David and Özlem Grimason who have campaigned for tighter gun laws in Özlem's native Turkey following the shooting dead of their son Alastair have also been on the receiving end of abuse from the gun lobby (see Home Page).  The following is a letter written by GCN's Mick North published in the Sunday Herald on 23 January 2005.

Gun lobby bullies

THE personalised attack by members of American pro-gun groups on David and Özlem Grimason (Grimasons Face Hate Campaign, January 16) came as no surprise. Those of us who have campaigned for tighter gun control have come to know that an abusive and bullying approach from US gun owners is the norm. By resorting to such tactics, however, they reveal the extent to which their obsession with owning lethal weapons has erased their common humanity. Such irate comments about bereaved parents would be worrying from any source, but to know they come from people who feel the need to arm themselves with guns is profoundly disturbing.

The US gun lobby is intolerant of any criticism of American-style wider gun ownership. Those who take a different stance will always be, in their words, idiots and pathetic. In this case they have not only vilified two courageous and grieving parents but also turned statistics on their head.

In order to sustain the flimsy argu­ment that universal gun ownership makes for a safer society, they seem driven to prove that gun control doesn’t work anywhere in the world. Ignoring the scale of gun violence in their own country they claim that gun control has failed in the UK (and would in Turkey).

Never mentioned is the quantum difference in gun violence between the US, where shootings claim nearly 30,000 lives annually, and the UK: the latest annual figure (2003) for the UK shows a total of 163 deaths resulting from gunshot wounds. Such figures speak for themselves.

Many of us who campaign for tight gun laws began doing so through personal tragedy. Even without abuse from the gun lobby, this takes consid­erable energy and resilience, especially for the recently bereaved. Those read­ers who found themselves appalled by the latest example of the brutish stance of the US gun lobby could help by sharing a burden, which is often disproportionately carried by those whose lives have been directly affected by gun violence.

We need more people to stand up to the American gun owners and let them know in no uncertain terms that we don’t believe in their “safer world” through gun ownership. We would rather have our gun control than their gun culture.

Link?

We would rather have our gun control than their gun culture.

Whose we sucka?

Quoted: David and Özlem Grimason who have campaigned for tighter gun laws in Özlem's native Turkey following the shooting dead of their son Alastair have also been on the receiving end of abuse from the gun lobby (see Home Page).  The following is a letter written by GCN's Mick North published in the Sunday Herald on 23 January 2005. Gun lobby bullies THE personalised attack by members of American pro-gun groups on David and Özlem Grimason (Grimasons Face Hate Campaign, January 16) came as no surprise. Those of us who have campaigned for tighter gun control have come to know that an abusive and bullying approach from US gun owners is the norm. By resorting to such tactics, however, they reveal the extent to which their obsession with owning lethal weapons has erased their common humanity. Such irate comments about bereaved parents would be worrying from any source, but to know they come from people who feel the need to arm themselves with guns is profoundly disturbing. The US gun lobby is intolerant of any criticism of American-style wider gun ownership. Those who take a different stance will always be, in their words, idiots and pathetic. In this case they have not only vilified two courageous and grieving parents but also turned statistics on their head. In order to sustain the flimsy argu­ment that universal gun ownership makes for a safer society, they seem driven to prove that gun control doesn’t work anywhere in the world. Ignoring the scale of gun violence in their own country they claim that gun control has failed in the UK (and would in Turkey). Never mentioned is the quantum difference in gun violence between the US, where shootings claim nearly 30,000 lives annually, and the UK: the latest annual figure (2003) for the UK shows a total of 163 deaths resulting from gunshot wounds. Such figures speak for themselves. Many of us who campaign for tight gun laws began doing so through personal tragedy. Even without abuse from the gun lobby, this takes consid­erable energy and resilience, especially for the recently bereaved. Those read­ers who found themselves appalled by the latest example of the brutish stance of the US gun lobby could help by sharing a burden, which is often disproportionately carried by those whose lives have been directly affected by gun violence. We need more people to stand up to the American gun owners and let them know in no uncertain terms that we don’t believe in their “safer world” through gun ownership. We would rather have our gun control than their gun culture.

Knock yourselves out. Let me know how that works out for ya. Far be it from me to try and change your mind through the sharing of ideas.

Pretty f*ing big.

US, where shootings claim nearly 30,000 lives annually, and the UK: the latest annual figure (2003) for the UK shows a total of 163 deaths resulting from gunshot wounds. Such figures speak for themselves.

Now how about CRIME and not just SHOOTING, dumbass? Didn't violent crime in the UK go up 64% in the first four years since banning guns?