# Many Burglaries in Scotland not investigated



## applecruncher (Oct 23, 2015)

Because police don’t think it’s a “good use of time.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-not-good-use-time-warns-chief-constable.html


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## applecruncher (Oct 23, 2015)

Police in Scotland need to get off their butts.  Sheesh.


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## hollydolly (Oct 23, 2015)

Sadly and very unfortunately it's the same all over the UK  you're just given a crime number and told to report it to your insurance company if no-one had been physically hurt when your home during the burglary. All the more reason to ensure that our homes have the best security possible..but even that won't prevent the most determined .


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## hollydolly (Oct 23, 2015)

Annie, it's fact  ...it's reported widely and not just in the Daily mail...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...fts-assaults-or-hit-and-runs-police-told.html


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## hollydolly (Oct 23, 2015)

Not just here in the Uk either...it happens with monotonous regularity in Spain. I had an attempted burglary  when I was at home I walked into an upstairs bedroom room where the guy had just climbed in  ..the Guardia did come out and look at the crime scene but because I beat the *** out of the burglar..( and I promise you I did) and his blood was testament to that all over my terrace.. he did manage to get up and escape albeit dragging his badly damaged leg behind him ...they had a cursory look around our gated community found no-one ( he was clearly long gone)  were not interested in looking for the burglar afterwards , and just told me to make my home secure and claim on my insurance. ..I could tell you exactly how the police told me to deal with a burglar if in Spain if they came again, but it's not legal so I won't say on an open forum!! 

In the Uk if the same circumstances had occurred I'd have been arrested for GBH  and the burglar would be allowed to claim compensation for his injuries!


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## Misty (Oct 23, 2015)

I went to give Holly a good reputation for her response to the burglar who broke into her home, and I got the notice that I gave her a bad reputation. Is there anyway to change it to a good reputation?  I have never given a bad reputation to anyone, and I definitely wouldn't give one to Holly.


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## hollydolly (Oct 23, 2015)

Oh bless you Misty, don't worry about it chica..I know you meant well.. xx


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## AZ Jim (Oct 23, 2015)

Misty said:


> I went to give Holly a good reputation for her response to the burglar who broke into her home, and I got the notice that I gave her a bad reputation. Is there anyway to change it to a good reputation?  I have never given a bad reputation to anyone, and I definitely wouldn't give one to Holly.



I've been there too Misty, there is no way to reverse it unfortunately.  I am sure Holly knows your intention.


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## Shirley (Oct 23, 2015)

Misty said:


> I went to give Holly a good reputation for her response to the burglar who broke into her home, and I got the notice that I gave her a bad reputation. Is there anyway to change it to a good reputation?  I have never given a bad reputation to anyone, and I definitely wouldn't give one to Holly.



Misty, PM Seabreeze. She can fix it.


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## Shirley (Oct 23, 2015)

Wow! Who knew that crime was rampant in Scotland??????


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## applecruncher (Oct 23, 2015)

Shirley said:


> Wow! Who knew that crime was rampant in Scotland??????



So much for "paradise".


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## hollydolly (Oct 23, 2015)

Shirley said:


> Wow! Who knew that crime was rampant in Scotland??????




I was born and raied in Scotland if anyone should know about crime statistic I should know..my whole family still live there and when i was growing up, my city Glasgow was rated the most violent city in Europe and  Edinburgh at one time was the narcotics capital of Europe. Scotland like anywhere in the world has bad.._.very_ bad parts and some very very  nice parts!!


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## Ameriscot (Oct 23, 2015)

The biggest crime in my area is vandalism on a drunken Saturday night.  Aye, it is paradise. And no guns.


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## Misty (Oct 23, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> I've been there too Misty, there is no way to reverse it unfortunately.  I am sure Holly knows your intention.



I was using my ipad, and it makes it easier to make mistakes. Yes, Holly does know it was unintentional, and Thank You for your comment, Jim.


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## AZ Jim (Oct 23, 2015)

Misty said:


> I was using my ipad, and it makes it easier to make mistakes. Yes, Holly does know it was unintentional, and Thank You for your comment, Jim.



I guess I don't need a ipad, I make enough mistakes on my PC and Lappy.


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## Misty (Oct 23, 2015)

Shirley said:


> Misty, PM Seabreeze. She can fix it.



Thanks, Shirley, will PM SeaBreeze and get it taken care of....I appreciate your help.


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## Falcon (Oct 23, 2015)

I thought that there were a couple of other people living in Scotland.  Guess I was mistaken.


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## Warrigal (Oct 23, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Sadly and very unfortunately it's the same all over the UK  you're just given a crime number and told to report it to your insurance company if no-one had been physically hurt when your home during the burglary. All the more reason to ensure that our homes have the best security possible..but even that won't prevent the most determined .



Same thing happens in Australia. The police don't waste their resources on petty crime that they will not be able to solve. However, by making a report, it may be possible for them to use the information later if they catch a perp in the act.


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## SeaBreeze (Oct 24, 2015)

All offending posts have been removed from this thread. Please show some consideration for the other members and readers of this forum. If necessary, go to the member's profile page and use the ignore feature in the future. https://www.seniorforums.com/showthre...rs-Please-Read

Now, back to topic please.


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## imp (Oct 24, 2015)

*"All the more reason to ensure that our homes have the best security possible.."

*I am very open to hearing about home security. Types, advantages/disadvantages, cost, reliability of provider of service, stuff like that. My actual knowledge of home security is about diddledy-squat in dimension.   imp


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## imp (Oct 24, 2015)

Shirley said:


> Wow! Who knew that crime was rampant in Scotland??????



Do they export all that Scotch Whiskey, or drink it themselves? Crime is easily successfully accomplished if the victim has, er.....consumed a bit too much!     imp


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## imp (Oct 24, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> The biggest crime in my area is vandalism on a drunken Saturday night.  *Aye, it is paradise. And no guns*.



Do your Law Enforcement people have guns?    imp


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## Don M. (Oct 24, 2015)

applecruncher said:


> Because police don’t think it’s a “good use of time.”
> 
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-not-good-use-time-warns-chief-constable.html



Burglaries, and property crimes...where there are no human injuries, are usually the lowest priorities for the police....Everywhere.  If you look up the statistics on the FBI or DOJ web sites, you find that only about 3 or 4% of these types of crimes are ever solved in the U.S.  About the Only way the cops catch these thieves is if they are lucky enough to catch them in the act, or they have some reason to search some thugs house, or apartment, and find a bunch of stolen goods.  Heck, only slightly over Half of the homicides and murders are ever solved...so some home break-in has the odds Way in favor of the thief.


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## applecruncher (Oct 24, 2015)

Don M, yes I realize very few burglaries are solved. The point is that there are burglaries and many other crimes in Scotland (which has slightly over half the population of Michigan). There IS crime in Scotland despite what some would like everyone to believe.


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## Don M. (Oct 24, 2015)

applecruncher said:


> Don M, yes I realize very few burglaries are solved. The point is that there are burglaries and many other crimes in Scotland (which has slightly over half the population of Michigan). There IS crime in Scotland despite what some would like everyone to believe.



I'm sure that Scotland has some crime...just as virtually every nation on the planet.  If there were a truly crime free nation, it would probably be called Utopia, or Heaven.  Crime is usually determined by the environment people live in.  Some of our inner cities are little more than zones of Anarchy, with gunfire going off at all hours of the day and night.  On the flip side, where we live, the weekly police report usually consists of a couple of DUI's, a nuisance barking dog, and an occasional petty theft.


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## applecruncher (Oct 24, 2015)

Don M. said:


> I'm sure that Scotland has some crime...just as virtually every nation on the planet. If there were a truly crime free nation, it would probably be called Utopia, or Heaven. Crime is usually determined by the environment people live in. Some of our inner cities are little more than zones of Anarchy, with gunfire going off at all hours of the day and night.* On the flip side, where we live, the weekly police report usually consists of a couple of DUI's, a nuisance barking dog, and an occasional petty theft.*



I might have you beat.  I took a walk the other day,.....stopped and leaned against a tree to rest and a cop pulled up and asked if I was okay/needed a ride home.


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## Manatee (Oct 24, 2015)

In many latin countries burglar bars on the windows are common.  The practice has migrated to Miami.


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## Warrigal (Oct 24, 2015)

I refuse to live behind bars or in a gated community.
Too often our fear makes us prisoners when we could live as free as a bird.


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## AZ Jim (Oct 24, 2015)

Manatee said:


> In many latin countries burglar bars on the windows are common.  The practice has migrated to Miami.



None around here.  When I lived in San Diego (in a nice area) we had many homes with Burglar bars.  My home was burgled 2 times.


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## hollydolly (Oct 25, 2015)

Manatee said:


> In many latin countries burglar bars on the windows are common.  The practice has migrated to Miami.



Yep I lived for 10 years in a beautiful gated community in Spain..I still have my house there...but yes indeed my home has burglar bars on it, as do just about every house in the towns and cities of Spain and also Italy. I was shocked the first time I ever saw them, which was actually way back in the late 80's in Frankfurt Germany..At first i thought it wa a design , I didn't fully realise what they were to prevent burglary I was very surprised that burglary should be so rampant that they would be needed. however fast forward a few years and when we bought in Spain it was exactly the same scenario...so we had to get used to locking shutters and grills everytime we went out and in reverse everytime we came home..even if we were just popping out to go shopping after the attempted burglary as I explained in my previous post. That was a time consuming nuisance, and coming home on visits to the UK it was such a pleasure to drive home through the country lanes towards home from the airport and just see not a single house with shutters and grills..and just shining glass windows and doors. 

I've seen them on American homes as well now..on TV...and recently I had to visit a northern English city in the course of my work and saw many many little houses in a poverty stricken area where they had burglar bars and steel outer doors to protect them ..that was very sad. . 

Thankfully thus far there's no need for anyone to have them here where I live....and hopefully that will always remain the case..


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## Warrigal (Oct 25, 2015)

There are a couple of MacMansions in the side street next to my house. You cannot walk up the path to knock on the front door because of a high fence and locked gate. As well as deterring any burglars they say Keep Out to the neighbours and present a very unfriendly image. 

In comparison, I left home this morning to go to church and neglected to shut the front door. When I came home some 4 hours later having been out for lunch the house was undisturbed. Not the first time that has happened either.


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## Ken N Tx (Oct 25, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> *I've seen them on American homes as well now..on TV*...and recently I had to visit a northern English city in the course of my work and saw many many little houses in a poverty stricken area where they had burglar bars and steel outer doors to protect them ..that was very sad. .
> 
> Thankfully thus far there's no need for anyone to have them here where I live....and hopefully that will always remain the case..



In the U.S. you find them in a poverty stricken area where they had burglar bars and steel outer doors to protect them . Not too many found here in ruralTexas..


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## Ken N Tx (Oct 25, 2015)

SeaBreeze said:


> All offending posts have been removed from this thread. Please show some consideration for the other members and readers of this forum. If necessary, go to the member's profile page and use the ignore feature in the future. https://www.seniorforums.com/showthre...rs-Please-Read
> 
> Now, back to topic please.



Thank you for all that you do for the Site...


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## Ameriscot (Oct 25, 2015)

imp said:


> Do they export all that Scotch Whiskey, or drink it themselves? Crime is easily successfully accomplished if the victim has, er.....consumed a bit too much!     imp



Obviously a lot of it is exported or you wouldn't be able to buy it in the US and just about every other country.


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## hollydolly (Oct 25, 2015)

Warrigal said:


> There are a couple of MacMansions in the side street next to my house. You cannot walk up the path to knock on the front door because of a high fence and locked gate. As well as deterring any burglars they say Keep Out to the neighbours and present a very unfriendly image.
> 
> In comparison, I left home this morning to go to church and neglected to shut the front door. When I came home some 4 hours later having been out for lunch the house was undisturbed. Not the first time that has happened either.




Yep that's the downside to owning an expensive property warrigal...you not only lock out the bad folks, you alienate potential new friends in your neighbourhood.. of course on a gated community you already have neighbours within...but sometimes that can cause it's own problems.. 

yep I'm fortunate that like you.I have on occasion..( just a few days ago in fact)..gone out and left all my windows open and the back door unlocked ..(not the front door)....and come home and found nothing amiss at all...but I wouldn't like to test it on a regular basis..


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## Ameriscot (Oct 25, 2015)

imp said:


> Do your Law Enforcement people have guns?    imp



No. Only special armed police are called out if necessary.


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## Ameriscot (Oct 25, 2015)

Don M. said:


> I'm sure that Scotland has some crime...just as virtually every nation on the planet.  If there were a truly crime free nation, it would probably be called Utopia, or Heaven.  Crime is usually determined by the environment people live in.  Some of our inner cities are little more than zones of Anarchy, with gunfire going off at all hours of the day and night.  On the flip side, where we live, the weekly police report usually consists of a couple of DUI's, a nuisance barking dog, and an occasional petty theft.



Of course every country has crime. No one ever implied or stated there was no crime in Scotland.

I stated that in MY local area nobody can remember a crime ever being committed here, and many of my neighbours have lived here 40+ years. We often forget to lock the doors and never lock the car in our driveway. Sometimes my husband leaves the keys in the car.  Vandalism or fights by drunk kids in the town are the usual crimes. But we live ten miles from town.


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## Ken N Tx (Oct 25, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Of course every country has crime. No one ever implied or stated there was no crime in Scotland.
> 
> I stated that in MY local area nobody can remember a crime ever being committed here, and many of my neighbours have lived here 40+ years. We often forget to lock the doors and never lock the car in our driveway. Sometimes my husband leaves the keys in the car.  Vandalism or fights by drunk kids in the town are the usual crimes. But we live ten miles from town.



..We live in a rural area (15-20 miles from large metro) and leave most everything unlocked. We also have watchful neighbors up and down our road.


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## Ameriscot (Oct 25, 2015)

Ken N Tx said:


> View attachment 23268..We live in a rural area (15-20 miles from large metro) and leave most everything unlocked. We also have watchful neighbors up and down our road.



We are in a coastal community so my immediate area is houses with big gardens and either stone walls or tall hedges. Forests behind us, loch in front. There's not a huge space between houses. But it is easy to see what is going on in the road. It's dead quiet at night so any unusual noise would be heard.

We forgot to tell our next door neighbour we'd be gone for two months last winter and that our friend would be checking on the house, watering plant etc. When our friend came to check the neighbour came out and asked him who he was and what he was doing!


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## Ken N Tx (Oct 25, 2015)

I remember hearing that after the Christmas Holiday do not leave the large boxes with what the gift contained (computer,TV, expensive items..etc) out in the open for the garbage collector.If you do, it lets the would be thief see what is inside your castle!!


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## hollydolly (Oct 25, 2015)

Ken N Tx said:


> I remember hearing that after the Christmas Holiday do not leave the large boxes with what the gift contained (computer,TV, expensive items..etc) out in the open for the garbage collector.If you do, it lets the would be thief see what is inside your castle!!



Yep I've always been wary about that sort of thing too Ken, I always ensure that cardboard boxes et al are flattened completely and address labels before ensuring they're completely in the wheelie bin..sometimes I take them myself to our local recycling site and get them industrially shredded.


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## Ameriscot (Oct 25, 2015)

Ken N Tx said:


> I remember hearing that after the Christmas Holiday do not leave the large boxes with what the gift contained (computer,TV, expensive items..etc) out in the open for the garbage collector.If you do, it lets the would be thief see what is inside your castle!!



We are never home at xmas but we do always flatten boxes and put them in our recycle bin.


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## applecruncher (Oct 25, 2015)

> *I've seen them on American homes as well now..on TV...*and recently I had to visit a northern English city in the course of my work and saw many many little houses in a poverty stricken area where they had burglar bars and steel outer doors to protect them ..that was very sad. .
> 
> Thankfully thus far there's no need for anyone to have them here where I live....and hopefully that will always remain the case..



Yes, I have also noticed the bars on some homes and also some (smaller) stores – in areas with older homes that haven’t been taken care of.  I’m in a suburb of a large city, and there are no bars on windows here nor have I seen them in any other suburb.  

But many “efficient” burglars and burglary rings don’t target those areas where there are bars on windows. They go for the nice areas where residents obviously are successful to some degree. A local news station had a man on who used to lead a burglary ring, served time in prison, and is now a security consultant.  It was really interesting to hear him tell why and how burglars break into certain homes.


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## applecruncher (Oct 25, 2015)

Ken N Tx said:


> I remember hearing that after the Christmas Holiday do not leave the large boxes with what the gift contained (computer,TV, expensive items..etc) out in the open for the garbage collector.If you do, it lets the would be thief see what is inside your castle!!



Yes, it's like shouting "Hey! Lookeeeee! We got a new TV, computer, etc. Come rob us."


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## SeaBreeze (Oct 25, 2015)

We've had decorative bars on our windows and doors for years now.  It give us peace of mind if we go out of town for a couple of weeks, and when I was home alone in the past at night, I could sleep securely with all my windows and doors open for air if I wanted to.  There's a lot of people who have them where I live for various reasons.


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## AZ Jim (Oct 25, 2015)

Most of us in the US would be happy to trade our crime rates for yours in Scotland.


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## WhatInThe (Oct 25, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Sadly and very unfortunately it's the same all over the UK  you're just given a crime number and told to report it to your insurance company if no-one had been physically hurt when your home during the burglary. All the more reason to ensure that our homes have the best security possible..but even that won't prevent the most determined .



Unreported and uninvestigated crimes like burglary lead to other problems. By not investigating burglary it perpetuates other crimes and propels criminal organizations no matter how small. In the states burglaries are frequently committed by junkies looking for drug money. So their thefts help perpetuate the drug trade, culture and/or criminal element. Let alone feeding their personal habits illegally and on somebody else's dime.

Also many police districts and/or leadership under report things like theft to say they are doing a good job statistically. A reported stolen purse could be classified as a "missing" purse. Now petty thieves after thinking they got petty theft down pat they will escalate and expand their behavior into crimes that have far more consequences for their victims and themselves.

And 'insurance'-ick. The mere existence of insurance alone perpetuates inflation and opens the door to all sorts of fraud. The last time we tried to get theft insurance the agent wanted to photograph every room themselves for inventory seems harmless but it is an invasion of privacy and some of the hoops one must jump through for "insurance". I doubt if fraudulent claims were at a reasonable number insurance customers wouldn't have to go through all that.

The crime here is not investigating the crime.


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## Ameriscot (Oct 25, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> Most of us in the US would be happy to trade our crime rates for yours in Scotland.



Yep, I'm sure you would.  No gun crime either. ONE mass shooting in 1996.  Gun laws tightened up and nothing has happened since. At least not in Scotland but there have been a couple in England.


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## BobF (Oct 25, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> Yep, I'm sure you would.  No gun crime either. ONE mass shooting in 1996.  Gun laws tightened up and nothing has happened since. At least not in Scotland but there have been a couple in England.



Here is a chart someone developed that attempted to adjust for the differences in populations when comparing and developing a rate. UK in this list but some rather astonishing changes in rates when adjusted per population.

I would just post the charts but they won't copy and past.

http://www.ijreview.com/2015/06/348...ntries-like-in-us-one-chart-proves-him-wrong/


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## Ameriscot (Oct 25, 2015)

BobF said:


> Here is a chart someone developed that attempted to adjust for the differences in populations when comparing and developing a rate.   No UK in this list but some rather astonishing changes in rates when adjusted per population.
> 
> I would just post the charts but they won't copy and past.
> 
> http://www.ijreview.com/2015/06/348...ntries-like-in-us-one-chart-proves-him-wrong/



Bob, you do know that UK is the abbreviation for United Kingdom don't you?  And this thread is about burglary in Scotland, not shootings, and not the UK overall.


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## BobF (Oct 25, 2015)

OK, so your are a transferred Scot and don't give on hoot about your areas status for safety and such, or your neighbors.   That chart is about many countries above and beyond your country.   Click on the archived data and maybe your selected residence will be listed.   I just did that and could not find Scotland.   Has the Scotland area been freed of any ties to UK or whomever they want to be free of?    If not, then what was the problem of my effort to give you some different data?

I guess I just think broader than some and really like that kind of data for anywhere.   You do have the choice of just not reading it.   As most of us have to do with some of the nonsense some folks post.


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## Shalimar (Oct 25, 2015)

Wow.


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## Warrigal (Oct 25, 2015)

Bobf, while noting that the chart is about rampage shootings which is off topic, did you notice that Australia does not feature in that list? Ask yourself why.


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## BobF (Oct 25, 2015)

Did you look on the archived data  item.    There you will find Australia with a bunch of zero's behind it.    Your one time mass murder watered down for population parity just did not make the scene.

But for single shootings, you just had one yesterday or day before, I think.


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## Warrigal (Oct 25, 2015)

Actually Bob I didn't need to because I saw that the data didn't go far enough into the past to capture our last rampage massacre.

By the way, before Port Arthur we did have several mass shootings, one that I remember was in a shopping mall in Sydney.
It was shocking in its callous regard for the lives of innocent people.

However, it was not until the Tasmanian incident that our laws were tightened up.
Since then, not one.


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## Ameriscot (Oct 26, 2015)

Bob, Scotland is still in the UK, for now.

I don't need your charts to see how many mass shootings there have been. As I said, one in 1996. Unless you want to include the massacre of the Macdonalds by the Campbell's in 1692.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe


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## BobF (Oct 26, 2015)

Ameriscot, when you post on this forum it becomes public knowledge and a place for others to also post.   No specific rules to just follow along on a specific path or not.  So if I digress in your way of thinking, it is maybe not great, but OK.


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## Shalimar (Oct 26, 2015)

I am confused.


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## Butterfly (Oct 26, 2015)

Shalimar said:


> I am confused.



Me, too.


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## mitchezz (Oct 26, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> Me, too.



I was.........but then it became as clear as mud.


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