For the first time in modern history, London has recently experienced more murders than New York City.
This despite the fact that firearms are mostly barred from civilian ownership in the country.
According to the Sunday Times, London, which has about the same population as The Big Apple, overtook New York City in number of murders in February and March.
London saw 15 murders in February while New York City had only 14, according to the Times. In March, London had 22 murders while New York City had just 21. A whopping eight murders occurred between March 14 and March 20 in London.
And it doesn’t look like it’s getting better for the city of Big Ben any time soon.
According to the Times, London’s murder rate has increased by 38 percent since 2014. Meanwhile, New York City’s murder rate, and the city’s overall crime rate, continue to go down. As Fox News noted, the murder rate in New York City is down 90 percent from 1990 when the city saw more than 2,200 murders. In 2017, the city saw less than 300.
Since firearms are mostly banned from civilian use in England, criminals have resorted to murdering with knives.
According to the Times, there have been 31 murders with knives in London so far in 2018, the latest happening sometime Sunday morning.
Indeed, the Telegraph UK reported last October that violent crime is on the upswing in England, so much so that police recorded more than 1 million violent crimes last year.
Stabbings in particular are on the rise, according to the Sun UK. Up to September 2017, London recorded more than 12,000 stabbings, a more than 20 percent increase from the previous year.
According to the Times, London's murder rate hasn't surpassed that of New York City since 1800, a time when King George III still ruled England and John Adams, America's second president, was nearing the end of his only presidential term.
In fact, FBI statistics show London has historically maintained a murder rate of half or up to one-20th of New York City's.
