{ "href": "/post/2011/08/09/a-disarmed-society-is-a-violent-society/", "relId": "2011/08/09/a-disarmed-society-is-a-violent-society", "title": "A Disarmed Society is a Violent Society", "author": "pmjones", "markup": "html", "tags": [ { "href": "/tag/collapse/", "relId": "collapse", "title": "Collapse", "author": null, "created": null, "updated": [], "markup": "markdown" }, { "href": "/tag/defense/", "relId": "defense", "title": "Defense", "author": null, "created": null, "updated": [], "markup": "markdown" } ], "created": "2011-08-10 04:16:23 UTC", "updated": [ "2011-08-10 04:16:23 UTC" ], "html": "
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... [The] glee and impunity with which rioters torched and looted large sections of London are an indictment of two beloved projects of British and other European elites: a disarmed citizenry and an all-encompassing, cradle-to-grave welfare state.

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It\u00e2\u0080\u0099s hard to imagine riots of these size going on for days on end in the American South or Midwest simply because so many armed, law-abiding citizens would stand ready to defend their lives, liberty and property. Once you\u00e2\u0080\u0099ve shot a few rioters dead, it does rather tend to put a damper on the festive mood of the others. An armed shop owner in Texas or Ohio wouldn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t have to stand idly by while his life work burned, waiting vainly for police that never come.

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But London shopkeepers and home-owners never had that choice. As Instapundit noted, \u00e2\u0080\u009cUnlike L.A., there are no Korean shopkeepers with AR-15s to help contain the looting.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Since handguns were banned in the UK in 1997 (tightening already restrictive firearm laws), their per capita crime rate has skyrocketed compared to ours.

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Cf. \"An armed society is a polite society.\" Via A Disarmed Society is a Violent Society \u00c2\u00ab Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog.

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