AIRGUNS

The Scottish Executive are proposing a ban on airguns. To some extent this is political posturing as weapons control is at present a matter which is reserved to Westminster. A ban would have minimal effect. Restrictions on firearms were tightened after Hungerford and again after Dunblane when it became illegal to possess a pistol/revolver/automatic weapon/rifle. Nevertheless as we have seen in the past three weeks a large number of teenagers seem to have no problems in getting hold of one. I expect the illegality just increases the value as a "status" object. Unless the police make a determined effort to prosecute anyone they find with such a weapon, and the men in red dressing gowns send them to prison, new laws are a waste of time.

BEAT BOBBIES

For several days now the press and TV have been reporting on the search for the teenage killer of Rhys Jones an 11 year old boy. Arrests have been made of several teenagers who were then released. Once again police have been appealing for witnesses and/or information that could lead to the killer. Of course if there had been bobbies on the beat, as some in the community had requested, they might have built up a rapport and known what was happening on their patch. As things stand police seem to zoom into an area after disaster strikes and might as well be men from Mars.

EMIGRATION

So the latest figures show that record numbers of Britons are leaving the country. Not too hard to see why as the country under Labour and Blair has turned into a shambles. Labour being aided by the police, the men in red dressing gowns, others in the legal profession, and miscellaneous human rights activists. In the last fortnight we have seen two ordinary decent people murdered by teenage yobs. One got out of his sister's car to remonstrate when youths threw chocolate into the car. He didn't get out to start a fight — just to ask why the lad had done it. He was killed. And in Warrington a family man was killed when he went out to speak to a gang who were vandalising a mechanical digger. In the second case it seems that gangs of youths were a frequent problem as they are in many areas. The police do a good job of catching murderers (I'm often surprised at their success rate) but if they were more pro-active in dealing with "yobbery" there wouldn't be as many murders.
The other case that has been in the headlines is that of the Italian murderer of Stephen Lawrence who may be released next year but is unlikely to be deported. This is a result of an EU directive and, more marginally, the Human Rights Act. On release he will be able to join Afghan hijackers who are also at liberty to remain in this country. Apparently if they were deported they might not be treated very nicely. There is a massive legal industry devoted to helping the dregs of humanity. The two judges on the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal that decided Chindamo's case earn around £100,000 a year (there was also a lay member). But there is an army of solicitors and barristers working in these areas, all paid for out of legal aid — ie by the taxpayer.