I don't have much to say about the unfortunate events in England and what it all means. But, whenever we see these sorts of breakdowns in society (L.A. riots, Hurricane Katrina, London riots) it serves to remind us how little we can rely on government.
I'm glad that if this sort of thing were to happen in my city I'd have better weapons of self-defense on hand than a baseball bat. (In the news yesterday: "Sales for baseball bats on Amazon UK have risen by more than 6000 percent over the past 24 hours.")
You all can debate the causes of the social unrest and the lawless thugs. In the meantime, ordinary folks have got their lives to live and they have a right to defend themselves. I'll note how obscene it is that the government over there violates the basic right of the people to bear arms, and leftists over here who are in love with Big Government and a Nanny State want to do the same to Americans.
As you can see, in London the criminal thugs and the government authorities have guns, but law-abiding citizens do not.
When the sh*t hits the fan and the cops ain't there to protect you, your family, your neighbors, and your property, it's not good enough that the authorities will come 'round later to clean up the mess.
How long did it take Norwegian police to get to that island camp the terrorist targeted? Just in time to count the bodies.
A Korean-American who used guns to defend his shop during the L.A. riot: "At that time, four police cars were there. Somebody started to shoot at us. The L.A.P.D. ran away in half a second. I never saw such a fast escape. I was pretty disappointed." (
Wikipedia, on the riots and the Korean-American community)
Another: "If it was your own business and your own property, would you be willing to trust it to someone else? We are glad the National Guard is here. They're good backup. But when our shops were burning we called the police every five minutes; no response."