultimately, from much of the police force. Once guns are hard to obtain and the very possession and sale of them are offenses, the level of violent crime will fall significantly.”

OK. So, we read to Etzioni from a July 17, 2001, United Press International (UPI) story — datelined London, England — which reports, in part: “The use of handguns in crime has risen 40 percent since authorities banned the weapon in response to a 1996 school massacre in the Scottish village of Dunblane, according to new research. The study was done by the Center For Defense Studies at Kings College in London.”

We ask Etzioni: “Is this really the kind of thing you want for our country?”

Outraged, he says, angrily: “See, what you are doing is a famous tactic which Joe McCarthy loved to do. If you want me to discuss a document, send it to me before [you mention it] so I can check it and analyze it and talk about it. You had a chance to look at it. You shove it in my face and don’t give me a chance to look at it. I don’t believe a word you said. I don’t believe there is such a thing.”

Etzioni insists that England is “a much, much safer country” since legislating domestic disarmament. Is he aware that the violent crime rate in England and Wales is, today, higher than in the United States? Yes, “that’s true,” he says.

    Q: But, you said they were much safer since the private possession of guns was outlawed.

    Etzioni: They were safer since they removed the guns.

Huh? How in the world could people in England be “much, much safer” if, when private guns were “removed,” the gun crime rate and violent crime rate there has soared?! Truly, the Professor lives in a fantasy world and is utterly unconcerned about the truth and the deadly consequences of what it is he has enthusiastically advocated.

And the UPI story we quoted to Etzioni is just one of many reports about the rising crime rate in England:

    * A USA Today story (8/7/2001) datelined London says this about 12 people murdered in Lambeth, a section of London: “What alarms police and community leaders is that half the murders were committed with guns, increasingly the weapon of choice of criminals across Britain…. The increase in firearm crime has critics questioning whether gun-control laws here, among the world’s strictest, have been misguided.” David Bredin of the Countryside Alliance says: “It is crystal clear that legally held firearms are not the problem and that the existing gun laws do not lead to crime reduction and a safer place to live.”

    * A London Sunday Times story (6/17/2001) reports: “Police forces have quietly armed their officers with a new high-powered armour-piercing rifle in an attempt to retain the upper hand in an arms race with criminals. Faced with highly equipped criminals, specialist police teams are adopting the Heckler & Koch G36K, a high-velocity military assault rifle used by German special forces. Previously unpublished official figures… from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Of Constabulary show that firearms were issued to officers in 10,915 cases [in 2000], nearly three times more than in 1991.”

    * Another UPI story (7/4/2001), a commentary by Iain Murray, says, in part, about England: “This is a country where it is virtually impossible to get access to a gun legally. Some commentators have suggested that part of the reason that the current outbreak of foot and mouth disease spread so rapidly was because veterinarians could not shoot infected animals on the spot as they are now forbidden to carry pistols…. gun crimes are increasing…. It does not seem that Britain can be said to be a safer place as a result of the gun ban…. Nor has strict control had much effect on the number of guns available to criminals. U.K. police estimate that there are nearly 300,000 illegal guns in circulation there — one for every 200 people.”

    * Another story in the London Sunday Times (5/13/2001) reports: “Gun crime in Britain will escalate sharply as drug gangs battle for supremacy, police experts will warn ministers after the election…. Trafficking in weapons is also on the increase…. According to police, the price of contract killings has fallen from thousands of pounds to as little as Pounds 200, with the killers more likely to be drug addicts than professional assassins.”

And there are many more stories from England like this proving that Prof. Etzioni’s assertion that people in England are “much, much safer” since private gun possession was outlawed is a lie.