The suggestion by Donald Trump that guns are part of the solution to knife crime in London is ridiculous, a trauma surgeon in the capital has said. The US president told the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday that a “once very prestigious hospital” in London was like a “warzone”.
He appeared to be referring to reported comments by Martin Griffiths, a lead trauma surgeon at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, who likened the spate of stabbing victims coming through the doors to scenes in a military hospital.
Prof Karim Brohi, another surgeon at the hospital and the director of London’s major trauma system, said knife violence was a serious issue for London. “We are proud of the excellent trauma care we provide and of our violence reduction programmes,” he said in a statement on Saturday. “The Royal London hospital has cut the number of our young patients returning after further knife attacks from 45% to 1%.
In response to comments on Twitter, Griffiths wrote:
Happy to invite Mr Trump to my (prestigious) hospital to meet with our mayor and police commissioner to discuss our successes in violence reduction in London.
Charlie Falconer, a former justice secretary, wrote:
4.88 per 100000 murdered in US per annum, 0.92 per 100000 in UK. Implication UK has similar murder rate to US except knives not guns obviously false. Trump lies on everything, but lots of people in US now believe London a knife-armed war zone.
Yes, Mr Trump, guns are FAR more lethal than knives. That's not rocket science, now is it??? STOP LYING COMPULSIVELY!!
New York City is now safer than London. THAT is what makes your post a lie, so long as we're pointing out "liars". :)
ReplyDelete"THAT is what makes your post a lie, so long as we're pointing out "liars". :)"
DeleteNope. Wrong again!
Murrican gunnutz continue foolishly and childishly to believe more guns makes their country safer.
DeleteTell me, how many mass killings have been committed by means of knives instead of guns?
You ever hear of a cavalry pursuit?
DeleteKeep creating false equivalences: it shows the paucity of your arguments.
DeleteDO let me know when a lone ‘knifeman’ manages to kill in one spree whatever is the minimum of victims that qualifies as a mass killing nowadays. I won’t hold my breath…
DeleteI think that 9/11 airliner and the recent truck/van attacks prove that you don't need an AR-15 to kill a lot of people, just a "determination" to kill a lot of people.
DeleteAnd banning every "device" that could be used to commit such a crime would be the highest form of folly.
Deletebtw - The Tutsi's managed to do quite a number on the Hutu's with knives. And there was that kid in Colorado that managed to kill 6 people with an axe handle. Then there was that guy in Korea who with a can of gas and a lighter managed to kill 133 people on a subway train.
Delete:P
Delete"The Tutsi's managed to do quite a number on the Hutu's with knives."
DeleteSigh. I knew the Rwandan genocide would be brought up. How do the murder of so many BY so many armed with machetes compare to the sort of lone gunman killings we see in the US? It doesn't. You're grasping at straws.
Had the genocidaires been armed with AR 15s, the death toll would likely have been even higher.
And 9/11 is simply an outlier.
Yes, it's possible to kill several with a non-firearm but guns make the killing so much easier. That's why they're the preferred weapon of those wanting to the many and why the US army isn't equipped with machetes!
So whilst it's possible to weaponise just about anything, automatic high velocity rifles will remain the weapon of choice for many an aspiring lone killer.
DeleteAnd they should be easy to ban, if the political will was there.
Yes, it's the best tool for the job of killing. But that's no reason to ban it. Cuz once you do, the "next best tool" becomes the target for the Left's insane bans and attempts to bubble-wrap society.
DeleteWould it be too much to ask that interpretations of Trumps mendacity be subjected to the test of placing it within the context from whence it originated?
ReplyDelete"Would it be too much to ask that interpretations of Trumps mendacity be subjected to the test of placing it within the context from whence it originated?"
DeleteHe's simply an opportunistic liar. You should know, you voted for the arsehole!
That's funny. You think that the neoliberal "discourse" is "truth" and the conservative/Trumpian discourse is a lie. As Nietzsche would say, "Whatever makes you more "feel" more powerful."
Delete“The criterion of truth resides in the enhancement of the feeling of power” (WP § 534)
"That's funny. You think that the neoliberal "discourse" is "truth" and the conservative/Trumpian discourse is a lie."
DeleteNever said anything of the sort. Methinks you read too much Žižek!
You're the one calling Trump a "liar"...
DeleteI have no doubt that Trump is lying about some things, but I don't believe Russia, Russia, Russia to be one of them.
" but I don't believe Russia, Russia, Russia to be one of them."
DeleteWell, neither do I.
The DNC is entirely responsible for this [Trump] clusterfuck. Not Russia (which may have been responsible for a bit of influence peddling but nothing more).
Deletehttp://tribunist.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/04012018z4.png
ReplyDeleteGun nuttery in the US is a religion, complete with tenets, High Priests, a Sacred space and many, many followers. That’s why the ‘controllers’ will never win: they’re up against something irrational. I’d have thought that you of all people would have been more empirical about it but clearly the religion has messed with your mind too!
DeleteIn my home town of 20 years (pop. about 35,000) I don’t recall a single death by firearm or stabbing. I may of course not recall ALL such incidents but the frequency is clearly very, very low, this despite the fact that there is considerable crime (drugs and burglaries mainly) and that it is a strongly economically deprived area (has been for decades).
That religion is also the reason why most Europeans don't get a handle on US gun 'culture'...
DeleteOn the lethality of the AR 15:
Delete"I have seen a handful of AR-15 injuries in my career. Years ago I saw one from a man shot in the back by a swat team. The injury along the path of the bullet from an AR-15 is vastly different from a low-velocity handgun injury. The bullet from an AR-15 passes through the body like a cigarette boat traveling at maximum speed through a tiny canal. The tissue next to the bullet is elastic—moving away from the bullet like waves of water displaced by the boat—and then returns and settles back. This process is called cavitation; it leaves the displaced tissue damaged or killed. The high-velocity bullet causes a swath of tissue damage that extends several inches from its path. It does not have to actually hit an artery to damage it and cause catastrophic bleeding. Exit wounds can be the size of an orange.
With an AR-15, the shooter does not have to be particularly accurate. The victim does not have to be unlucky. If a victim takes a direct hit to the liver from an AR-15, the damage is far graver than that of a simple handgun-shot injury. Handgun injuries to the liver are generally survivable unless the bullet hits the main blood supply to the liver. An AR-15 bullet wound to the middle of the liver would cause so much bleeding that the patient would likely never make it to the trauma center to receive our care.
One of my ER colleagues was waiting nervously for his own children outside the school. While the shooting was still in progress, the first responders were gathering up victims whenever they could and carrying them outside the building. Even as a physician trained in trauma situations, there was nothing he could do at the scene to help save the victims who had been shot with the AR-15. Most of them died on the spot; they had no fighting chance at life.
As a doctor, I feel I have a duty to inform the public of what I have learned as I have observed these wounds and cared for these patients. It’s clear to me that AR-15 and other high-velocity weapons, especially when outfitted with a high-capacity magazine, have no place in a civilian’s gun cabinet. I have friends who own AR-15 rifles; they enjoy shooting them at target practice for sport and fervently defend their right to own them. But I cannot accept that their right to enjoy their hobby supersedes my right to send my own children to school, a movie theater, or a concert and to know that they are safe. Can the answer really be to subject our school children to active-shooter drills—to learn to hide under desks, turn off the lights, lock the door, and be silent—instead of addressing the root cause of the problem and passing legislation to take AR-15-style weapons out of the hands of civilians?"
The Atlantic.
You need to stay out of Switzerland.
DeleteI lived in Switzerland for about a year. Despite the abundance of guns, gun related crime is very low. The Swiss have a different attitude to guns than the Americans.
Deletelol! We have the same attitude, but different demographics. The Swiss LOVE their borders.
Delete