Gun vs Knife Culture

 

Unlike the USA, there aren’t many guns in the UK, and people barely have access to it. A colleague was narrating how she was almost robbed in her neighborhood, and when I asked what weapon the criminal used she said it was a knife.

Knife crime is on the rise in many parts of London and across the UK. That’s why it is quite difficult to walk into a shop in the UK to buy a knife. Firstly, not many shops sell knives and the ones that sell will ask for some sort of proof or ID before selling, thereby making them quite difficult to access. 

Obviously, in America, there’s a high record of gun violence. Someone can literally walk into a shop and get a gun, from what I heard, it is that easy. And so, between the UK and the US, I really can’t say one is better as per knife or gun violence because both of them are capable of sending people to their graves.

In one community in London, I witnessed a knife crime incident where a secondary school kid was stabbed right in front of his school, this was perpetrated by a group of young persons in gangs. I also learned about something called “postcode wars” (especially in London), where young people between the ages of 13 - 25 in gangs fight unfounded wars between themselves due to gangs/cults; and these groups dare not visit or move around a particular postcode where the other gangs are based. 

This is not entirely new to me as I’ve seen something similar in Nigeria. But I guess I found it new because these stories are not portrayed in the international media. It was quite bizarre to see that these societal issues also exist within such an acclaimed ‘Western world’.

The USA is quite popular for gun violence, and the recent killings and Mass shootings have become very disturbing. Yet, many have come to justify the need for citizens to continue to have access to guns for ‘protection’. 

Last week, we heard of a mass shooting by a teenager in Buffalo, Texas, and just this morning I woke up to another one that happened in Oklahoma. Such news is really harrowing! 

To see humans being shot dead at the slightest! To be unsure of your return as you’re leaving your house.

My question is: does having guns really protect people? And my argument to this is NO, it doesn’t! The irony is that the concept of 'protection' is turned into additional lethal jeopardy if your foe has the same easy rights to gun access. That equality makes you LESS safe.

In the UK (well Europe) no one has easy access to

lethal weapons at all and so we are all safer.

A friend of mine (Black) residing in the US told me how he moved into a predominantly White neighborhood with his family, and on one occasion he noticed someone driving behind him and stalking him. According to my friend, the White guy then came down from his car to confront him with a gun, because he probably never imagined that a Black person could afford to live in such an expensive neighborhood. My friend said he was so scared for his life that the next day he had to go and buy a gun to protect himself and his family.

A gun is a lethal weapon, and there are many insane people out there who can lose their mind at the slightest argument, are these the kind of people that are allowed to have access to guns?

Instead of using their minds and mouths to win an argument, people can easily use guns! 

Now that everyone has a gun. Do we feel safer?

What is your opinion? Do you believe that having a gun makes you feel safer?

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