Child Gun Permit Questioned

Numerous British papers are reporting on this story, but it was the take from The Times of India that caught our eye. Maybe the Indians have hard feelings when it comes to the British or something, but they took a rather biased line on how a British youth was able to acquire a gun permit. The paper noted:

“A 10-year-old in Britain cannot legally buy cigarettes or alcohol but it now turns out that a child has been issued a licence for a shotgun, the most used crime weapon in the country. In Bedfordshire county, the police issued 49 shotgun and other firearms licences to under-18s, including a child aged 10, in the last one year.”

While we’re not going to debate the British law, we will look at the bias. The difference here is that the child in question did get his parent’s permission. The paper notes that the shotgun is the most used crime weapon, which is likely true, but how many criminals actually apply for the license?

Moreover, how often do we see children “warriors” fighting in Africa and Asia, wielding AK-47s? All too often unfortunately. But the difference in this case is that the youth is a sporting enthusiast. There is no evidence that he is even playing at soldiers as they say in the U.K. In fact, while many teens have their youth stolen as they’re forced into arms, this child is doing it out of his own desires.

But clearly that point will be lost on most of the mainstream media.