To think that no one in this country needs a firearm in their house

[MumNWLondon]

Title says it all really.

Killer in Cumbria had a gun licence.... why does anyone in this country need a licence to have a gun in their house?

AIBU to think that no one should have such a licence?

Checks are made currently. When Grandad died Dad applied for the guns to be transferred on to his licence. He didn't think to go and collect them straight away from Grandma so when the police turned up a week or so later to check out the situation it was all rather embarassing. Technically they could have confiscated them there and then but they were very humane and allowed Dad to go and collect them straightaway and lock them in his own cabinet. (They were locked away at Grandmas but must be kept in the licence owners house - we'd forgotten that bit!) It was reassuring that they kept an eye on what was going where and who was acquiring what.

I think that this notion of - let's ban it because I don't want to do it/ don't understand it/ don't approve of it leads to a huge amount of resentment and anger.
It is divisive and patronising.
There are many legitimate reasons for owning a gun. Just because you don't gave a reason or can't imagine a reason doesn't mean those reasons don't exist.
And yes I am a total townie, but not an ignorant one

The vast majority of people who have guns and are a danger have no licence and have them illegally. You can legislate your arse off and you won't stop gun crime, or even reduce it by anything you could even measure.

Ok yes I live in London and have always lived in a city. We get foxes in our garden, and I have no desire to shoot them.

Can see why farmers might need guns, can't see why those living villages and towns need them.

re: the dog comment, I think dangerous dogs should be banned and licence needed for all semi-dangerous dogs.

Yes he went mental ad you can't predict that.

But the point is, he went mental and had a gun which enabled him to kill alot of innocent people that he otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

You could argue he could ahve taken a knife from the litchen but I bet you he would have been over powered far quicker having to be next to someone to stab them.

A gun allows a crazy coward like him to drive along aiming for peoples faces.

Its sick and I don't believe that 'sport/hobby/ pest control' cuts its when things like this happen.

There are plenty of other things to do that don't involve handling and legally keeping a violent and deadly weapon.

Ban them all.

I'm a country woman and I was brought up around guns and live in the country now. I see no reason for anyone who isn't a farmer or similar to keep a gun at their house.

Sport? Keep them at the club.
Pest control? Get an expert.
Tradition? In this case, tough.

And I don't get why, just because someone has a large amount of land, a detached house and a few sheep it gives them more right to own a gun than a teenager in a flat in London. It just doesn't.

Foxes can be killed by traps, you don't need a gun.

You need something to hold as you stride across your acres!

It's a tinfoil hat you need for the zombies - a gun will never work!

Surely killing a fox by a trap is a bit barbaric and slow?

I think we have gun control at the right balance in the UK. It's been a long time since the last mass shooting (and yes, I understand that is no consolation at all to the families of those murdered). And as someone said upthread most gun crime is related to illegally held weapons, I'd prefer to see resources aimed at trying to reduce that.

A spade only works if you're wearing a tinfoil hat.

A flamethrower makes it easier, you need a clothes peg for your nose though as frazzled zombies pong.

You would look seriously fab in tinfoil, Riven, if I am right about your usual going out attire. You could reflect death rays too!

i've been trying to think of any other incidents when people lose it and go on a killing spree in which any other weapon was used than a gun and I can't.

I'm not taliking about serial killers or terrorists but this apparently unpremeditated
rampage

so there is eother som,ething about gun ownership or something about gun availabilty that is the problem.

There was a machete attack when I was young - can't remember the details.

But I reckon that in a mature and evolved society, people don't keep guns in their houses. It's as simple as that.

totally agree with you, OP.

Why DOES a taxi driver in Cumbria need a firearm?

It's a fact: There is a clear, direct relationship between firearm ownership and deaths by firearm.

Some might argue that decriminalisation of guns is the solution.

The gun in these situations isn't the problem, it's the fucking loons who use them, Bird could have done any number of things to cause as much or similar levels of damage. We can't legislate for a very rare situation like this, it doesn't make sense and anyway we have some of the toughest gun laws in the world!

On the whole gun crime doesn't count for a lot of crime on the whole, over here people prefer fists and knives to cause damage.