Friday, August 13, 2010

Home-made Bond-like Guns

The Associated Press reports.

A British court has jailed two men for their role in cranking out a series of homemade firearms, including a key ring gun and a pen gun.

Scotland Yard says that 40-year-old Paul Coke and 26-year-old Fatmir Kadena operated a weapons factory disguised as a nightclub and car repair garage under a railway arch in the East London area of Leyton.

The force said Tuesday that some of the guns detectives found there "wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond film."

Firearms are far more tightly restricted in Britain than in the United States. The rules are so strict that criminals often attempt to improvise their own weapons.

Coke was sentenced to 12 years in prison at East London's Snaresbrook Crown Court. Kadena was sentenced to nine years.


It's interesting that the article mentions how "criminals often attempt to improvise their own weapons" due to the strict laws. Do you think that's going on in the U.S. too? And wouldn't it mean that criminals who improvise their own guns when no guns are available realize that knives and bats just don't cut it when it comes to weaponry?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

9 comments:

  1. ...and anti-rights advocates think that when firearms are outlawed criminals won't have them.
    Wasn't there some "bumper sticker logic" about that?

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  2. Zip guns aren't exactly common in the U.S., but they do exist here.

    Yes, they are more common in areas with strict laws precisely because knives and bats don't cut it. (Odd word choice: cut)

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  3. Thanks for posting yet another example of how gun control does not stop crime.

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  4. "Do you think that's going on in the U.S. too?"

    Yes. especially in prison.

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  5. Yes, MikeB, that is exactly how it works, once the cat is out of the bag.

    The firearm is the top of the food chain, so to speak, when it comes to personal defense. With a handgun, a 70 year old man or a 35 year old woman can fight off a 19 year old gangbanger. People with physical handicaps can use one, allowing them something better than "use your fists like a man."

    Now that people know that the firearm exists, they aren't going to settle for only a knife if they can manufacture a zip gun of their very own. The gun gives them range, regardless if it's ten feet or thirty. Either is better than contact distance which is pretty much required for a knife. Range is your friend in a self defense scenario. The more distance between you and your attacker, the better.

    Guns can accomplish this, knives don't.

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  6. Anon, you forgot to mention that firearms are the only weapons that do not require a great amount of strength to use effectively.
    We don't really want a world without guns, do we?

    http://www.gunlaws.com/noble.htm

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  7. Wait a minute. Aren't you the same guys who always say if there's no gun available the criminal or the suicidal person will just use another tool. Then the gun control guy answers, but the other tool is not as effective. Then you guys insist it is if the user is determined enough. Then we say but all users are not that determined.

    Now, you're all finally admitting what we've always said. Guns are the most deadly and the most efficient. The availability of guns is the problem.

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  8. MikeB, those two statements are not directly linked.
    Criminals are making their own firearms because they are unavailable!
    Yes, firearms are obviously effective, otherwise they wouldn't be useful as self defence tools, but making them illegal won't help much as criminals will break the law as always.
    That said, a firearm is still not required in order to kill. A machete isn't too far behind from a small pistol in terms of effectiveness.

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  9. No, Mike. "Our" usual response to you anti-gunners is that even if you create a magical gun-free nation, criminals will still find a way to be criminals. Whether they use a knife, a bat, or improvise a zip gun, they will still find a way to commit their crimes. They will then be especially effective in their efforts, because all law-abiding people will effectively be disarmed, and only able to resist the illegal use of force with their own physical force. This leaves women, the elderly, the infirm, or just the physically slight at a significant disadvantage to a young, strong male criminal. It even leaves young, strong males vulnerable to pairs or groups of criminals.

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