A Murder in London

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A Taormina

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7394753.stm

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This is a sad story of a senseless murder in London. A teenage boy was challenged to fight outside a bakery, refused, and was murdered for his trouble.

The murderer broke the glass door of the bakery and stabbed him in the neck with a piece of the glass.

What was the reaction of the new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson?

On Sunday, London's new mayor, Boris Johnson, joined thousands of Christians praying for an end to violence in the wake of Jimmy's death and that of Lyle Tulloch, in Borough, south London, a week ago.

Speaking at the Global Day of Prayer, held at Millwall Football Club, Mr Johnson said: "In the last few days we have seen the deaths of Lyle Tulloch and Jimmy Mizen and I'm sure their parents will be in our prayers."

He also said: "There are too many parents across London today who have lost their young children or young teenagers in the last year to gun crime and knife crime... together we can do something and together we must do something and together we will do something."

The responsibility for this murder lies with one person. Yet, in spite of the fact that no gun or knife was used in the crime, the mayor sees fit to trot out the palliative issue of guns and knives. Why? Because he is powerless to do anything about murder.

Gun control (and knife control in the UK) is a typically collectivist response to crime, because the collectivist approach is rooted in the denial of individual autonomy. In the collectivist view, the state, not the individual, is responsible for individual safety. But the corollary of this view, unspoken by collectivists, is that the individual who cannot be trusted to look after himself cannot be trusted to do anything. He is a chattel of the state to be regulated and taxed. His rights are granted to him, his duties are assigned him. If he transgresses, his rights are restricted. In this collectivist milieu, crime and its aftermath are merely reassignments of state-assigned rights.

It is in strengthening the individual that the state can best keep order. Healthy, autonomous, responsible individuals have more to lose in harming others than weak, oppressed, hopeless state chattels. Take away guns and knives, and evil people will still kill others. Restrictions only add to frustration and hopelessness. This is not to say that crime should go unpunished. However, punishment should be directed at the individual transgressor. Violent incidents are often used to stir up support for gun control. But the use of gun control as a response to violence is a form of collective punishment, implying that individuals are not responsible for their actions, cannot be trusted, and will all turn to violence. Gun control, like all collectivist notions, repudiates the autonomy and sovereignty of the individual.

What a pity that this senseless murder was used by a politician to bang the drum for more state power.

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