Thoughts on gun control on Independence Day:

A 16-year-old boy who was gun downed by a gang of up to six youths pleaded for his mother and said “I don’t want to die” as he bled to death, a witness said today.

Shakilus Townsend became the latest victim of Washington, D.C.’s gun crime epidemic, the 33rd teenager murdered in D.C. this year and the 18th in SE alone.

Witnesses said he was attacked by a gang of around six men wearing hooded tops and ski masks, who were allegedly “called in” by a girl the victim had argued with during the afternoon.

A senior detective described it as “another senseless incident in which a young life has been taken away by a gun”.

[…]

A 17-year-old boy who lives near where Shakilus was attacked said shootings were depressingly commonplace – and often happened for no reason at all.

He said: “If he hadn’t died, no one would have cared about this, it would have just been another shooting. You grow up around here, you always see the police flyers around and then you wake up and see 20 police cars outside.

“How are the police or the Government going to be able to sort this out if we as kids don’t know why this sort of stuff’s going on?”

The same old crap happening in D.C., right?

The problem? This is Britain and the murders are being committed with knives!

A 16-year-old boy who was stabbed by a gang of up to six youths pleaded for his mother and said “I don’t want to die” as he bled to death, a witness said today.

Shakilus Townsend became the latest victim of London’s knife crime epidemic, the 33rd teenager murdered in Britain this year and the 18th in London alone.

Witnesses said he was attacked by a gang of around six men wearing hooded tops and balaclavas [ski masks], who were allegedly “called in” by a girl the victim had argued with during the afternoon.

A senior detective described it as “another senseless incident in which a young life has been taken away by a knife”.

[…]

A 17-year-old boy who lives near where Shakilus was attacked said stabbings were depressingly commonplace – and often happened for no reason at all.

He said: “If he hadn’t died, no one would have cared about this, it would have just been another stabbing. You grow up around here, you always see the yellow boards around and then you wake up and see 20 police vans outside.

“How are the police or the Government going to be able to sort this out if we as kids don’t know why this sort of stuff’s going on?”

Link for the full story.

Looks like Britain needs knife control — oh wait, that’s already been called for (link #1, #2)!