'Gun Control': The End Results

Albert Einstein said purportedly that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," and this applies squarely to restrictions on firearm ownership.

United Kingdom, June 1940

There was a time in the United Kingdom when there were few restrictions on firearm ownership. In 1920, however, the UK required people to get a certificate for permission to own firearms. "Applicants for certificates also had to convince the police that they had a good reason for needing a certificate." In 1937, "…the Home Secretary ruled that self-defense was no longer a suitable reason for applying for a firearm certificate and directed police to refuse such applications on the grounds that "firearms cannot be regarded as a suitable means of protection and may be a source of danger." ("Crime and justice since 1750" elaborates on this.)

Then Germany overran France and drove the British Expeditionary Force back across the English Channel minus most of its heavy weapons. Now Britain faced the possibility of invasion by Nazis who would have done to its population what they had already done to Poland and France. The British Lion accordingly got on its collective knees to beg American firearm owners to "Send a gun to defend a British home." Luckily for the UK, the United States did not have "common sense gun laws" so we had extra firearms to share with them.

Did anybody learn from this debacle? Apparently not, as shown in 2022. .....