Why beer is as bad as bullets by Bill Kay

Brits routinely sneer at the American gun laws, cheered on by America's chattering classes through such liberal, "thinking" media as the New Yorker. The exact meaning of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, regarding the right to bear arms, is examined minutely by those for and against banning guns, to grab what comfort they can to support their cause.
But I believe the British sense of superiority is seriously misplaced. It has been commonly observed that anyone who wants can get hold of a gun in Britain, although illegally, and everyone admits that it is difficult to control knives, though again the law is in place to enable the police to stop anyone and confiscate knives. Indeed, there is no legal excuse for carrying a knife, other than to transport it from a shop to your kitchen or toolbox.
But I think the nature of the weapon is a smokescreen. Far more relevant, and a factor in which Britain is in a far worse position than the US, is alcohol abuse.
Nearly all killings in Britain are fuelled by alcohol, whether by murder, manslaughter or accident. Cars are far more widespread as lethal weapons than guns or knives: all you have to show is evidence that you know how to handle them.
And one of the big differences between Britain and the US is that in America alcohol is far better controlled, not by the police but by drinkers themselves. Sure, Americans get drunk. But it is far more isolated, and tends to involve individuals rather than large groups.
Contrast that with the centre of any small to medium-sized town in Britain on a Friday or Saturday night. Whether it is Chippenham in Wiltshire, Oxford in Oxfordshire or Canterbury in Kent, drunkenness is rife. It can be peaceful, people falling asleep on benches or holding their heads. But too often it turns into anything from a rumble to a riot. Injury is common - alcohol is by far the biggest single cause of admission to hospital emergency departments. And death is a regular consequence.
The latest example was last Saturday night's riots on the London underground, to 'celebrate' the last day on which travellers were permitted to consume alcohol. Through Facebook, several parties were organised, mainly on the circle line. No one was killed, but that was more through luck than judgment. Several people were injured and the whole evening got ludicrously out of hand in a way that would be hard to imagine in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles or any other US city that has an underground train system. Whole stations, such as Liverpool Street, were beseiged by drunken mobs in what was simply an excuse for mass anarchy. For the full flavour, see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1023417/Pictured-Chaotic-scenes-alcohol-fuelled-Facebook-party-mark-end-drinking-tube-ends-violence.html. See also http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1023923/Country-faces-crisis-drink-violence-MPs-told.html.
I am indebted to Steve Lamb, the Sage of Altadena, for pointing out that in America too most gun- and car-related deaths involve alcohol, and alcohol underlies most visits to US emergency rooms. The difference is Britain's tendency to go in for drunken mob violence, often at a low level of vandalism and fist fights but sufficient to drive non-drinkers off the streets of otherwise blameless towns, as well as causing damage and injury. Pedestrian precincts offer a convenient arena for these exhibitions, and Lamb reports that American planners are nevertheless leaning towards pedestrianising central areas.
Just as many Americans are in denial about guns, or say the risks are worth it, and are supported by an influential manufacturers' lobby, so the giant alcohol makers resist any attempts to curb consumption of their products in Britain. Indeed, during the past 30 years alcohol has become far cheaper there, partly in a misguided attempt to bring UK duty into line with the rest of Europe (where, as in America, drinking is handled far better), and bar opening hours have been widened so booze is available round the clock. And the British attitude to alcohol, and behaviour while under the influence, is totally different - see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1024051/The-worlds-worst-Britons-tourists-hoteliers-nightmares.html.
Neither US guns nor UK alcohol can be curbed, let alone banned, overnight. They are complex long-term problems. But both should be seen in the same light - as outdated phenomena that blight their respective countries - and tackled with the same determination, no matter what big business says.
Drink-driving reduction campaigns have saved measurable hundreds of lives as the message has gradually sunk in that drivers' control of vehicles is significantly impaired by even minimal alcohol consumption. US law must be tightened state by state to ensure that only responsible people with good cause are allowed to possess guns, backed by gradual confiscation of existing ownership. And British alcohol consumption, especially by the under-40s, must be radically curbed.