Steps toward a British gun culture

Recently the Posse examined the question of whether it is possible for a gun culture (or at least a culture of self-defense) could reemerge in England.

We are pleased to note that no less an authority than Mark Steyn offers proof that such a change can be possible:

Here's the front page of the Solihull & Warwickshire Guardian for May 5, election day: "Alert After Girl, 13, Raped In Town Park"; "Robbed Going Home From Baths" (and not just robbed but slashed with a chisel); "Residents' Relief As Travellers Abandon Park"; "Dead In Toilet" (a 36-year-old woman expired in the ladies' room at Solihull Hospital and lay there for 48 hours before her body was discovered). In Henley-in-Arden, north of Stratford, I parked near the surgery and made my way to the high street via a footpath lined with houses and offices. All had bars on the windows and signs warning that CCTV was in operation. Henley's a pretty town with a charming medieval high street - if you take your tourist snaps in long shot. The close-ups tell a different story.

If enough people get fed up and a political party has the courage to push for change, it is possible to restore the ancient liberties of the British people.

The Posse fully expects gun control supporters to play dirty in this debate, but we believe truth is stronger.

Moreover, in terms of the debate, it is essential for gun rights supporters to take a uniquely British tack.

Gun control supporters will inevitably attempt to brand the project as "cowboy Americanism," to which the response must be twofold:

1.  Self defense is a basic human right,

2.  It is as old as British liberty.

These, we should add, are the moral arguments.  The practical ones should be based on what the British people can already see:  Rampant crime, fearless criminals and a dysfunctional police force.

Groups like the Second Amendment Sisters are already transforming the debate here in the US.  Guns are about feminine protection, not aging white men hunting with AKs.

A similar movement could reap large rewards in the UK.