A TTAG reader from the Emerald Isle writes:
Here are four news article from Ireland about a recent spate of carjackings: Two elderly German tourists suffer carjacking ordeal; Boy (15) in court in relation carjacking of taxi driver; Man charged in connection to pregnant woman carjacking and Knocked-out carjack victim awake and recovering – family. Four in a few days. It may not seem like much but for Ireland, for such a small country, it’s a lot. I have a partner and two small kids how can I protect them? I can’t have a gun or knife for self-defence. We are not allowed TASERs or pepper spray! The criminals here run riot as even the police mostly are unarmed. Americans should be thankful for their gun rights.
Poor Volvo <3 🙁
True story: that was my FIRST thought when I caught this article.
You’re not the only one. 🙁
Work to change your nations laws.
Or straight up defy them.
Aye. Sometimes it comes to that. 🙁
The individual who submitted the article CAN’T have a gun or knife, or chooses not to? Do we have a responsibility to follow unjust laws?
I know it’s easy to cast stones, but the security of my family is the most important thing in my life. I’d examine my options and make the decision to arm myself or not and NOT complain if I chose to not arm myself. Make your choice and stand by it, and organize your communities against silly laws against firearms and knives.
I believe it’s called a “throw away” weapon for a reason.
If you defend yourself with a weapon in Australia you’re likely to be charged with aggravated assault.
I believe that possibility is waived for people who keep their mouths shut about the incident.
Don’t be so quick and harsh with your judgment. I a person in this situation chose to carry a weapon and was later put in prison after its use, they aren’t exactly much help to their family any more.
I was being neither harsh nor judgmental. I suggested examining the situation in regards to protecting one’s family and making a firm decision to follow an unjust law or not.
Additionally, it took much longer for someone to play the “You’re no good to your family if you’re in jail!” card than I expected. While you aren’t necessarily wrong, I’m also no good to my family if I don’t have the proper tools to protect them when they need me to. It’s also moot if some dirtbag murders my children and rapes my wife while I am helpless. The key is to make a value judgement.
Even legally possessing, odds are good you’re going to spend some time in handcuffs and/or jail until you’re charged (if you’re charged) and a verdict is rendered, right? By your logic you shouldn’t have guns for protection at all, because you might end up not being useful to your family at some point.
We are thankful. That’s why most of Americans ancestors came here. To get away from evil Europe. Well, excerpt for my beautiful black wifes ancestors. It still beats the hell out of Africa. I agree with Matt…at least get a knife man.
At the end of the day, it’s not about guns. It’s about taking care of yourself. Fists, flashlights, door locks, whatever. It’s about REAL common sense and knowing how to act and carry yourself in public.
“Americans should be thankful for their gun rights.”
The Irish have the same exact rights as the Americans, since the Irish (and everyone else) was created by the same God. What the writer really means, is that we should be thankful for our having fought and for our continuing to fight to keep the government from infringing on our ability to exercise our God-given rights. The Irish could have freedom to exercise their extant rights, too, if only they’d fight for them.
+1
And, IMHO, we’re eventually going to have to really fight for them here again…
That’s a bit unfeeling, IMHO. The Irish have been fighting to regain their rights for hundreds of years, haven’t they?
“I have a partner and two small kids how can I protect them?”
Move, to the United States of America. Just not to Boston, they have terrible gun rights and not matter how much they like to think they are Irish, they are not.
Actually BillC, there are more Irish citizens in the 617 area code than there are in all of Ireland. And I mean citizens, not just people with some Irish ancestry. Boston gun laws suck, Irish gun laws suck, and unfortunately, Boston with 60% of the state’s population, drives the crappy laws across the Commonwealth.
Belfast in Northern Ireland had a whole spate of carjackings just before I moved over (and after too, I’m not guilty 😛 ). The victims were typically single females or the elderly.
Of course gun ownership in Northern Ireland is highly restricted, but that never stopped the flow of actual assault rifles into it. And Northern Ireland’s crime stats are separate from England and Wales too, as are Scotlands’.
Good point. Ulster was policed by the British Army. That should tell you how ineffective banning guns is when somebody wants to get them.
But their Gun-Free religion dictates that they ignore such evidence that gun-free zones and gun-free countries CAUSE crime, breed crime, incentivize crime.
I am thankful that my gun rights were never usurped, and that my ancestors’ insisted on protecting these from encroachment. It is despicable that we allow immigration and citizenship to people who have neither knowledge of nor respect for the constitution, including its amendments. It’s jolly, though, for those two elites (the very rich, the leaders of the voting poor) who really don’t want anyone getting in their way no matter how disloyally they impose their will on the laws and regulations of the nation.
The laws in most nations are created by elites with an eye to protecting themselves against displacement, or against revenge by those whose throats have felt the boot, or whose wallets have felt the pinch, of those who happened to be privileged at the moment of law making. And since the EU average voter rarely reads, and is more concerned, cow-like, with benefits than their own defense, the results are not surprising.
Northern Ireland having strict gun laws always makes me laugh ever since I heard the joke that Irishmen with guns are like squirrels with walnuts: they create so many stashes throughout the countryside, they sometimes forget where they put them all! Of course, that’s probably related to *why* the gun laws are so strict.
Time to go read up on the History of Ireland again.
I know. It is almost as if those determined to break the law will not obey the law….
Our big criminals were way better at making sure other criminals never had guns than the government ever has been here, ironically-enough.
It’s not a joke and the authorities are all the time turning up a few guns stashed here and there. The problem with this is that it’s illegal to have them and thus toting them around isn’t such an easy thing. The guns are mostly rifles at that and not so easily concealed. Their purpose is still there, resistance to tyranny, not crime control. It’s a sad state of affairs but there it is. It’s truly hard to believe that with what the Irish have been through that there aren’t closer to Switzerland: Everybody must have a rifle.
Irish carjacking sounds like a drinking game.
In other news, yeah…that sucks. Sorry about your laws, there, Ireland.
You’re thinking of an Irish Car Bomb, which is a pint of Guinness and a shot of whiskey
Everyone has guns in Somalia and there’s no government intervention to screw things up. Not only do they have armed robberies and carjackings, but they also have ship hijackings. Weird….
If you think everyone in Somalia has a gun, I believe you’ve been misinformed. Every militiaman may have an AK, but most woman and villagers do not. As for the piratical commandeering of ships, that ended when the ship owners began to arm the ships. Only the unarmed (or very poorly armed…) suffer the piracy now, which makes the thing remind me of California.
Ice pick, or the largest center punch you can buy, not quite a knife, but not illegal, ball peen hammers are handy too for self defense in a jam.
I am sorry to hear about the sad state of firearms laws in Ireland.
I encourage the fine people of Ireland to change their laws so that government no longer criminalizes good responsible people — who have no malice aforethought — for possessing objects made of wood, plastic, and metal.
To change your laws, I recommend using the Internet to maximum effect to share information, organize, and coordinate your efforts. I know that it may seem like an impossible task to change your laws. Nevertheless it is possible. The key is to act strategically. A bunch of people holding up signs in front of Parliament will not accomplish anything. Organize, target one politician, and make sure they lose the next election. Remember, you do NOT need 51% of the population on your side to vote against a politician. There are already many people who will vote against that politician. You just need to bring an additional few percent to vote against them and oust them from office. You can also apply the opposite principle to insure a politician of your choice wins an election. Again, you do NOT need 51% of the population on your side to vote for a politician because many people are going to vote for them already. You just need to bring an additional few percent to vote them in. The key is to organize and choose your politicians or candidates wisely. Once it becomes clear that your voting block can vote in or out any politicians at will, the politicians will finally listen.
Or learn how to bring all their dead relatives to the voting booth, several times each, or simply pay the guy who counts the votes to take the day off. I have no faith in the integrity of OUR elections, much less Ireland’s.
And it certainly helps to have a viable and reliable candidate to vote for. That’s something that’s been lacking a lot of the time.
“Some 56pc of motorists said in a poll they would be in favour of ‘Robotic Offensive Security’, which shocks the thief leaving them immobile for 30 minutes.
And 78pc of the 16,500 respondents said they had no sympathy for this type of criminal and would back this kind of deterrent.But some respondents to the AA’s Motor Insurance poll were horrified by the notion of paralysing would-be thieves.
One person labelled such a security feature as “barbaric”.”
Yeah, those poor bad guys deserve all the respect in the world. I wonder how those respondents would feel about delivering a .380 to the crooks face instead.
This is going to sound stupid but bear with me here; Get a metal pen, steel or brass doesn’t matter much as long as it isn’t too soft, make sure it has a clip (to carry it, not to load rounds in guns). Wear it on the inside of your sleeve, it is lightweight and virtually undetectable as long as it isn’t a flashy color (get dark blue or gray if you don’t want a pen for each sweater and jacket).
It is easy to access and works like a small dagger (though not as stabby as one), hopefully I don’t have to explain more, also it can be improved by packing metal in it. This you can easily do by chopping up construction nails and putting them inside (make sure to use some sort of epoxy or something so it doesn’t rattle).
Also if you are about to get caught, you can easily dump it (c’mon, it is just a pen you spent 15 minutes on improving). If you do get caught then it is only a pen, nobody is arresting those people with the high-capacity pocket protectors with…*GASP*….5 or more pens.
Just make sure if you do pack it (to make it heavier) that you glue on the cap so it can’t be opened or hide the metal another way (tape works well).
This has been “How to weaponize a pen” by Lolinski (with an “i”) Productions
Perhaps the IRA could take up the issue. Unlikely they disarmed/self-neutered.
up toattend Central. Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger, nicknamed ‘Big Ben’, was born in Lima, Ohio, on March in this game that made the Hines Ward season-ending jaw-breaker of Cincinnati linebacker Keith Rivers look could possibly have noticed a spot on your safeguard corps with the NHL’s Philly Brochures..When somebody many websites offering products of jerseys every day. Since these websites do things for promotion purpose,
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