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“Although the riots in the United Kingdom have caused approximately $200 million in property damage so far and engulfed almost every major city in England in violence, there has been one small silver lining: Compared to similar outbreaks of unrest in the United States, like the 1992 riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict, there has been relatively little loss of life. In LA, 53 people died; in the UK, four were dead as of Wednesday afternoon,” the Boston Globe anonymous editorialists opine. “This likely can be attributed to one major difference between the US and the UK, which is the low level of gun ownership in Britain (35 of the LA victims were killed by gunshot wounds).” Are you effing kidding me mate? S’a joke innit? Unfortunately, predictably, regrettably, ridiculously (consider the defenseless of the British people against the rioters), no. Read on . . .

Unlike in the United States, the UK has strict gun licensing laws that rank among the toughest gun control laws in the world. Further, most British policemen do not carry firearms in the course of their duties and need special permission to do so. The result is that while many people have been beaten and demand for baseball bats for personal protection has gone through the roof in England, there’s only been minimal gun violence.

It’s hard to believe that the paper publishes in the same state that recently granted me an unrestricted License to Carry (after the usual time, rectal probe and expense). Thankfully, there’s still some common sense left in The Bay State. Whose motto is, BTW, Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem. She seeks with the sword a quiet peace under liberty.

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Let’s see. Had these rioters been armed at all with illegally procured weapons, the death toll would’ve been higher. The Turks and Indians who went out to protect their neighborhoods would’ve been slaughtered, and the Army would’ve been called in to fight something close to an insurrection.

    In LA, the perps were armed, but so were the shopkeepers.

    I go with the whole God made man, but Samuel Colt made em equal.

    Because, we all know this, an armed society is a polite society. When the looters suddenly realize someone is willing to shoot back to protect their lives and property, they either man up or step down. And had the people of London been armed, the looting would never been gone on as long. These people are punks, who have sheltered lives to get back to. The ones in LA were scraping the bottom and I can understand (understand doesn’t necessarily mean I approve) at least part of their motivation to go looting.

  2. I think that the Globe is onto something. No, not “on something.” Why should England have the best riots in the civilized world? It’s not fair. We may burn a couple of squad cars when our team wins the NBA championship, but those Brits can have a three-figure body count after a high-school soccer game.

    I propose that we ban guns so we can have really great riots, too. Let’s show those Limeys that we’re even dumber than they are. We’ve almost proven it already, since we read the Globe and they don’t.

  3. The cost of the LA riot is known and understood because it happened in the past. We have accurately assessed the damages. The cost of the UK riots is at best guess-work at this point unless the insurance adjusters have had a chance to assess the damage while the riots continue. I’d give it a few months before the total bill for the UK damages are tallied up before doing comparison.

  4. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around this. Since when has body count been the primary thing to worry about when it comes to upheaval? I suppose the Revolutionary War wasn’t worth it since many people died; if only we didn’t have guns, we’d still be British slaves, but hey, at least fewer people would’ve died.

    It’s this scumsucker’s mentality that keeps people focused on every single death in the Middle East. With idiots like this breathing American air, I have no doubt this country’s populace wouldn’t be able to handle the ramifications of a massive-scope war.

  5. It is a fallcy to compare death tolls in this kind of rioting. People who are willing to burn down shops and homes and attack people on the street today can commit murder tomorrow. Had lethal force been used against the rioter I guarrentee that some number of future murders would have been prevented. It always easy to count what can see and not what don’t see.

    Four innocent people died in a contry with 1/5 of the US population. That’s the equivalent of 20 people in the US.

  6. It’s failure of realistic value judgment, and a failure to blame the instigator – To them, all lives are equal. The 10-time convicted rapist is equal to the Nobel prizewinning doctor who cures cancer. All men are CREATED equal, but they sure as hell do not stay that way. Between a law abiding shopkeeper and a feral thug, I know which one deserves to die, and it isn’t the productive one. When they willingly choose to throw their lives away, no one should be surprised when they get themselves shot. Of course, even here in America we have a situation which is tailor made to drive people nuts – kids are trained from kindergarten on up that if you defend yourself you’ll be punished too. It’s crazy, AND lazy. Teachers and principals don’t want to WORK, and it’s much easier to punish both kids than find out who started it. So, you either take the beating until someone intervenes, or defend yourself and get hammered by AUTHORITAH. After a few times the lesson sinks in – better to be the instigator and at least really deserve the punishment, than the one that gets it double, first from the bully and then from authority. If people were taught proper values from birth, and self-defense were not punished you’d see a huge difference in society.

  7. There are a couple of things that we need to remember about the LA and Chicago riots. LA and California in general as well as Chicago have very strict gun control. Also that summer of riots caught the rest of America psychologically by surprise. If those same riots happened today the police and certainly the property owners are better prepared and will soon be better armed. Americans have finally realized as the Brits will ultimately realize that harsh gun laws only disarm victims. I am not in England and I only know what I read, but if American rioters invaded and looted and burned other neighborhoods the consequences would be sever and would most certainly end the riot permanently.

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