A Non

Self Defence - Call to arms

In a recent article the Daily Telegraph has taken a refreshing stance on the issue of self-defense.

As the article's author points out, the law is muddled and seemingly similar cases are treated differently in terms of who is prosecuted:

Over centuries there evolved an implicit contract between us and the authorities: in return for our renouncing our right to defend ourselves and to wreak vengeance on those who harm us, the authorities arrogated those rights to themselves and undertook to protect us.

While whether this right was given up voluntarily or otherwise is another debate what is clear is that there is now a vacuum, we cannot legally defend ourselves but the state is unable to do so. It no longer has the resources, it does not even seem to have the will when it comes to certain crimes.

Crimes involving guns have actually increased since private ownership of handguns was banned.

I believe the time has come to overturn this knee jerk reaction to what was a tragic event at Dunblane. The gun was seen as the criminal not the man using it. If he had not had access to a gun he may have driven his car through the school lobby, or into a bus full of children, people who wish to do harm to others will, and they will use whatever tool is at their disposal to do so.

If we had a culture of gun ownership in this country then some of the teachers would have been armed and would have shot him before his rampage reached the tragic proportions it did.

Its time to rearm the population. It's time to restore the right to defend ones property and family

And in London the Metropolitan Police will tell you, off the record, why we no longer hear about armed bank robbers: because a few years ago they started shooting them.

This is a radical concept, more people will get shot, most fatally, but once your average housebreaker or mugger realises he may get shot he will think again. Too often the criminal as portrayed as the victim, the point that if he had not been committing the crime in the first place no harm would have come to him seems to get lost.

For those opposed to owning a gun other forms of deterrent should be allowed, non lethal deterrents are available in the rest of the world.

But a few pepper spray incidents at night clubs and it gets banned. Again the tool and not the individual using it was seen to be at fault. We should be willing to accept that some idiot will use pepper spray in a crowded club, but that same idiot should be prosecuted and jailed.

The right to self defence has responsibilites attached to it. The time has come to throw of the shackles of the nanny state, to stand up and say "We are individuals, we can think, we can and are willing to take responsibility for our actions, we demand our right to self defence back and the state has no right in denying it to us"

New Labour is not a friend of the middle class

Sean Gabb has taken issue with the way New Labour is plundering and taxing, especially when it comes to private pensions. Others have also commented.

About all the Government has left is the pension "surpluses" of the middle classes - and even then they have already compromised their future value.

We have a balloning population demographic, in 20-40 years the elderly will outnumber the number of workers in significant numbers - there will be no way the state will be able to provide pensions for all of us, yet they insist on plundering our current pensions to fund short term projects in the name of "improving public services".

The Chancellor has already had to revise his borrwing once, I suspect we are going to see much tougher times in the next few years - and then nothing will be safe.

Taking a totally pessimistic view it would not be unsurpising for the government to force us all to buy into a state pension using our current savings (in the name of equality and fairness of course). The only obstacle to this is the huge pensions industry in this country. But they have had their fair share of "debacles" (Equitable Life) so the government could declare open season on them.

After all we live in a country ruled by focus groups, sound bites and the "flavour of the day" hysteria of the tabloid press.