After a UK teen named Liam Lyburd took the hump at being ejected from a college course, he decided to shoot his college classmates and toss around a few pipe bombs. Police foiled the aspiring mass murderer’s plot. Mr. Lyburd will now be housed at Her Majesty’s pleasure. What’s important from our point-of-view: the UK’s gun laws failed to prevent Mr. Lyburd from acquiring a GLOCK, three extended capacity ammunition magazines and 94 hollow-point 9mm rounds. In testimony before the court Lyburd said buying the gun was . . .
“just like buying a bar of chocolate. I didn’t see it as a big deal at the time.” Which all well and good, but how did Mr. Lyburd manage to buy a GLOCK, three “happy stick” mags and dozens of hollow-point bullets in a country where possessing ay of these items earns you more jail time than buggering a little boy? The UK press reports that Liam bought his gear “online” on “the dark web.” That’s all I can find on the subject.
Funny that. We recently ran a story about a UK sting operation that used the “dark net” to lure an unsuspecting Walter Mitty type into purchasing a firearms from the government. Could this GLOCK have been government-supplied? Perish the thought . . .
Assuming that’s not the case, this plot demonstrates that even the strictest gun control laws don’t prevent mass killings. (Intel on the killer does.) Lyburd’s pipe bomb collection underlines the point; the explosive devices were constructed from commonly available materials. Do we believe that Lyburd would have jettisoned his heinous plan if he “only” got his hands on pipe bombs? Do we believe he’s the only bad guy in Britain armed with a GLOCK?
This much we know: the UK’s ban on civilian firearms possession leaves the country’s subjects defenseless against killers of every stripe while doing little to nothing to disarm those who would do them harm. It seems The Land of Hope and Glory depends more on hope than glory these days. Shame.