Steyn is a Canadian living in New Hampshire. His conclusion is
Americans "gun" culture or protecting yourself and others may be
more civilized than Europe.

Go ahead, burglar, make my day
By Mark Steyn
(Filed: 06/01/2004)


"Mark Steyn may prefer American hillbilly culture to that of the
Swedish nanny state," wrote Ann Widung of Eastbourne on our
Letters page last September. She was dissenting from my
observations on the remarkable passivity of bystanders at the
murder of Anna Lindh. "You may criticise the Swedish police,"
continued Ms Widung, "for being inefficient in solving murders,
but I prefer to live in a culture of peace and solidarity to one
of fear and gung-ho mentality. Better a nanny-state baby than
Mark Steyn's 'citizen'."

Well, it's true I subscribe to a gung-ho mentality, but I don't
live in a culture of fear. In fact, British friends visiting me
in this corner of northern New England from their crime-ridden
leafy shires always remark on my blithe unconcern about "home
security". I don't have laser alarms, or window locks, or,
indeed, a front-door key. Like most of my neighbours, I leave my
home unlocked and, when I park the car, I leave the key in the
ignition because then you always know where to find it.

I'm able to do this because - and this is where the gung-ho bit
comes in - I live in a state with very high rates of gun
ownership. In other words, if you're some teen punk and you want
to steal my $70 television set, they're likely to be picking bits
of your skull out of my wainscoting. But the beauty of this
system is that I'm highly unlikely ever to have to blow your head
off. The fact that most homeowners are believed to be armed
reduces crime, in my neighbourhood, to statistically
insignificant levels. Hence, my laconic approach to home
security.

Now I understand Ms Widung prefers her "culture of peace and
solidarity". I think this means that, when confronted by a
ne'er-do-well, she'd hold hands and sing What the World Needs Now
is Love, Sweet Love. I wouldn't personally recommend this,
because, if he wasn't in a murderous rage beforehand, he almost
certainly will be by about halfway through the middle-eight. But
each to her own. Still, Ms Widung must surely be dismayed by the
number of her fellow nanny-staters who voted in Today's poll for
a "listeners' law" that would permit property owners "to use any
means to defend their homes against intruders".

A "listeners' law" is, of course, a pathetic gimmick. Judging
from the reaction of Stephen Pound, MP, the modish proponents of
"direct democracy" believe in letting the people's voice be heard
only so long as it agrees with what their betters have already
decided. So, having agreed to introduce the listeners' choice as
a Bill in Parliament, Mr Pound was a bit shocked to find the
winning proposal wasn't one of the nanny-state suggestions (a ban
on smoking, compulsory organ donation, mandatory voting) or the
snobby joke ones (a ban on Christmas decorations before
December), but the right to defend your home.

One can easily foresee New Labour, having run out of anything
else to regulate, introducing the smoking/organs stuff halfway
through a third term, and even the Christmas decorations ban is
well within the ambition of the more zealous council planning
enforcers.

So, reasonably enough, Today listeners voted for the only
proposal they knew for certain the governing elite will never go
for. Why, the People's Champion himself, Stephen Pound, dismissed
it as a "ludicrous, brutal, unworkable blood-stained piece of
legislation. I can't remember who it was who said, `The people
have spoken, the *******s'."

That would be Dick Tuck, a long-ago California state senate
candidate, in an unusually pithy concession speech. It's an
amusing remark as applied to the electorate's rejection of
oneself. It's not quite so funny when applied, by Mr Pound, to
people impertinent enough to bring up a topic that you and the
rest of the governing class have decided is beyond debate. As
used by Mr Tuck, it reflects a rough'n'tumble vernacular
politics; as used by Mr Pound, it comes out closer to "Let 'em
eat cake".

None the less, the professional opinion-formers came down on the
side of Mr Pound. The Independent's Joan Smith recalled that,
when she spied a burglar on her porch, she had no desire to "blow
him away". Nor do I, if I'm honest.

But I do want to have the right to make the judgment call. You
can call 999, get the answering machine rerouting you to the
24-Hour Action Hotline three counties away, leave a message, and
wait for the Community Liaison Officer to get back next week if
he's returned from his emotional trauma leave by then.

But that's the point: you're there, the police aren't. And, even
in jurisdictions whose constabularies aren't quite so
monumentally useless as Britain's, a citizen in his own home
should have the right to make his own assessment of the danger
without being second-guessed by fellows who aren't on the scene.

And, once you give the citizen that right, he hardly ever has to
exercise it. Take Miss Smith's situation: she's at home, but the
burglar still comes a-knocking. Thanks to burglar alarms, British
criminals have figured out that it's easier to wait till you come
home, ring the door bell, and punch you in the kisser.

In my part of the world, that's virtually unknown. In America as
a whole, 12.7 per cent of burglaries are of "occupied homes"; in
Britain, it's 59 per cent. Installing a laser system may make
your property more secure, but it makes you less so. As for Ann
Widung's "culture of fear", it's not American therapists but
English ones who've made a lucrative speciality out of treating
children traumatised by such burglaries.

As I wrote in September, to expect the state to protect you is to
be a bystander in your own fate. It's interesting that, during
the recent security scares, the terrorists seem to have been
targeting BA and Air France. They seem to reckon they've a better
chance of pulling something on a non-US airline. I hope that's
not true, and that when the next shoebomber bends down to light
his sock, he'll find himself sitting next to some gung-ho Brit
rather than the "peace and solidarity" type.

You can have a nanny state if you prefer. But not for long.



"Aren't cats Libertarian? They just want to be left alone.
I think our dog is a Democrat, as he is always looking for a handout"
Unknown Usnet Poster

Heh, heh, I'm pretty sure my dog is a liberal - he has no balls.
Keyton