^^ on the surface one would think that makes sense, but the statistics prove otherwise. There are thousands of ways to kill people besides guns. The weapon has nothing to do with killing someone, it's the person using it. The only thing going to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Not just a cliche either. It's no different than banning fertilizer to stop your subway/train bombings.
True enough, but why make life easy for those who wish to do harm? You're right you're not going to stop someone who wants to kill simply by banning guns, but you're making it far easier for them to do it by handing out deadly weapons to everyone who wants one, and a gun is the most effective way of killing someone easily. To use a knife skilfully, for example, that takes effort and training, and if your victim is trained they can turn that knife back on you. Simply getting a gun out and shooting someone makes the whole business easier. Again, it's not the be all and end all, but it's assisting murders.
Here's a more relevant stat than just a phone.
Fact: When a woman was armed with a gun or knife, only 3% of rape attacks are completed, compared to 32% when the woman was unarmed. That's a fact taken right from our very own U.S. Department of Justice Law Enforcement Assistance Administration studying victimization in 26 of our largest cities.
My own wife was confronted and nearly attacked back in 2007 outside her law practice....she slapped and pushed the attacker away, drew her Ruger LC9 and as soon as he saw the red dot about the size of a quarter from her site on his chest, he ran like a scalded cat.
True story and yes, she is armed every time she leaves the house. I'll never forget getting the call as she raced home. I don't leave without my CCW either.
Rape Rates 19952003 (per 100,000 pop.) as per US National Crime Victimization Survey, Department of Justice
United Kingdom
1995 43.3 vs
2005 69.2
+59.8 increase
United States
1995 37.1 vs
2005 32.1
-13.5 decrease
No surprise in the US as more and more woman are authorized to carry a firearm.
I'm sorry to hear that and I'm glad she came out of it okay. I'd be interested to know the source of your UK stats before I give a proper response to this, and I want to point out that the way various crimes are measured in different countries varies, so directly comparing crime figures from two countries is unlikely to be an accurate comparison. Also, a rise in rapes in the UK could be caused by many different factors.