but more gun control laws are the solution. Five hours before he started shooting on the streets of Whitehaven, Derrick Bird was in his car, brooding, outside the home of his solicitor. Iris Carruthers, who had known Bird since they went to school together, spotted him early on Wednesday morning as she took her dogs for a walk past the driveway leading to Kevin Commons’s house at Mowbray Farm in Frizington.
Hours later the body of Mr Commons, 60, a well-known local lawyer, was found on the driveway. He may have been the first victim of the carnage that Bird inflicted on his family, friends and wider community, but his body was not found until the afternoon. As Bird drove around the district in a rage, he killed 11 others — including his twin brother, David — before taking his own life. He also inflicted gunshot wounds on 11 people, five of whom were shot in the face.
Detectives were trying to divide his victims between those he attacked in vengeance and those who perished when the killings became utterly random.
Friends of the family had said that Bird had fallen out with his twin, one of the first victims. But David’s daughters insisted there had been no dispute within the family. But they also hinted that not all was well. In a statement they said: “Our Dad’s only downfall was to try and help his brother.” One theory was that David had reported his twin to the Inland Revenue.
A scuba-diving friend of Bird’s said he was worried he might go to jail over unpaid taxes and was angry that his solicitor was not prepared to lie to the Inland Revenue on his behalf. It was understood that he was facing a demand for several years of unpaid taxes. Letters from his solicitor were visible on his kitchen table after Bird turned the gun on himself.
Source: London Times
Treat the problem not the symptom (guns).
Derrick Bird decided to solve his tax problems by going on a murderous rampage. If he couldn’t have gotten access to a gun, he would have used a knife or cricket bat. He might have been caught with less victims but there would have been fatal victims.
A lot of people are calling for more gun control laws. A lot of the comments to this story are blaming the taxman, his mother and brother but Bird got himself into himself into tax problems.
How would more gun control laws have stopped Bird from going on a deadly rampage?
.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment