discipline the public to keep the weapons free

Here's the best libertarian gun control alternative yet:

I'd also like us to encourage people to gang rush shooters, rather than following their instincts to hide; if we drilled it into young people that the correct thing to do is for everyone to instantly run at the guy with the gun, these sorts of mass shootings would be less deadly, because even a guy with a very powerful weapon can be brought down by 8-12 unarmed bodies piling on him at once.

Thank you, Ms McArdle. Offhand, one institution I can think of that drilled it's mostly young members to march or run straight into gunfire was the British army of the 18th century. And as I recall , the monolithic discipline of the redcoats and the savage punishments designed to enforce it were major propaganda points for the US side in the Revolutionary War, contrasting as they did with the individual spirit of free Americans. Historical full circle, I guess.

IMMEDIATE UPDATE: actually, I can think of an occasion when a bunch of people rushed a man threatening them with a gun. It was in Clynes wine bar in Hulme about twenty years ago. But the people concerned were a) middle aged, mainly b) local hard men c) drunk and d) preceeded by an artillery barrage in the form of glasses, ashtrays, bottles, chairs etc. Perhaps we could export lairy Mancunian drunks in bunches for overwatch duties in American primary schools.

Comments

[Richard J]

"Class, I'd like you to meet your new classroom assistant, Lairy Dave."

Seeing people seriously make the argument that guns are necessary to defend against an oppressive government this week makes me want to start asking what that person's opinion of the Black Panthers was.

OT: Chris W - any word on the criminology grapevine about this one? Looks quite interesting.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Most-Russian-Punishment-ebook/dp/B00AIJ168S/ref=sr_1_37?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1355867969&sr=1-37

[Chris Williams]

Ooh, looks nice. No previous. Will order to library. Were I to recommend a right nice murder-related read for Christmas it would be my mate John Carter Wood's _The Most Remarkable Woman in England_, which rocks.

[Strategist]

Wine bar, eh? Kinda classy...

Here (with pic)

"Clynes was the most rough and ready boozer I've ever been in, genuine hardcore Irish place. It was called a Wine Bar as it allowed it to stay open all day in the dark licensing law days - I doubt anyone ever drank any wine though

Now named after the Dukes of Westminster - still so classy??

[nick s]

Perhaps we could export lairy Mancunian drunks in bunches for overwatch duties in American primary schools.

If there are any lairy Mancunian drunks left, which I think is likely, can one platoon be delegated to hoying glassware and then charging McArdle when she makes public utterances?

[ajay]

Perhaps we could export lairy Mancunian drunks in bunches for overwatch duties in American primary schools.

After the Glasgow Airport bombing a few years ago (you remember, one beardy tries to blow up terminal and is kicked into a coma by the crowd), I took great pleasure in telling my colleagues "All those Scottish guys you see lying around the tube stations? You thought they were drunks? No. They're waiting."