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Sniper Attacks Make Headlines Around the World

Aired October 23, 2002 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The sniper attacks that have gripped the nation's attention have also made headlines around the world also. Joining us from London to talk about how the story is being reported there and how people are reacting is Anthony Grayling. He is a contributing editor for "Prospect" magazine, a monthly magazine that covers politics and current affairs.
Welcome, Anthony.

ANTHONY GRAYLING, "PROSPECT" MAGAZINE: Welcome, Anthony.

COSTELLO: So how is it being covered overseas?

GRAYLING: Well, it's being followed with very great interest, as you can well imagine, and the British press and the European press as a whole have been watching it from day to day, sometimes going live to news conferences given by the police over there and a very, very intense interest indeed.

COSTELLO: So it leads the newscast on the front pages of the paper. Why is it so fascinating when it will probably never affect people overseas?

GRAYLING: Well, I think there are various reasons. One thing is naturally, of course, people are very sympathetic and concerned about the families of the victims. They're also, of course, fascinated by the fact that right there in the very capital of the Democratic world really there is this awful thing going on, and that naturally leads on to the thought, because the Europeans and the British in particular have for a very long time had a very skeptical view about the United States' love affair with the gun.

As you know, there's a very skeptical attitude about firearms in individual possession and use of firearms in Europe, and people here really find it hard to understand how where things like this and with other things that have happened in the recent past in the United States like, for example, the shootings in schools and so on...

COSTELLO: Let me interrupt you for a second. What exactly do people think about Americans' so-called love affair with guns? Do they think it's like the Wild, Wild West over here?

GRAYLING: Well, I don't know about that. I think they're conscious of the fact that the Wild West is a good part of history now, but this -- the power of the National Rifle Association in the United States of America puzzles people over here. How can it be that people can be allowed to have lethal weapons in their possession? I mean, we know the figures here just as well as you do over there about how many guns there are per head of population in the United States of America? Why do you allow it to happen, given that there are bad people, there are mad people, and they can abuse their privilege to have guns, and this is the kind of thing that happens. Why do you let it happen? That's the sentiment here.

COSTELLO: Understand. And I remember reporting a story some years ago in London, and people there were actually blaming some gun violence in your country because the kids there were watching American television programs.

GRAYLING: Well, of course, there is this ongoing controversy about whether violence on television, and especially the heavy diet of American television programs we get here was having that kind of influence.

But the one thing you have to remember is that murder rate in the United Kingdom is less than the murder rate in the city of New York in each year, and the number of homicides that are committed by use of firearms here is tiny in comparison to one city's record in the United States. And of course this is a multifactorial situation, but one thing people think here, surely, there must be some constraint, some control, some more aggressive policing of firearms in the United States, and it interests us to see that your president, President Bush, has last taken on board the thought since you can fingerprint each gun, since they have unique markings on it, isn't it about time that that should happen now, so that the police can have a better opportunity to track guns down? And here in Europe, we're watching with great interest.

COSTELLO: Yes, people are watching with great interest here, because that very topic, ballistics testing, is being debated in Congress as we speak.

Thank you very much, Anthony, for joining us from London, and we'll be right back.

GRAYLING: Yes, indeed.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 23, 2002 - 11:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The sniper attacks that have gripped the nation's attention have also made headlines around the world also. Joining us from London to talk about how the story is being reported there and how people are reacting is Anthony Grayling. He is a contributing editor for "Prospect" magazine, a monthly magazine that covers politics and current affairs.
Welcome, Anthony.

ANTHONY GRAYLING, "PROSPECT" MAGAZINE: Welcome, Anthony.

COSTELLO: So how is it being covered overseas?

GRAYLING: Well, it's being followed with very great interest, as you can well imagine, and the British press and the European press as a whole have been watching it from day to day, sometimes going live to news conferences given by the police over there and a very, very intense interest indeed.

COSTELLO: So it leads the newscast on the front pages of the paper. Why is it so fascinating when it will probably never affect people overseas?

GRAYLING: Well, I think there are various reasons. One thing is naturally, of course, people are very sympathetic and concerned about the families of the victims. They're also, of course, fascinated by the fact that right there in the very capital of the Democratic world really there is this awful thing going on, and that naturally leads on to the thought, because the Europeans and the British in particular have for a very long time had a very skeptical view about the United States' love affair with the gun.

As you know, there's a very skeptical attitude about firearms in individual possession and use of firearms in Europe, and people here really find it hard to understand how where things like this and with other things that have happened in the recent past in the United States like, for example, the shootings in schools and so on...

COSTELLO: Let me interrupt you for a second. What exactly do people think about Americans' so-called love affair with guns? Do they think it's like the Wild, Wild West over here?

GRAYLING: Well, I don't know about that. I think they're conscious of the fact that the Wild West is a good part of history now, but this -- the power of the National Rifle Association in the United States of America puzzles people over here. How can it be that people can be allowed to have lethal weapons in their possession? I mean, we know the figures here just as well as you do over there about how many guns there are per head of population in the United States of America? Why do you allow it to happen, given that there are bad people, there are mad people, and they can abuse their privilege to have guns, and this is the kind of thing that happens. Why do you let it happen? That's the sentiment here.

COSTELLO: Understand. And I remember reporting a story some years ago in London, and people there were actually blaming some gun violence in your country because the kids there were watching American television programs.

GRAYLING: Well, of course, there is this ongoing controversy about whether violence on television, and especially the heavy diet of American television programs we get here was having that kind of influence.

But the one thing you have to remember is that murder rate in the United Kingdom is less than the murder rate in the city of New York in each year, and the number of homicides that are committed by use of firearms here is tiny in comparison to one city's record in the United States. And of course this is a multifactorial situation, but one thing people think here, surely, there must be some constraint, some control, some more aggressive policing of firearms in the United States, and it interests us to see that your president, President Bush, has last taken on board the thought since you can fingerprint each gun, since they have unique markings on it, isn't it about time that that should happen now, so that the police can have a better opportunity to track guns down? And here in Europe, we're watching with great interest.

COSTELLO: Yes, people are watching with great interest here, because that very topic, ballistics testing, is being debated in Congress as we speak.

Thank you very much, Anthony, for joining us from London, and we'll be right back.

GRAYLING: Yes, indeed.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com