Signs Of Life

So it  appears that British gun owners (yes, they have a few) may be “allowed” to defend themselves with deadly force if they are threatened by a terrorist attack. Well, that’s the theory, anyway.

Homeowners with gun licences could be encouraged to defend their communities in the event of a terror attack, according to a leading police chief. Alison Hernandez, police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, said shoot-to-kill powers could be granted in the event of ‘extreme circumstances’. Her comments suggest that farmers, firearms dealers and other licence holders could be used to defend remote areas from an attack by marauding gunmen. There have been concerns that large parts of rural Britain are vulnerable to a terror attack due to a national shortage of elite police marksmen. Last year, John Apter, head of the Hampshire Police Federation, said the nearest armed response team could be up to 70 miles away from some parts of the countryside.

As I read it, you must first be attacked by terrorists, and only then can you be granted the right to defend yourself? Note the weasel phrase “extreme circumstances”, because guess what? in Britishland,  you don’t get to decide what constitutes “extreme”; only the government can do that. And even then:

She said she would raise the idea with her force’s chief constable but admitted the legal implications were complex.

In other words, fuck all is going to get done, because once the lawyers are involved…

I should know better. Sorry; carry on, nothing to see here.