shooting your testicles off and gun control
twenty-eight-year-old david walker, had drunk fifteen pints of lager before returning home from a pub in south yorkshire to fetch a sawn-off shotgun he'd bought four years ago, for £15, for his own protection. now he thought he'd use it to settle an argument with an old pal about whose turn it was to buy the next round. so he shoved the gun down his trousers and on his way back to the public house he accidentally shot himself in the nuts. turned crawler, he disposed of the weapon in a rubbish bin and managed to return home. mr walker underwent emergency surgery and remains in quite severe pain. there are still pellets embedded within the scrotum area of his body.he will spend the next five years deprived of his freedom. obviously not for shooting himself as reported elsewhere, but for doing so with a prohibited firearm. recent legislation in the uk regarding banned guns meant the judge had to impose the statutory minimum sentence of five years in prison.
i am indeed strongly opposed to mandatory sentencing as it is political and legislative infringement upon the independence of the judiciary and i understand the discretion of a judge as a fundamental and necessary principle jurisprudence. i do favour very strict gun control (which in no way violates any constitutional guarantees). it is rather erroneous to equal gun control to alcohol/drug prohibition and conclude that it fails due to the exisence of black markets. to understand the nature of the issue it is necessary to grasp the concept of the legality of possession of certain weapons upon compliance with strict requirements and guidelines and the banning of others.
mr walker, who obviously lacked not only common sense and self-control, but also training in the use of firearms, thought it was appropriate to use one to settle a personal dispute with a fellow citizen. he deserved a stiff sentence indeed, but one that should have been imposed per discretion of the judge, even if following guidelines, and not by legislators.
source: the sun.
