Victim's plea to end gun crime, its the UK of course

[WhiteFeather]

Lots of tragedies in this article, the biggest one is they disarmed the wrong people.

How come gun crimes and all violent crimes in general have been increasing in the UK sine the gun ban? Didn’t anyone tell the criminals that they also had to turn their firearms in to the authorities, just like all the disarmed victims of the UK Gun Free Zones had to.

How many people have to die in Victim Disarmament Zones in the UK before they understand the concept that gun control does not equal criminal control.

Big Brother all seeing eye surveillance society is not working either, and next banning knifes won’t solve their problems either.

UK has a larger criminal control problem than before they disarmed all the law abiding queens’ subjects. Well at least when then Brits tried it here in the states on April 19, 1775 they got a different response to people willing lining up and turning them in for destruction.

I think April 19, 1775 was the same day Americans quit being called Subjects of a government and started using dangerous words like freedom and patriots to describe themselves instead.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...._end_gun_crime

Victim's plea to end gun crime

A TEENAGER who survived a gunshot to the head has spoken for the first time of her miraculous recovery.

Clutching her father's hand and with tears in her eyes, Sophie Finucane told how she was happy to be alive as she spoke ahead of a peace awareness event at Gorton Monastery this afternoon.

Her father, John, said she was a living miracle after the doctors said they `wouldn't even give her a half per cent chance of recovery' when she was taken into Salford Royal Hospital in a critical condition after being shot at a sleepover in June.

In an emotionally-charged interview, the pair called for an end to gun crime in the city.

Mr Finucane, who is taking his daughter to live with him in County Cork, Ireland, said: "She's a miracle. We've a lot to be thankful for. There's a lot of parents not as lucky as we are today. She's a living miracle."

Sophie smiled and her eyes welled with tears as her father described the moment she woke up after ten days in intensive care. The doctors had predicted she would be in a coma for months if she woke at all.

He said: "The doctors wouldn't give her half a per cent out of a hundred. That's pretty low odds. The moment she woke was the most powerful moment of my life. We were praying and she caught my hand and squeezed it. I didn't know if I'd imagined it. I'd hoped for it for so long. She took my ring off my finger and put it on her own just to let me know she was there. She's just gone from strength to strength."

Sophie, a Cedar Mount High School pupil, was shot at her home in Ashover Avenue in west Gorton and is still undergoing therapy in hospital. Her father had been told she would not be alive by the time he got to her bedside in Salford.

She was released for the day to attend the event, Stand Together Against Violence, which was being attended by a number of community leaders and anti-gun campaigners as well as Sophie's friends and family.

Speaking to the Press for the first time, she said: "I'm happy I'm still here."

Horrible

But she said she was ready to leave Gorton and looking forward to her move to Ireland. She said: "I'm from west Gorton, but it's horrible here and in all of Manchester. I didn't realise until now how horrible this problem is."

Her father made a plea to people involved in gun crime, saying: "The people who commit these crimes, they don't see the families of people who are fighting for their life or dying. We were the lucky ones. If these people had to come and sit through that they wouldn't do it again. It's needless crime. There's too much of it happening."

He said that if they could save one life by today's awareness event then it would be worthwhile and said it was frightening that people of his daughter's age had access to guns. He also called for sentencing of people found guilty of gun crime to be increased.

Standing Together Against Violence has been organised by family friend the Rev David Gray of the Faith Network for Manchester.

In the spectacular setting of Gorton Monastery, more than 200 community members and faith leaders gathered for the service of music, prayer and messages of hope.

Rev Gray called on adults to support young people and take responsibility for the `devastating' crime they had become exposed to.

An M.E.N. front page showing 55 victims of the city's gun crime was unveiled as memorial candles were lit.

Five mothers, who have lost children to violent crime, stood before the congregation as campaigners from Mothers Against Violence made an emotional plea: "We have to stand against this violence."

John Finucane introduced his daughter, who was overwhelmed as she was welcomed by a standing ovation and rapturous applause. She was then presented with a signed photo of boxer Ricky Hatton who had written: "From one fighter to another."

Supt Dave Keller pledged his commitment to fighting gun crime and called on the community for their help. He said: "The police alone will never ever end gun crime.

"We'll never give up. We'll never step down from this challenge and I promise you that every single opportunity we have, no matter how small to take a firearm off the streets of Manchester, we will take."

He said he was astounded by Sophie's bravery, courage and faith,

Speaking before the service, the chairman of Mothers Against Violence, Patsy McKie, whose son Dorrie was shot and killed in Hulme nine years ago, said: "An event like this raises awareness, but it also brings people together who have suffered the same fate, albeit different experiences of it.

"Sophie is a bright beacon of hope in a dark community where people have lost their way. This has been a reality check for the young people who know her and today we are reaching out to people who would otherwise not have been here."

Wayne Bryan, 19, of Gorton Villa Walk, Gorton, has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm and possession of a firearm and ammunition.

[Brown-Bear]

Well at least hes asking for heavier penalties for criminals who use guns in the commission of said crimes. Sad story about the daughter though.

Dave