THE SLIPPERY SLOPE

  I am always struck by the naivete of my anti-gun friends when I talk about the slippery slope of gun control legislation. They think that I am being too conspiratorial or paranoid when I am opposed to what they consider as common sense gun laws. England has completely banned guns in recent years. I am listing a timeline of the slippery slope toward the total banning of guns in England. The following facts are from Glen Beck's book Control. 

1689- King William of Orange guarantees his subjects (except Catholics) the right to bear arms for self defense in a new Bill of Rights. 

1819- In response to civil unrest , a temporary Seizure of Arms Act is passed; it allows constables to search for, and confiscate, arms from people who are " dangerous to the public peace" This law expired after two years. 

1870- A license is needed only if you want to carry a fire-arm outside of your home. 

1903- The Pistols Act is introduced and seems to be full of common sense. No guns for drunks or the mentally insane, and licenses are required for handgun purchases.

1920- The Firearm Act ushers in the first registration system and gives police the power to deny a license to anyone "unfitted to be trusted with a firearm". according to historian Clayton Cramer, this is the first true pivot point for the United Kingdom, as "the ownership of firearms ceased to be a right of Englishmen, and instead became a privilege. 

1937- An update to the Firearm Act is passed that raises the minimum age to buy a gun, gives police more power to regulate licenses, and bans most fully automatic weapons. The home secretary also rules that self defense is no longer a valid reason to be granted a gun certificate. 

1967- The Criminal Justice Act expands licensing to shotguns. 

1968- Existing gun laws are placed into a single statute. Applicants have to show good reason for carrying ammunition and guns. The Home Office is also given the power to set fees for shotgun licenses. 

1988- After the Hungerford Massacre, in which a crazy person uses two semi-automatic rifles to kill fifteen people, an amendment to the Firearm Act is passed. According to the BBC, this amendment "banned semi-automatic and pump-action rifles; weapons which fire explosive ammunition; short shotguns with magazines; and elevated pump-action and self-loading rifles. Registration was also made mandatory for shot-guns, which were required to be kept in secure storage".

1997- After the Dunblane massacre results in the deaths of sixteen children and a teacher ( the killer uses two pistols and two revolvers) another Firearm Act amendment is passed, this one essentially banning all handguns.

2006- After a series of gun-related homicides get national attention, the Violent Crime Reduction Act is passed, making it a crime to make or sell imitation guns and further restricting the use of "air weapons"

There you have it. The slippery slope in England. It is strange to me how England has banned all guns when their murder rate has never even come close to our murder rate with guns. For years English policemen have not even carried guns for protection. That is changing, however; because of the rise in violent crime. If you don't believe that Democrats want to confiscate your weapons the following is a quote from Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein. "If I could've gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up everyone of them, -- Mr and Mrs. America turn em all in--I would have done it. CNN anchor Don Lemmon said "We need to get guns and bullets and automatic weapons off the streets. They should only be available to police officers and to hunt al Qaeda and the Taliban and not hunt elementary school children" There are many more comments like this made by Democrats that I could list but you get the point. Never ever forget that the only thing that stands between you the citizen and a tyrannical government is the right to bear arms.