Quote:
|
Can you please point to source of "recent and dramatic spikes in violent crime being seen all over Europe"??
|
First extract is from LA Times, arguably most liberal newspaper in America.
Report, published on the Internet in June by the British government's Home Office
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hosb601.pdf), shows that while the United States was enjoying steady decreases in crime through the late 1990s, some European countries were suffering through substantial increases, especially in two areas that might interest a traveler: violent crime and car thefts.
From 1995 through 1999, while overall reported crimes were falling 16% in the U.S, violence has been on the increase in Western Europe. In England and Wales, reports of violent crimes (including violence against persons, robbery and sexual offenses) increased 20% from 1995 through 1999. In France, incidents rose 31%. In Italy, they rose 37%. In Poland, 39%. In the Netherlands, 34%. In Switzerland (which had a low starting point, just 6,042 such incidents in a nation of 7.1 million), violent crimes increased 41%.
Britain has the highest level of homicides in western Europe and the totals for robberies and thefts of motor vehicles have also been close to the highest in the European Union, outstripped only by France, the Home Office figures show.
Second is from Wall Street Journal of April 30, 2002, on correlation between stricter gun control and higher crime, with link.
European gun laws have everything American gun control proponents advocate. Yet, the three very worst public shootings in the last year all occurred in Europe. Indeed around the world, from Australia to England, countries that have recently strengthened gun control laws with the promise of lowering crime have instead seen violent crime soar.
www.tsra.com/Lott54.htm