There seems to be a pattern here that goes far wider than just firearms. Whether it's the Police or the security services, whether it's somebody with a legally accounted-for gun and a mental defect, or a potential terrorist with a Facebook account who has already come to the attention of the authorities, the tip-offs and questions get ignored. Whether it happens in Dunblane or Woolwich, the internal failures are fixed by blaming the outsiders.
In my time I have seen Police officers being damn stupid around guns. The safety essentials are so incredibly simple that one can argue that every Police officer should be taught them. It's not an exotic skill not to point a gun at somebody, and not to put your finger on the trigger.
And it is rather depressing when an air pistol can be included in an official photograph of "firearms" surrendered in an amnesty, or when, amongst a mix of assorted guns and knives found in the possession of a terrorist, the pictures show a wood chisel or an ordinary hatchet.
Some of the silliness can come from taking public reports seriously—it wasn't far from here that Police firearms officers were called out to a Royal Artillery aid defence battery on exercise, because somebody saw a lurking mad with a gun—but there's a lot that seems to be directed at making the public more scared, exaggerating the threat. There have been newspaper and television reports on the illegal trade, the smuggled guns that criminals can buy and even rent, but there has been far more effort made to get rid of legal firearms.
In the end, it's all about finding an easy fix. Whether it make any difference is irrelevant.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
