If personal fire arms were legal in London, would the riots be as bad as they are?

The only personal experience I have to relate to the London riots is the L.A. riots. That was racially motivated rather than political, so I’m not convinced it is a fair comparison other than the fact that both riots target a lot of small business. Both riots seem anger based too. The L.A. riots also targeted some homes. I spent three nights atop my roof with a rifle, friends, and lots of vodka. We watched as the burning neighborhoods came closer and closer. Many of our neighbors were doing the same. The fires never entered our street.

In the L.A. riots, what became obvious to me and was heavily reported on the news was the fact that many businesses put up boarded signs in their windows stating: “BLACK OWNED”. Those were left untouched with no protection necessary.

But alongside them were many White and Asian owned businesses. The ones that did not get looted were the ones where the owners and their relatives camped out and made themselves visible with firearms. Men were walking the rooftops and standing out in front, all carrying hand guns and rifles. They were also open for business.

None of the businesses next to them were looted either, even though they had no obvious protection. I cannot see any argument to make against laws in favor of private gun ownership in situations like that.

On NPR today, a number of London rioteers were interviewed. They were angry teenagers, and the only excuse they could give to justify their actions was “We’re getting our taxes back”. That was supposed to justify their stealing televisions and the like.

There were comparisons made to the US, and how rioting might be different here. One difference was that US citizens have the power to protect themselves with personal firearms and are not at the mercy of Gov intervention.

This may not be a problem for one night two night rioting. But when multiple nights go by as in L.A. and London, do you think it wise to live in a country which allows personal firearm ownership? I’m wondering how many more shops would have been looted and burned in L.A. without the 2nd ammendment right to bear arms.