TRUMP: Britain is a ‘war zone’. So why would he wish to visit it? At least our children’s lives are valued!
I thought the utterances couldn’t get any worse from this incompetent, inarticulate, racist, misogynistic American president, until he boasted about how Britain was a ‘war zone’ with all its knife killings. Apart from being empty hyperbole to appeal to people of his kind (it appears there are no depths to which he can sink in their eyes), it is also highly inaccurate about the United Kingdom.
But, even more fascinating, why is he so keen to visit our shores, if we are truly a 'war zone'? Surely, he would wish to keep away, being the sensible and upright person he is who cares about his own safety? For someone who doesn’t seem to let the facts get in the way of a good rallying war cry (to distract the people from his sordid political and sex life), I would like to offer the president with just a few facts with which to educate himself.
First, there has not been a single school shooting in the 22 years in Britain since 1996. Not one, since our gun ban after the Dunblane Massacre that took the lives of 16 precious children. According to Snopes fact checking, “After that incident, Parliament passed the Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1988, which banned the ownership of semi-automatic and pump-action rifles, weapons that fire explosive ammunition, short shotguns with magazines, and elevated pump-action and self-loading rifles.”
However, during the same time period, there have been almost monthly shootings in American schools and colleges, claiming nearly 320 lives and injuring hundreds. In 2015 alone there were 64 school shootings! And we won’t even mention the average death toll from guns in the USA, which stands at approximately 10,000 annually. Compare that to just 215 deaths from knives for the 2016/2017 period in the UK, with a similar number - 213 - in 2015/2016.
Britain does have a knife problem, especially in London, but you could never achieve that kind of American carnage with a knife. You have to be close up to a person to stab them, which limits the number of people who can be hurt within a short time in any situation, unlike a gun that can eliminate any number of people from afar. Furthermore, knives are mostly used in assaults and robberies, not to kill indiscriminately.
The conclusion from these simple comparisons is clear: with thousands of deaths per year from guns, if the president is looking for a ‘war zone’, it is right in his own backyard, right under his nose, not in Britain. I suggest he gives his urgent attention to that instead of focusing on our problems. We can take care of ourselves. At least we are not in denial about them.
And the supreme hypocrisy and irony? Guns were banned by the NRA from the convention where the president was speaking. He has to be protected, of course, but any ban to preserve other people’s lives is promptly rejected.
Most important, a country that allows its children to die regularly in such a brutal and unnecessary way - the only country in the world where that happens - does not really value its future. Clearly, guns are far more valuable than children!
Sources
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dunblane-school-shootings-ban/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34996604
http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04304