according to the American gun haters, the UK has no crime because there are no guns…….
Shouldn’t the USA follow in the footsteps of the safty of the UK’s gun laws?????????
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Britain) Crime Overwhelming Police In Rural Areas

CRIME OVERWHELMING POLICE IN RURAL AREAS – FARMER

BYLINE: James Lyons, Political Correspondent, PA News

BODY:
Police are being overwhelmed by “rampant” crime in rural areas, a farmer who
accidentally shot an intruder warned today.

Increased surveillance in towns and cities was pushing criminals into the
countryside, according to Fred Hemstock.

Time to tackle the problem was running out said Mr Hemstock, who was
yesterday cleared of causing grievous bodily harm to an intruder at his
farm.

Home Secretary David Blunkett has said violent crime in urban areas is the
Government’s top priority following the publication figures showing that it
is on the rise. But the judge in Mr Hemstock’s case said the shooting might
have been avoided if the police had been able to attend the scene sooner.

Mr Hemstock, 55, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Rural crime is
equally worrying, if not more so, because we just haven’t got the police to
get around the areas they have to cover.

“The problem is that the police are totally under-manned and they just
haven’t got the resources man-wise or financially to cope with the amount of
crime there is.

“Rural crime at the moment is absolutely rampant and if there is not
something done about it soon it is going to be too late.”

Mr Hemstock said everyone he knew in the area around his home in North
Witham, Lincolnshire, had “had something stolen in the last two or three
years”.

He went on: “(It’s) not so much violent crime but anyone out in the
countryside is an easy target. They don’t have to be – they are never -
confronted.

“It is an easy crime to get away with. The more surveillance they put on in
towns, the easier it is for criminals to go and do their work outside.”

Mr Hemstock said he had been through “a year of absolute hell” since
shooting Gary Smith through the passenger door of the intruder’s car.

Now he had been cleared of doing that deliberately his guns should be
returned, he said, adding: “I have committed no crime so I don’t see any
reason why I shouldn’t get my guns back.

“Having said that, I have always had a conscience about shooting – this is
game, anyway – and I am developing more of a conscience but I don’t see any
reason why I shouldn’t have a gun.”

A jury at Lincoln Crown Court today took just over an hour to decide that Mr
Hemstock had in fact been trying to fire a warning shot when the gun went
off early.

The farmer had told the court how he had been woken in the early hours on
day last July by the sound of an engine and his horses being disturbed.

He grabbed a shotgun from under his bed, and went to investigate.

Mr Hemstock said he found the intruder’s empty vehicle and then waited a
short distance away for his to return.

“I was waving my torch at them and I was going to fire a shot into the air
to let them know I was not happy about them being there,” he said.

But as he raised the weapon it struck the handrail of a small footbridge he
was on and went off.

The side of the vehicle and Smith, 42, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, were hit.
Surgeons later removed three or four pellets from the intruder’s stomach.

While Mr Hemstock was outside his wife had called the police but been told
that unless the intruders had broken in and taken something, officers would
not be able to attend.

The judge, Recorder Mr Allan Mainds, said the incident could possibly have
been avoided if police had been able to attend the scene sooner.

__________________
“That a free citizen should have to go before a committee, hat in hand, and
pray for permission to bear arms – fantastic! Arm your daughter, sir, and
pay no attention to petty bureaucrats.” Robert Heinlein – Red Planet