I started taking a half-hearted interest in the British law enforcement scene some time after Britain enacted its last round of anti-gun laws. The widely-held assumption is that the round-up of privately-owned firearms would result in an increase in criminal activity. And so it seems to have been although, as usual, things are never as simple as they appear.

There's been an influx of Eastern European gangsters who aren't impressed with British law enforcement and they've been a problem. Oddly enough though a big problem's been that British law enforcement seems to have been, to a significant extent, pulled out of the criminal-catching business. At least that's the widely held public perception.

The British media's reported that British cops are largely uninterested in property crimes, burglaries, break-ins, vehicle theft, shoplifting and such. But along with those reports there appears to be a rising belief that law enforcement isn't much interested in catching criminals at all. This feeling has apparently given rise to a vigilante movement and there's even a documentary about it - Vigilante Britain - and quite a bit of media coverage - link.

I'm not sure what this movement portends for Britain and I don't even know whether it really qualifies as a "movement"; it could just be a coincidence that a number of vigilante groups have arisen simultaneously. I do think that the British are getting tired of a government that places the convenience of the police and the rights of the criminal above the safety of the public. One obvious direction for a that anger to go is to a tearing-down of Britain's prohibitions on the private ownership of handguns.

I'm not ready to predict that this is the start of a movement to tear down Britain's anti-gun laws but I'm also not willing to rule the possibility out.

The people are pissed, they have even started their own Tea Party movement.
Seems the rest of the World is getting very weary of socialist in power.

Quote from: Solar on September 28, 2010, 09:33:33 PM
The people are pissed, they have even started their own Tea Party movement.
Seems the rest of the World is getting very weary of socialist in power.

Really, I haven't heard anything about this.  Do they call it "The Real Tea Party"?  ;)  It's subtle.

That does sound interesting.  Ever since Obama's been showing his socialist side so strongly, I've wondered why he hasn't realized that a lot of the socialist programs in other nations are being unsocialized e.g. Canada is moving a bit more to privatized health care as we go skipping toward more socialized health care.  Okay, that's not a lot, it's just one example, but it's early in the a.m.

Quote from: crepe05 on September 29, 2010, 02:53:04 AM

Quote from: Solar on September 28, 2010, 09:33:33 PM
The people are pissed, they have even started their own Tea Party movement.
Seems the rest of the World is getting very weary of socialist in power.

Really, I haven't heard anything about this.  Do they call it "The Real Tea Party"?  ;)  It's subtle.

That does sound interesting.  Ever since Obama's been showing his socialist side so strongly, I've wondered why he hasn't realized that a lot of the socialist programs in other nations are being unsocialized e.g. Canada is moving a bit more to privatized health care as we go skipping toward more socialized health care.  Okay, that's not a lot, it's just one example, but it's early in the a.m.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100027366/british-tea-party-movement-to-launch-on-saturday/

You're right, All of Europe is suffering under the debt of socialism, France is raising it's retirement age, cutting benefits, Spain, Greece is bankrupt, the list is long and getting longer.
But you're right, we jumped in the car going off the cliff at the last moment, on the socaialism ride to the bottom.
It isn't the fall that will kill us, it's that sudden stop at the end of the ride...

If the UK did have vigilantes, then I imagine they would be the most polite vigilantes you had ever seen.  ;)

Quote from: Dan on September 29, 2010, 07:10:19 AM
If the UK did have vigilantes, then I imagine they would be the most polite vigilantes you had ever seen.  ;)

Quite true. With a muslim terrorist they'd offer him a last smoke and conjugal visits with a goat.

Quote from: Dan on September 29, 2010, 07:10:19 AM
If the UK did have vigilantes, then I imagine they would be the most polite vigilantes you had ever seen.  ;)

You would be wrong. Apparently the vigilantes tend to be young thugs who've discovered a group of people even lower on the social ladder then they are and they are anything but polite. I haven't read about vigilant-related deaths but some of the beatings sound pretty horrendous.

Here's what I believe is the "big" web site for British vigilantism - www.navigor.org.uk

Take a read. These people are pissed.

Here's a sample from the page on "yobs":

For decades criminally inept liberal "do-gooders" who care nothing about the consequences of their lunatic agendas have removed the concept of punishment from the criminal justice system !

Quote from: arpad on September 29, 2010, 09:29:47 AM
You would be wrong. Apparently the vigilantes tend to be young thugs who've discovered a group of people even lower on the social ladder then they are and they are anything but polite. I haven't read about vigilant-related deaths but some of the beatings sound pretty horrendous.

Here's what I believe is the "big" web site for British vigilantism - www.navigor.org.uk

Take a read. These people are pissed.

Here's a sample from the page on "yobs":

For decades criminally inept liberal "do-gooders" who care nothing about the consequences of their lunatic agendas have removed the concept of punishment from the criminal justice system !

That sound eerily similar to the direction that we currently are being taken.  Say it isn't so.

I'm totally in favor of vigilantism, if that's what it takes to restore some semblance of order to a civilized society that has lost control of it's criminal justice system.

I'm sick and tired of repeat offenders roaming our streets, and judges and juries not making criminals pay for their crimes.

Quote from: AmericanFlyer on September 29, 2010, 11:49:12 AM
I'm totally in favor of vigilantism, if that's what it takes to restore some semblance of order to a civilized society that has lost control of it's criminal justice system.

I'm sick and tired of repeat offenders roaming our streets, and judges and juries not making criminals pay for their crimes.

Yep. If more bullies and petty thugs were afraid, then the rest of us would be a lot safer.  ;)