The Patriot Post® · London Murder Rate Surpasses New York City's
This past, February the city of London, England, surpassed New York City in its number homicides. Some 15 people were murdered in London to 14 in New York, and in March the numbers were 22 and 21, respectively. And the trend is continuing in April. Both cities hold populations of 8.5 million or better, but it was NYC that historically held the dubious record by a significant margin. For example, in 1990, an astounding 2,245 people were murdered in NYC. However, over the last two decades the numbers have dropped by 90% to 290 last year, largely do to economic improvement and better policing practices (until the election of Bill de Blasio, who is reversing some of those key policies).
Meanwhile, in recent years London has seen a significant rise in murders. Since 2014, the number of homicides in the British capital has risen by 38%, and throughout the countries of Wales and England the number of violent crimes has increased by 12% from 2011 through 2017. What makes this notable is that the weapon most often employed in these British murders is a knife – though crimes committed by assailants with firearms is also on the rise. While the UK has essentially banned private ownership of firearms, and NYC does have strict gun-control laws, the total number of law-abiding American citizens who own firearms has steadily increased across the U.S. since the 1990s. In other words, the correlation of number of guns to increases in murders hasn’t happened in the U.S., if anything the argument can be made that an overall increase in gun ownership has led to a drop in violent crime.
Solution? London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan is going to solve the “knife problem” with a social media campaign: #LondonNeedsYouAlive: Don’t Carry A Knife. That’s right “knife control” will fix it! Mind numbing, but no more so than those who want to disarm law-abiding Americans. Khan is a con and his motives are the result of benign ignorance. However the Left’s anti-2A motives are all about removing the last defense against statist tyranny.
The bigger point to be made here is the fact that individuals regardless of laws, will still seek to harm others. Though the methods employed for committing murder may change, like using a knife rather than a gun, the obvious point is that it is people who kill people. The larger question should be focused on motive rather than method for these homicides. Why is London seeing such an increase while New York has seen a significant decrease? One factor maybe the increase of refugees within the UK, who may have either radical Islamic motivations or are easy prey to be exploited by organized crime in these often poor foreign communities. In any case, its worth pondering as American malcontents try to strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
That’s because Democrats don’t care about violence unless they can use the deaths of innocents to advance their statist political policies.
Update 4/9: London’s Mayor is doubling down on his “knife control” initiatives, declaring, “No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law.” That should do the trick.