Obtaining a Gun in the UK Is Far More Difficult Than in the U S

Gun Laws / Gun Violence Gun violence, gun registration, and mass shootings in the United States -- and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom -- have caused authorities great concern over the past few years. And these issues have received a great deal of media attention and hence are worthy of research. This paper reviews gun violence in the U.S. and in the UK, and gun laws that are in place and those that should be in place. Mass shootings and gun violence in the U.S.

In the United States, as of October 1, 2015, there have been 294 mass shootings (a mass shooting is defined as one in which four or more people were killed or injured by a gun), and 45 of those occurred at schools (BBC). In the U.S. (again, up to October 1) 9,956 people have been killed in "gun incidents," and 20,000 people injured in gun incidents (BBC).

During Obama's presidency, he has attended memorials services -- or met with families of the murdered and injured -- in the wake of 15 mass shootings; the BBC also reports that during the course of Obama's second term in his presidency there have been 994 mass shootings in America.

Going back a few years, the BBC reports that Following the most recent college campus shooting in Oregon, Obama traveled to Roseberg to console the families of victims, and was met at the airport by several hundred angry residents who oppose Obama's advocacy of stricter gun laws.

Ironic though this boisterous protest was in light of the fact that nine community members had just recently been killed on a college campus in cold blood -- and nine were injured -- it points out the power of the top gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA). " .. It is disgraceful that the families of the dead and wounded were subjected to such an insensitive display of pique" (Brattleboro Reformer).

But the editorial in the Vermont Brattleboro Reformer (BR) went on to point out the difficulty that Obama faces in getting reasonable gun safety measures through the Congress. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (20 young children shot point blank, some of them shot up to 15 times in the face, and 6 teachers killed) legislation to require background checks on gun buyers (at gun shows and online) received a majority of 54 votes, but this bill needed 60 votes to override a filibuster launched by pro-NRA Republicans in the Senate (BR).

The research on those 46 that voted against background checks shows that they received " .. eleven times more money from pro-gun interest groups than did the 54 senators voted for it"; and therein lies the problem vis-a-vis gun safety legislation -- and money influence in politics -- in the United States. How difficult is it to get a gun in the U.S. If an adult citizen wishes to purchase a gun in the U.S.

-- and he or she goes to a gun store or to a store like Walmart -- a background check is required. The form to fill out asks questions like, have you been convicted of a felony, or domestic violence; are you addicted to drugs or a fugitive from justice; and have you been committed to a mental institution? (money.cnn.com).

Taking that information (and name, address, etc.) the gun store contacts the FBI to see if the customer is in the database of the National Crime Information Center and Interstate Identification Center. The FBI says that ".. more than 100 million such checks have been made in the last decade," and of those, more than 700,000 gun applicants have been denied the right to buy a gun based on their arrest record (including domestic abuse) or other negatives in their resumes (money.cnn).

However, buying a gun at a gun show is a walk in the park for most would-be purchasers. According to the Department of Justice (U.S.), there are about 2,000 to 5,200 gun shows in America annually (Korte, 2015). There can be as many as 100 guns shows in a week. There are federally licensed dealers on hand at gun shows and buying weapons from them requires a background check. But, hundreds of private collectors are also on hand and anyone can buy a gun with no background check from these individuals (Korte, p. 1).

It's called the "gun show loophole"; and whether the purchaser is a mentally unstable person who has been in and out of institutions his entire adult life, or a serial killer, or just a young man who has a copy-cat interest in going into a university classroom and killing as many people as he can, there is nothing stopping him from buying a gun at a gun show (Korte, p. 2). On October 13, 2015, a visit to http://gunshows-usa.com advertises dozens of shows this month.

Jackson, Tennessee, Greenville, South Carolina, Independence Missouri, San Antonio, Texas, and Virginia Beach, Virginia, to name a few. Shootings and gun violence in the UK Locating statistics on gun deaths and gun violence in the UK requires skill in using search engines. One thing comes clear after a thorough review of available data from England is that there are far fewer deaths caused by guns in the UK than in the U.S.

It is no exaggeration to say the number of gun killings in the UK is dramatically dwarfed by the number of gun murders in America. In fact, the Home Office Statistical Bulletin report ("Homicides, Firearms Offenses and Intimate Violence") in 2012 points out that the "most common method of killing for both male and female victims was by a knife or other sharp instrument." There were 232 homicides by sharp object (knife or other instruments) in 2010 / 2011, and just 210 in the previous two-year period.

The next most common method of killing a person in the UK in 2010 / 2011 was "hitting or kicking." This method tallied 122 homicides (which was lower than in the previous two-year period by 6 killings) (Home Office). For women, the second most common form of killing was by "strangulation or asphyxiation" (39 homicides in 2010 / 2011). As for gun killings, whereas there were 9,956 people killed in America by guns in the first 9 months of 2015, there were just 60 shooting homicides in the UK in 2010 / 2011 (Home Office).

The 60 killings showed an increase of 19 offences compared with just 41 in the two years preceding this data; the 60 killings with guns includes 12 victims of a mass shooting at Cumbrian in June, 2010. The vast gulf between the statistics in the U.S. and in the UK is astonishing and it paints a very negative picture of life in America vis-a-vis violence caused by people wielding guns. Meantime other data from various sources (not necessarily reliable sources) shows varying facts.

For example, according to the Citizens Report (2013) there were 640 murders in England, Scotland and Wales in 2011 / 2012; of these, 44 involved a "gun or firearm as the main weapon." The GunPolicy.org site claims there were 146 gun deaths in the UK in 2011, 165 gun deaths in 2010, 150 gun deaths in 2009, and 174 gun deaths in 2008. That is quite a bit different from data from the Home Office, but it is used to show that all facts are not verifiable.

Someone named Juan Cole reports that in 2010 there were 8,775 murders by firearms in the U.S., and in 2011 there were 58 murders by firearms in Britain. When a mass shooting occurs in England, the government takes action. Another aspect to this theme in England is that when there is a major or mass shooting, the citizens demand changes in laws and policies. For example, in 1987 a 27-year-old male (Michael Ryan) took two semi-automatic rifles and a Beretta 92 pistol and went into the town of Hungerford and slaughtered 16 people.

He was searing combat fatigues and besides killing 16 people he injured 15 as well. He then took his own life, and the incident has become known as the "Hungerford Massacre." After that mass killing spree, the government responded to strong citizen demands for firearm controls; the Hungerford incident resulted in the Firearms Amendment Act of 1988. This amendment made it a criminal offense to own most semi-automatic long-barrel weapons.

There were members of the Labour Party that thought the law should have gone further, but in fact the tragedy was responded to by government, which obviously wasn't impacted by a gun lobby such as the NRA in the U.S. Another mass killing occurred on March 13, 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot and killed 16 children and their teacher in Dunblane Primary School's gymnasium. Hamilton used two Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolvers and a pair of Browning Hi-Power 9 x 19 mm pistols.

Apparently Hamilton was bitter over having been kicked out of The Scout Association in 1974, and took his rage out on innocent children and a teacher. Following that mass killing, legislation was passed to prohibit the ownership of small firearms with a barrel length of less than 30 cm or an overall length of less than 60 cm.

Firearms used by police in England and Wales -- 2009-2010 Because the use of firearms is closely monitored (both for the public and law enforcement) The Home Office puts out data that reflects the use of guns. The Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice (Nick Herbert) reports that from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010 the "number of police operations in which firearms were authorized was 18,556," which was down by 7% from the previous year (Home Office).

The number of "Authorized Firearms Officers" for that period was 6,979 -- and that was an increase of 111 officers over the previous year. As to the number of law enforcement operations that involved "armed response vehicles was 14,089" (a decrease of 2,475 from the previous year). Also the police discharged " .. a conventional firearm in 6 incidents," which was an increase from 5 incidents the previous year (Home Office, 2011).

Laws preventing adolescents from getting air rifles As an example of how strict the UK is on keeping guns out of the hands or young people, the Crime and Security Act of 2010 took aim at adults that may intentionally or unintentionally allow a young person to get his hands on an air rifle.

The Firearms Act of 1968 is amended to become the Crime and Security Act of 2010, and it reads: "It is an offence for a person in possession of an air weapon to rail to take reasonable precautions to prevent any person under the age of eighteen from having the weapon with him" (www.legislation.gov.uk).

There were exceptions to that law, and one was if the adult with the air rifle "believed the other person to be aged eighteen or over," and that adult had "reasonable ground for the belief" (www.legislation.gov.uk). How difficult is it to own a gun in the UK? The BBC journalist Dominic Casciani explains that the UK has " .. some of the toughest gun control laws in the world"; those who wish to own a gun have to go through a rigorous process (Casciani, 2010).

The point of this process being difficult is to " .. put as many barriers in the way as possible," Casciani writes; the point for a potential buyer is to " .. assume the words, rather than hope for the best" (p. 2). While gun buyers in the United States claim the Second Amendment gives them their Constitutional right to "bear arms" and hence to own a gun, no such Amendment exists in the UK. In fact, " ..

you need to spend hours filling in paperwork and proving to police officers that you are not a danger to society "The system is administered by police forces in each part of the UK and in England, Scotland and Wales," Casciani writes on page 2. There are separate licences for shotguns and for other firearms like hand guns and rifles; and according to data compiled in 2010, in England and Wales there were 138,728 individuals that were certified as legal owners of 435,383 weapons (Casciani, p. 2).

Because shotguns are registered separately, the authorities in England and Wales reported there were 574,946 shotgun certificates and in fact there were a reported 1.4 million shotguns. In Scotland some 50,000 people were certificated to own shotguns in 2010 and as to other firearms, 70,839 were held by 138,728 individuals. If a police chief anywhere in the UK comes to the opinion that a gun holder "can no longer be trusted," that chief can revoke a certificate and take the weapon away (Casciani, p. 2). The actual application to own a gun in the UK is a " ..

long and complicated process," Casciani reports. "Every stage of the process is designed to reduce the likelihood of a gun falling into the wrong hands." Juxtapose that situation with the very loose purchase policies in the United States, where anyone with the money (and in most cases is 21 years of age) can go to a gun show and buy an assault rifle, a "Saturday night special" (small handgun), or other weapons with no questions asked.

Meanwhile in the UK, the process begins with an application that asks very specific questions as to why any individual would want to purchase a gun; law enforcement insists that in order to own a gun the adult must "show good reason" before obtaining a licence (Casciani, p. 3). In order to get a permit to buy a rifle or other firearm -- which is more difficult to get than a shotgun is -- the applicant must demonstrate how the firearm will be used.

For example, the applicant may want to use the weapon for deer hunting or target shooting for.