Weekly News
This week a 17 year old boy has been jailed for 10 and a half years after attacking 6 moped riders with acid and then stealing their bikes. This marks yet another case of what seems to be an acid epidemic across the UK. Over the past 2 years acid attacks have risen by almost 80% in London which has been by far the most effected area. The BBC News article cites these acid attacks as a "growing problem" as well as how these "grave crimes" effect the victims lives.
It's clear that the BBC has a concern for these attacks as they've already published 16 articles on acid attacks in 2018 so far. Perhaps this is because the BBC has a younger audience than SKY for example which has only published around 5 or 6 articles on the matter this year. It is clear that this is a young problem with most attackers being 10-19 year old males targeting other males of the same age. It is likely that lots of these attacks could be gang related as inaccessibility to the guns that American gangs use leads to the use of acid instead.
So is the UK acid problem any way comparable to Americas gun problem? Well not quite. There are around 96 gun homicides in America every day and despite the larger population that dwarfs the UK acid problem. Around 2 acid attacks occur every day but few are fatal unlike the gun attacks. Acid instead leaves people horrifically injured and disfigured. The american statistics obviously don't make our problem any better and it is still a huge issue that should be being made a higher priority.
In my opinion I fear for both myself and those around me. As these attacks increase I believe more should be done to restrict acid sales not just to young people but to everyone. Acid is a horrendous weapon in the wrong hands and I believe we should treat it as such.
So is the UK acid problem any way comparable to Americas gun problem? Well not quite. There are around 96 gun homicides in America every day and despite the larger population that dwarfs the UK acid problem. Around 2 acid attacks occur every day but few are fatal unlike the gun attacks. Acid instead leaves people horrifically injured and disfigured. The american statistics obviously don't make our problem any better and it is still a huge issue that should be being made a higher priority.
In my opinion I fear for both myself and those around me. As these attacks increase I believe more should be done to restrict acid sales not just to young people but to everyone. Acid is a horrendous weapon in the wrong hands and I believe we should treat it as such.
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