In the wake of some tragedy, anti-gunners automatically default to some form of gun control. They start by calling for the usual measures such as universal background checks and assault weapon bans, even if neither played any kind of role in the tragedy.
But at some point, they won't even bother with that. They'll just find out that people have guns and call for changes, even if no one has hurt a fly.
See, the issue for them, despite their protestations to the contrary, is that people have guns. They might own them themselves, but they don't want you to own one. A prime example of this comes from the Island of Jersey, part of the UK. It seems word got around that some people had guns, and that made a lot of other people upset.
A FREEDOM-OF-INFORMATION request has laid bare the extent of gun ownership in Jersey, revealing that more than 8,300 firearms – including an anti-tank gun, a bazooka, two walking-stick guns and nearly 1,500 semi-automatic pistols – are privately owned under 1,162 licences.
And recent public interest in the Island’s relationship with guns has prompted Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat to meet States police to discuss making small amendments to the decades-old legislation which allows weapons and unlimited ammunition to be stored at home and does not require social-media background checks.
These small amendments are in place of a “complete overhaul” of the law – something that Deputy Le Hegarat has shelved because resources are being put towards improving youth justice, hate crime legislation and implementing recommendations from the Violence Against Women and Girls taskforce report.
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She added that while the number of registered guns in Jersey had decreased in recent years, from 9,288 in 2018 to 8,982 in 2022, “the days of nipping to the parish hall and getting a gun to shoot pests in your fields are gone”.
As of 11 June, the number of active licences was 1,162, with the number of firearms and component parts totalling 8,378.
These include 1,454 semi-automatic pistols, 1,371 bolt action rifles, 858 over and under shotguns, and 782 revolvers – as well as a pen-gun, two walking-stick guns, an anti-tank gun and an anti-tank rifle, and a bazooka.
The police confirmed that deactivated firearms do not need to be licensed, so these are all presumed to be live firearms.
And yet, literally nothing has happened with any of these, particularly the "bazooka" or the anti-tank weapons.
So why is this an issue? I mean, this is a place that had just over 3,000 total crimes against a population of around 100,000, none of which appear to be homicides or armed robberies or anything at all relating to firearms in any way. Literally nothing happened except that people found out that these weapons exist on the island, and that's just too much for them.
"But Tom, this is in Jersey. It's a European island that's part of an anti-gun UK. It's not at all like the United States."
True, there are profound differences, but this won't remain there and you're deluded if you think it will. We already know what kind of alarmism our own flavor of anti-gunner can engage in. Look at the so-called "ghost gun" hysteria, for example. It was a non-issue. People didn't even know this was a thing outside of the firearm community, and then the media and politicians found out about it and lost their minds.
In the process, though, they also passed on the information to the criminal element in our society who appreciated the heads up, but that's how a lot of stuff goes. The moment anti-gunners find out a thing exists, they go nuts over it and demand regulations despite nothing at all having happened.
It will continue like that until despite the plethora of laws Jersey has on the books, they get still more.
It'll happen there and they'll try to make it happen here.
