Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for August 06, 2013
Transcript:
Goat: Did you know that most British cops don't carry guns? Pig: Then how do they stop someone who'd got a gun and is threatening to kill people? Rat: Pinching and tickling. Goat: No. Pig: Tickling is mean. Rat. And if that doesn't work, they threaten to call their mum.
Templo S.U.D. over 11 years ago
When I was in England last year, I don’t recall seeing a constable sans a gun (it was while seeing a changing of the Buckingham Palace guards and she was on horseback and telling a foreign tourist child to get off the gate who was trying to get a better view).
i_am_the_jam over 11 years ago
Sad but true. There’s a video where two bobbies are being attacked by a rabid dog and they can’t do anything about it.
Sherlock Watson over 11 years ago
I once saw an episode of Cops set in England, and I was quite surprised by different it was; instead of running down suspects and forcing them to the ground, like on the regular US series, the officers were treating them with human dignity.:Why the big difference?
Jonathan Mason over 11 years ago
In Britain, we have strict gun control, and very few police officers carry guns. We also have a very low murder rate. Coincidence? Just compare murder rates in the USA with those in countries with gun controls.
naturally_easy over 11 years ago
Do you know that 96.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot?
dansswing over 11 years ago
The statistic was close. The actual rate is Great Britain has 4x the violent crime of the United States. That’s the result of taking guns away from law-abiding citizens so criminals have no fear. Look at the street beheading of a British soldier. You think that would have happened in Texas?
GoMe! over 11 years ago
We don’t have rabies in the UK, so defence against a rabid dog is not an issue.
There have been disproportionately high numbers of innocent people killed by the few police that have been armed.
mistersaxon over 11 years ago
Fact check says comparison is almost impossible to make but worst case guesstimate is violent crime rate no more than 2x US one. http://blog.skepticallibertarian.com/2013/01/12/fact-checking-ben-swann-is-the-uk-really-5-times-more-violent-than-the-us/ if you want some evidence. Note – this guy is pro-gun. My gut feel is I don’t feel threatened here on the whole and certainly not by guns.
WhiskeyTheCat over 11 years ago
@Dan Singleton. It largely depends on how you define violent crime – it’s radically different between the US and UK so the two figures, side by side, are largely meaningless. I’d be interested to know where you got your data? Reassure me it’s not from the Daily Mail article based on a statement from the Conservative Party, when it was in opposition, and on the day it was due to give a speech on crime :)
As for the murder of Lee Rigby, what happened to him was disgusting and I have nothing but contempt for the killers, but I can’t help thinking that, for all we know, the same killers in Texas might well have been wielding an automatic rifle and killing a lot more people.
michaelyukyuk over 11 years ago
Well, according to the Bobby Manual, yes I know it does sound like a mexican pop star, when confronted with a rabid animal, one is cautioned to severely remind the animal of it’s manners
Sisyphos over 11 years ago
Oh, no not my Mum! Here, take my satchel-full of C4, my AK-47, and my Makarov PM, constable….And so it goes. Yes, more and more, the police in England are armed.
amyhre2001 over 11 years ago
In 2010, gun deaths in the U.S. were 60% suicides, 50% of the total suicides that year. The person holding the gun is more danger to theirself than to others, generally speaking.
bgby4884 over 11 years ago
there Are plenty Of Countries Where The Citizens Are Unarmed, And The Bad Guys Run Wild. Mexico For Example. That Would Be Us.
jmcenanly over 11 years ago
The first thing that came to mind when Rat mentioned using pinching to subdue a criminal was thishttp://youtu.be/Gr82dZpCr48
Meicus over 11 years ago
I wonder how Goat would have answered that question?
PUNishment over 11 years ago
You know in England if you commit a crime, the police don’t have a gun and you don’t have a gun. So if you commit a crime: “Stop! Or, or I’ll say stop again!” – Robin Williams
smoore47 over 11 years ago
God, here we go.
fourwaysunshine over 11 years ago
way to perpetuate a stereotype to the moronic masses who don’t realize that the UK has a MUCH lower rate of gun violence than us. Maybe you need to sober up before you write these.
Bruxism over 11 years ago
“Guns don’t kill people: people kill people.” But guns make it a sod of a lot easier.
Phatts over 11 years ago
It’s funny how they keep fussing about how the GUN violence is lower in the UK. Well DUH!! Nevermind all the OTHER violence! Yah, fine, maybe it’s not 5X, and maybe it’s not 4X, but everybody admits it’s AT LEAST TWICE the violent crime in the US!The DEA admitted in Congressional testimony that roughly HALF the gun violence in the US is due to the War on Drugs. That is, thugs shooting thugs!
Carl Rennhack Premium Member over 11 years ago
And what if their mum is a latter-day Ma Barker?!?
dbmeyer99 over 11 years ago
MURICA!!!
joeshmo30 over 11 years ago
all this talk of police and stuff reminds me of a youtube video where a midget gets arrested :P its so popular they made a song of it O_O
GreatOHera over 11 years ago
In mid May in the Manchester airport waiting to go through customs, watched two policemen nearby each armed with one of those big AK whatevers. Scene somehow didn’t look British.
i_am_the_jam over 11 years ago
Ah, you’re right, the video doesn’t say if the dog had rabies.
Still, the video is right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm9UbNwS0dI
GoodQuestion Premium Member over 11 years ago
Rat is WRONG!!!! No pinching and tickling over there a Bobby socks . . . ☻
sroamer over 11 years ago
Yeah, but “violent” crime in Great Britain includes mocking the Queen…..
lizardlover2 over 11 years ago
The usual jokes, often funnier than the strip that inspired them, are missing today. The guns and statistics discussion is interesting and also pretty respectful, considering the typical insults which attach to the subject of guns. I would have to say many of the statistics reported sound farfetched. We each believe the stories, rumors, and “facts” that support our own inclinations.
Number Three over 11 years ago
Agree completely, Rat.
LOL xxx
alviebird over 11 years ago
You’re all wrong. It’s “42”.
remman over 11 years ago
Approximately 65,000,000 people live in Great Britain.
Mungolikecookies over 11 years ago
It appears that whilst the level of violent crime is higher in the UK (the definitions of what is violent crime appear to differ than in the US) the likelihood of dying as a result of that violent crime is 10 times higher in the US. One example in the USa you can shoot and kill a person who is walking through your neighbourhood if you think they look suspicious, that would not be something which would happen in the UK
i_am_the_jam over 11 years ago
When I first saw this cartoon when I was a kid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIolYYqSbKw I thought that was the most ridiculous and nonsensical (and completely impossible to happen IRL) a police officer could find himself in.
The sad reality is that, yes, this is the situation in England.
Brass Orchid Premium Member over 11 years ago
And when I passed a polarizing current through, the frog twitched, just as Dr. Galvani had written.
Oxnate over 11 years ago
Stop! Or… we will stay ‘stop’ again!
jzyehoshua over 11 years ago
Liberal gun control I guess. :) No wonder the UK has one of the highest crime rates in the world.
jzyehoshua over 11 years ago
I notice the objective analysis Strod refers to concludes the U.K. is ranked 3rd in the world in total crime victims as a percentage of the population.
http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/United-Kingdom/United-States/Crime
The Politifact article says “For England and Wales… This produced a rate of 775 violent crimes per 100,000 people… For the United States, we used the FBI’s four standard categories for violent crime that Bier cited. We came up with a rate of 383 violent crimes per 100,000 people.”
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jun/24/blog-posting/social-media-post-says-uk-has-far-higher-violent-c/
vldazzle over 11 years ago
Yes, there need to be more law-abiding citizens who are allowed to carry. I’m glad AZ allows concealed carry, but even in IL homeowners have their guns ready. (and don’t call out that nut-case who stole his mother’s gun). I have always kept mine in a manner that it is ready but no one else can use it.
lindz.coop Premium Member over 11 years ago
There are very few people who own guns, so there are even fewer people with guns threatening to kill people. Just compare the murder rates, nuff said.
lmonteros over 11 years ago
There are police and there are police. Different departments, and even different precincts in the same department, vary widely as to how police use force in the US. We also have more than one law enforcement agency in any given area—city, county, state. Where I live, the state highway patrol gives the tickets on surface streets as well as freeways, the Sheriff’s deputies do community outreach and make arrests. There’s no way to generalize about law enforcement in the US.
In the part of LA County where I live, the Sheriff’s deputies have a good relationship with the multi-ethnic, multi-income community. In other parts, there are constant complaints. Even though a lot of the departments train at the LAPD or Sheriff’s academies, some allow their cops to bully and beat people, others don’t. It’s not the guns, it’s the culture of a particular department or precinct.
Jonathan Mason over 11 years ago
Gun control works. The first question should be “do you want a gun?” if the answer is “yes” then you’re the sort of person who shouldn’t be allowed to own one.
Jonathan Mason over 11 years ago
In what way do we have no liberty? We are a free and democratic country.
Also, what’s with the reference to the IRA? That period of history is over. You have just as many homegrown nutters
Kingoswald Premium Member over 11 years ago
I live in the North of England and have never seen an armed cop here. And I never want to. I’ve spent time in the States – New York City, Louisville and Florida – and I know where I feel safest.
barister over 11 years ago
Did someone say that the Queen told a child visiting her country to get off the gate??!! What the!!!! More insight as to why they hated Diana. Someone please tell me I read that wrong. Please!!
jancyclops over 11 years ago
An American take on the stats: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jun/24/blog-posting/social-media-post-says-uk-has-far-higher-violent-c/
Greg Johnston over 11 years ago
Are you living in the 13th century? British freedoms are the model for America (the American Revolution occurred because the same rights weren’t being extended to British subjects in the 13 colonies, not because the rights didn’t exist in Britain), and the IRA hasn’t been an issue for nearly 20 years. But how safe do you feel wandering around in Detroit? Or East LA? Or gated communities in Florida? Or large areas of almost any large American city? To name a few.Your argument is not simply specious, it is ridiculous for being utterly backwards.
claire de la lune. over 10 years ago
100.
ScientificComicsReader over 8 years ago
Dang
NeilCopeland over 5 years ago
Ditto New Zealand. The first time I ever saw an armed cop, other than on a screen, was on my 68th birthday, after the Christchurch mosque shootings, 230 miles north of where I live.
Blank Picture Guy almost 3 years ago
The sad thing is (I looked it up) Its true.
the muppets. over 1 year ago
TICKLING IS MEAN