Ravenwood - 09/20/03 01:15 PM
I find the UK anti-gun culture to be humorous at times, but mostly sad and depressing. Just check out the anti-gun rhetoric being spewed in this story from the Manchester Online, (starting with the superfluous all caps for shock value).
A GUN-obsessed teacher [55 year old Thomas Hosty] jailed after police found an arsenal of weapons hidden at his home can return to the classroom.That's right, 13 firearms is suddenly an obsession. I wonder if the teacher would be considered "obsessed" if he had collected a mere 13 baby dolls, beer glasses, or records*. The media even shows a photo of Mr. Hosty with the word OBSESSED captioned beneath him like a scarlett letter.
[...]Police discovered 13 handguns - outlawed after the Dunblane massacre in which 16 schoolchildren and their teacher were shot dead.
But the gun fearing wussies are obviously getting restless, and the anti-gun newsspeak doesn't stop there.
Coun Colin Lambert, Rochdale council's lead member for Children, Schools and Families, said: "I think it's astonishing and disgusting that somebody who has a conviction for firearms is allowed to return to teaching.A firearms conviction? Lambert makes it sound like he was caught knocking over a liquor store. Hosty was hiding his firearms because of the UK's irrational and dangerous disarmament of her citizens. Had this been a lefty issue, it would have been called "civil disobedience", and Hosty would have been welcomed back with open arms."The teaching council's members should ask themselves if they would like this man to teach their children. The answer should be no."
Besides, Hosty has paid his debt. I thought lefties were all about welcoming convicts back into society.
* For those of you that don't know, records are like CDs, only larger and made of vinyl.
My thanks to the writer for those kind and reasonable comments - they are most welcome and reassuring.
Yes I did break UK law by retaining the guns but there was absolutely no intention to harm anyone. No one was ever in any danger from my collection. I have paid my debt.
I find it hard to reconcile the UK's close alliance with the US in so many areas (eg. international terrorism, Iraq etc) with the UK's abhorrence of gun ownership by its citizens.
Naturally, I applaud the General Teaching Council for its decision to allow me to return to teaching. Unlike the 'gutter press' here, they listened to both sides of the argument.
I was also a bit taken aback as to how they managed to find the firearms. As far as my domicile goes, the police aren't getting through the front door unless they have a warrant. Any business I have with them can be done outside.
Most guns are legal in the states (for now). I don't know what I would do if they suddenly made my own collection illegal, but I wouldn't rule out stashing them away somewhere.
As for the collection, I hate to think of government types melting perfectly good guns into scrap.
Posted by: Ravenwood at October 1, 2003 4:35 PMThey came with a search warrant, about a dozen of them in all. I was called in the afternoon at school and ordered to get home immediately or they'd break down the door.
They were in possession of records from a gunshop, dated 14 years previously. The gun dealer had been under investigation for a couple of years and they seized his records - (why he kept them so long is somewhat of a mystery!). In a massive operation, I believe about 3000 of his customers were similarly raided but I was obviously the most newsworthy find.
I put up no resistance but showed them where the guns were....to do otherwise would have been pointless or counter-productive.
Posted by: Thomas Hosty at October 2, 2003 5:13 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
