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Top Counter-Terrorism Agency: Citizens Should Be Armed To Stop Terror Attacks

George Washington's picture




 

The head of the world’s international police agency (Interpol) – which is very active in counter-terror efforts – said last October that arming citizens might be the best way to stop terrorism.

ABC News reported:

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said today the U.S. and the rest of the democratic world is at a security crossroads in the wake of last month’s deadly al-Shabab attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya – and suggested an answer could be in arming civilians.

 

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Noble said there are really only two choices for protecting open societies from attacks like the one on Westgate mall where so-called “soft targets” are hit: either create secure perimeters around the locations or allow civilians to carry their own guns to protect themselves.

 

“Societies have to think about how they’re going to approach the problem,” Noble said. “One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that. Another is to say the enclaves are so secure that in order to get into the soft target you’re going to have to pass through extraordinary security.”

 

***

 

The secretary general, an American who previously headed up all law enforcement for the U.S. Treasury Department, told reporters during a brief news conference that the Westgate mall attack marks what has long been seen as “an evolution in terrorism.” Instead of targets like the Pentagon and World Trade Center that now have far more security since 9/11, attackers are focusing on sites with little security that attract large numbers of people.

 

***

 

“Ask yourself: If that was Denver, Col., if that was Texas, would those guys have been able to spend hours, days, shooting people randomly?” Noble said, referring to states with pro-gun traditions. “What I’m saying is it makes police around the world question their views on gun control. It makes citizens question their views on gun control. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is an armed citizenry more necessary now than it was in the past with an evolving threat of terrorism?‘ This is something that has to be discussed.”

 

***

 

“For me it’s a profound question,” he continued. “People are quick to say ‘gun control, people shouldn’t be armed,’ etc., etc. I think they have to ask themselves: ‘Where would you have wanted to be? In a city where there was gun control and no citizens armed if you’re in a Westgate mall, or in a place like Denver or Texas?'”

If you are for gun control – as I used to be – you may want to note that a top liberal Constitutional law scholar, Ghandi and the Dalai Lama are all  for the right of citizens to bear arms.

Perhaps more importantly, look at the alternatives

Would you rather let the government keep on waging its virtually endless, counter-productive , freedom-destroying and ruinously expensive War On Terror?

Or would you rather arm yourselves and take your chances?

I know a native American man who has a bumper sticker on his truck which reads:

Open Hunting Season on Terrorists

I think he’s got the right attitude.

Postscript:  For those who think that guns are “unhealthy” or “disgusting”, please note that Freud disagreed.  Specifically, he argued that when men give up the primal drive to protect ourselves, our families and our communities – and that power is transferred to standing armies – it disempowers us and makes us weak psychologically.

And see this.

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Fri, 01/23/2015 - 10:24 | 5696348 Spungo
Spungo's picture

I noticed something interested that was stated by the game reviewer Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation. When playing the survival game Rust, he mentioned that it was odd how many people were friendly when both parties had guns. When only one party had a gun, it would almost always turn into an armed robbery. The game is actually a lot like modern day Africa where a group of armed men raid a village and steal everything that isn't nailed down. The only thing that can stop it from happening is more guns.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 09:47 | 5696116 Laddie
Laddie's picture

South Africa, and be not fooled, this is YOUR fate also Whites in America, UNLESS and UNTIL you RISE UP!!!

http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/

I put my faith in God and the Mauser
~Boer General Ben Viljoen

'You must carry your gun and your Bible together at once'
~ Afrikaner Werner Selzer, 2010

http://www.nrahq.org/
http://gunowners.org/
http://www.gundigest.com/article/ObamaExpose/

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.

They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.

But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

--Rudyard Kipling
"The Gods of the Copybook Heading"

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:09 | 5695776 jughead
jughead's picture

Yeah, we here in this country are well armed...as we should be.  But sadly, the open question is whether those armed "citizens" would fight against the "terrorists"...or fight WITH them?  In some urban neighborhoods, it could go either way. 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:53 | 5695752 jughead
jughead's picture

I don't need to be "allowed" to carry a firearm...it is my birthright. 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 02:05 | 5695393 bh2
bh2's picture

The Second Amendment was not a new idea. It was simply the most ancient principle of the inherent right to self-defense which was included in our fundamental written law.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 06:47 | 5695674 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

FYRD, fyrdung, e; f. I. an army, the military array of the whole country; exerctus, expdtio. To take part in the fyrd was the general duty of every freeman, even of the mere churl, but as forming one branch of the trinoda necessitas it belonged especially to owners ofland. 'Every owner of land was obliged to the fyrd or expeditio; the owner of bookland as liable to the trinoda necessitas alone; the occupier of folkland as subject to that as well as to many other obligations from which bookland was exempted.' Stubbs' Const. Hist. i.190, q. v. By the simple appellation of fyrd the land-force was to be understood. The naval armament was denominated the scip-fyrd. v. folc-land I [c] :-- Be ðon ðe gesíþcund man fyrde forsitte. Gif gesíþcund mon, landágende, forsitte fyrde, geselle cxx scillinga andþolie his landes; unlandágende lx scillinga; cierlisc xxx scillinga; to fyrd-wíte [MS. fierd-wíte] in case a gesithcund man neglects the fyrd. If a gesithcund man owning land, neglect the fyrd, let him pay 120 shillings and forfeit his land; one not owning land, 60 shillings;a churlish man, 30 shillings; as a fine for neglecting the fyrd, L. In. 51; Th. i. 134, 7-10. II. an army; agmen, exerctus :-- Fyrd sceal wið fyrde sacan army shall strive against army, Menol. Fox 565; Gn. C. 52 : Cd. 146; Th. 183, 8; Exod. 88. On Faraones fyrde inPharaoh's army, Exon. 122 a; Th. 468, 3; Phar. 2. Claudius, se cásere, fyrde geldde on Breotone Claudius, the emperor, led an army into Britain, Bd. 1, 3; S. 475, 11 : Cd. 145; Th. 181, 17; Exod. 62. Gesomnade he his fyrd wið West-Seaxum he assembled his armyagainst the West Saxons, Bd. 2, 9; S. 512, 2 : Cd. 149; Th. 187, 24; Exod. 156. Fór fyrda mst the greatest of armies marched, Elen. Kmbl. 69; El. 35.  heora fyrd gesomnedon they assembled their armies, Bd. 3. 14; S. 539, 36. III. an expedition; expdtio :-- Ðæt icof ðisse fyrde feran wille that I will flee out of this expedition, Byrht. Th. 138, 16; By. 221. Ðeáh ðú mid us ne fare on fyrd though thou go not with us in the expedition, Ps. Th. 43, 11. Onginnaþ ymb ða fyrde þencean they begin to think about the expedition, Cd. 21; Th.26, 18; Gen. 408 : 32; Th. 43, 11; Gen. 689 : 92; Th. 118, 7; Gen. 1961. IV. a camp; castrum :-- Fyrd castrum, Ælfc. Gl. 7; Som. 56, 76; Wrt. Voc. 18, 28. [Laym. ferde, uerde, f. an army : Orm. ferd an army : Scot. ferde an army, host : O. Sax. fard, f. an expedition :Frs. feard : O. Frs. ferd, f. an expedition : Ger. fahrt, fart, f. ter : M. H. Ger. vart, f : O. H. Ger. fart, f. ter : Dan. fart, færd, m. f. an expedition : Swed. fart, m. a passage : Icel. ferð, f. travel.]

http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/tiff/oe_bosworthtoller/b0351.tiff

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 09:43 | 5696083 medium giraffe
medium giraffe's picture

Ahhh, my shitty browser can't cope with your craziness!  Took me half an hour to scroll right to see wtf you were talking about.  Still not sure.  I've replied now though, so you can't edit it.  So now everyone is gonna have to deal with it too.  Do you see what you've done??!!!!

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 10:03 | 5696197 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

Sorry about that - here's the non hyperlinked version from Bosworth and Tolle An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)- over 1500 years of the Anglo-Saxon "tradition" and legal history of the right to bear arms (and draft-dodging by the monied).  First encroached upon by Alfred-the-not-so-Great in around 890 AD with the advent of the borough system to combat the Danes, who ironically employed the leding (basically the same as the fyrd) to finance and staff their Viking army and expeditions against the Anglo-Saxons.

 

FYRD, fyrdung, e; f. 

 

I. an army, the military array of the whole country; exerctus, expdtio. To take part in the fyrd was the general duty of every freeman, even of the mere churl, but as forming one branch of the trinoda necessitas it belonged especially to owners of land. 'Every owner of land was obliged to the fyrd or expeditio; the owner of bookland as liable to the trinoda necessitas alone; the occupier of folkland as subject to that as well as to many other obligations from which bookland was exempted.' Stubbs' Const. Hist. i.190, q. v. By the simple appellation of fyrd the land-force was to be understood. The naval armament was denominated the scip-fyrd. v. folc-land I [c] :-- Be ðon ðe gesíþcund man fyrde forsitte. Gif gesíþcund mon, landágende, forsitte fyrde, geselle cxx scillinga andþolie his landes; unlandágende lx scillinga; cierlisc xxx scillinga; to fyrd-wíte [MS. fierd-wíte] in case a gesithcund man neglects the fyrd. If a gesithcund man owning land, neglect the fyrd, let him pay 120 shillings and forfeit his land; one not owning land, 60 shillings;a churlish man, 30 shillings; as a fine for neglecting the fyrd, L. In. 51; Th. i. 134, 7-10. 

 

II. an army; agmen, exerctus :-- Fyrd sceal wið fyrde sacan army shall strive against army, Menol. Fox 565; Gn. C. 52 : Cd. 146; Th. 183, 8; Exod. 88. On Faraones fyrde in Pharaoh's army, Exon. 122 a; Th. 468, 3; Phar. 2. Claudius, se cásere, fyrde geldde on Breotone Claudius, the emperor, led an army into Britain, Bd. 1, 3; S. 475, 11 : Cd. 145; Th. 181, 17; Exod. 62. Gesomnade he his fyrd wið West-Seaxum he assembled his armyagainst the West Saxons, Bd. 2, 9; S. 512, 2 : Cd. 149; Th. 187, 24; Exod. 156. Fór fyrda mst the greatest of armies marched, Elen. Kmbl. 69; El. 35. Hí heora fyrd gesomnedon they assembled their armies, Bd. 3. 14; S. 539, 36. 

 

III. an expedition; expdtio :-- Ðæt icof ðisse fyrde feran wille that I will flee out of this expedition, Byrht. Th. 138, 16; By. 221. Ðeáh ðú mid us ne fare on fyrd though thou go not with us in the expedition, Ps. Th. 43, 11. Onginnaþ ymb ða fyrde þencean they begin to think about the expedition, Cd. 21; Th.26, 18; Gen. 408 : 32; Th. 43, 11; Gen. 689 : 92; Th. 118, 7; Gen. 1961. 

 

IV. a camp; castrum :-- Fyrd castrum, Ælfc. Gl. 7; Som. 56, 76; Wrt. Voc. 18, 28. [Laym. ferde, uerde, f. an army : Orm. ferd an army : Scot. ferde an army, host : O. Sax. fard, f. an expedition :Frs. feard : O. Frs. ferd, f. an expedition : Ger. fahrt, fart, f. ter : M. H. Ger. vart, f : O. H. Ger. fart, f. ter : Dan. fart, færd, m. f. an expedition : Swed. fart, m. a passage : Icel. ferð, f. travel.]

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 02:36 | 5695429 me again
me again's picture

That is correct. We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 00:37 | 5695227 FIAT CON
FIAT CON's picture

Another story over this past weekend, 2 cops shot one killed.

Shot by a career criminal with a rap sheet a mile long.

I am happy to see that the victim in this case was members of the actual criminal system themselves and not a civilian who is not allowed to defend themselves.

 I am sure it could just as easily of been a citizen who confronted this man under a different circumstance  and been killed, once again by a carrear criminal that the "just us" system let loose to create havic on the public.

There are many dangerous jobs out there and many people lose their lives at work, but I dont see major salutes by the country when a logger dies! or any other person from the workplace.

This is a false and disrespectful to everyone elses family who loses a loved one from a workplace accident.

Putting police on some sort of pedastal for this is just wrong, all of these low educated men and women who take their grade 12 diploma and become a cop for the easy pay and pension fully know that they have CHOSEN a job that may have life threatening tasks.

 Had a Citizen in the past killed this man from a previous robbery, that cop may still be alive today.

So who really killed the cop? My vote is on the poor criminal justice system that still had him on the street or the guns laws that prevented his death by a private property protecting citizen.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/we-re-saying-our-goodbyes-today-wife-of-gra...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 00:36 | 5695218 FIAT CON
FIAT CON's picture

The story below is from a robbery in Canada where the store owner shot one of the robbers. and did not get charged.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/jeweller-who-shot-robber-...

 Yes, we as Canadians should have the right to defend our homes and property. 

Every dead robber/rapist will never commit a crime again, problem solved.

Maybe in a case like this, shoot to kill, dead men cannot Sue, Just sayin.

 

 

 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 02:51 | 5695451 me again
me again's picture

Definitelly; very important. Double tap; last one through the CNS; we don't want any whinners in wheel chairs to appeal to the feeble minded jurors. Gun Control is very important; always use two hands. Only three things count; shot placement, shot placement, and shot placement.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 00:30 | 5695217 FIAT CON
FIAT CON's picture

.double post

 

 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 00:15 | 5695197 joego1
joego1's picture

The end to terrorism could just end up being a dose of good old common sense.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 02:56 | 5695457 me again
me again's picture

Come on; "Terrorism" is just .gov propaganda for control and to rape the Constitution,

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 03:13 | 5695477 Otrader
Otrader's picture

Turn on the TV and remain scared like the rest of us me again

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 00:03 | 5695149 Duc888
Duc888's picture

 

 

Nonsense, we just need to hire 250,000 more cops and 500,000 more DHS agents.

 

 

/sarcasm

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 06:44 | 5695672 BidnessMan
BidnessMan's picture

Sarc noted, but if will still always be "When seconds count, the cops are minutes away"

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 23:58 | 5695141 Reaper
Reaper's picture

The law of jungle rules. Which animals attack the tiger or the pride of lions? Fight fear with fear.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:13 | 5695708 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

it's certainly working well so far.

argument from poetic comparison is not the strongest.

p.s. watch out for the honey badger (bites lion balls).

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 23:27 | 5694978 YHC-FTSE
YHC-FTSE's picture

Sure, why not? There will be a lot more stars on the walls at Langley and its equivalent in Tel Aviv if that happens.

Unfortunately it isn't going to happen where I live so I expect more of the same we saw in Paris on the streets of London or Dublin fairly soon. I reckon some anti-Israel jewish folks are going to be targeted to perpetuate this farce after the Nisman story dies down in the msm to render focus on Israel as the victim on the Palestinian statehood issue. Crimes involving murder is a real menace to the world and always has been. No doubt there are real islamic nutjobs who are an occasional threat, but imo, the biggest threat posed comes from the government agencies that fund, train, arm, and perpetuate terrorism and hate.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 03:03 | 5695466 Transformer
Transformer's picture

Coincidences:

Terrorists do a very professional hit, then leave their ID on the front seat. 

Police commissioner in charge of investigation commits suicide

Supposed driver sees his name on TV, turns himself in, we never hear about him again.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 03:01 | 5695462 Otrader
Otrader's picture

Largest terrorist state in the world is Israel.  With all the money oligarchs pledging allegiance to this terrorist welfare state, the rest of the world will burn for the chosenites. 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 00:07 | 5695153 xavi1951
xavi1951's picture

YHC

"...No doubt there are real islamic nutjobs who are an occasional threat,..."  

If you had studied Islam like I have studied Islam, you would know that the terms 'Islamic' and 'nutjob' are in fact, interchangeable.  Hence you used the same word twice in the same sentence.

As fas being an "occasional threat", you have NOT kept tabs on how 'occassional' thier threats really are, or you whould have chosen a more realistic term, such as, FREQUENT.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:10 | 5695701 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

see below: largest terrorist state is israel.  why did the arabs have to pay for the sins of the nazis?  what if the chinese got a big piece of california because of the japanese attacks on them and the british opium wars? how would that be?

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 23:13 | 5694972 Prober
Prober's picture

Ancient news to me. All of my personal staff and all the security staff at all of my businesses are armed with handgun, tactical shotgun, tactical rifle, and plenty of ammo for all. My personal assistant / driver/ guard has these with us ALWAYS everywhere we go. Same for my community of friends. If there is any kind of threat to any of us, or any kind of terrorist attack within our sight, our response will be immediate and effective.

If any of the terrorist attacks that have occurred had occurred in sight of us, we could have ended them and saved lives.

Could also be very useful if TSHTF, as many on ZH predict, surely far more useful in that case than shiny lead.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 23:04 | 5694967 steelrules
steelrules's picture

Meanwhile in Canada,

http://www.cjad.com/cjad-news/2015/01/22/dep-owner-fires-on-bandits-is-a...

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/01/13/defending-self-defence

But we're fighting back, I'm personally a member of the NRA, NFA and CCSA and belong to 2 gun ranges.

https://www.facebook.com/NFACANADA

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 22:57 | 5694959 xavi1951
xavi1951's picture

OKAY!  I will now do something that I have NOT done before on ZH.....  GW, GREAT ARTICLE!  Oh crap, that hurt!  But I will stick with it.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 22:51 | 5694942 phantom blot
phantom blot's picture

what a croc of shit

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 21:57 | 5694759 Lone_Star
Lone_Star's picture

One of the reasons I'm glad to live in Texas. I was raised hunting and shooting guns, but I never thought I'd need to use my guns to protect myself. I still hope I don't, but it's nice to know that I have that option and I know how to use them.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 23:14 | 5695002 General Decline
General Decline's picture

I'm in Brisbane right now and over heard a couple of Aussies talking about laws regarding collectible swords. Once you purchase them, you can take them home but you are not allowed to take them out side of the confines of your home. Sad. Port Arthur massacre was a false flag.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 02:23 | 5695414 sherryw
sherryw's picture

General Decline, I am seven hours drive west of you. Plenty of guns out here, but sadly, only for rural/farm purposes. Went to a political fundraiser out here last week. Couldn't believe the intellectual mediocrity of the standing Federal Member of 29 years. He is all for our troops in Iraq. His arguments were completely incoherent. We are so screwed if he is representative of our Federal politicians. ......and his incoherence went over the heads of most of the audience.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:02 | 5695694 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

that's a big part of this terrorism business.  here is the u.s. doing israel's work to destroy the governments, in most cases authoritarian (like the u.s.'s "friends" the saudis, the kuwaitis, etc.), such as iraq, libya, syria, yemen, even bombing ostensible democracies like pakistan and afghanistan.

of course the citizens of such countries and those who sympathize with them will want to kill "americans". wouldn't you, if the tables were turned?

how evil, foolish and expensive. apparently we are all likud now, whether we want it or not.

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 21:19 | 5694646 nmewn
nmewn's picture

"If you are for gun control – as I used to be – you may want to note that a top liberal Constitutional law scholar, Ghandi and the Dalai Lama are all  for the right of citizens to bear arms."

Welcome to the club GW.

Now if we can just get rid of the gun free kill zones scattered about the country ;-)

Thu, 01/22/2015 - 21:34 | 5694678 George Washington
George Washington's picture

Thank you, sir.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:55 | 5695754 jughead
jughead's picture

No, thank you, for coming to your senses on the issue.  ;-)

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 05:34 | 5695620 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

since the whole thing goes always back to gun control in the US, a small observation on weapons control in general

(A) it makes absolutely no sense wherever population is sparse. (B) it makes some sense where population density is high

this is a lesson from antiquity. city walls used to be the boundary between outside with weapons and inside without weapons

what America could easily do is a political compromise on gun control. based on population densities and city/urban boundaries

remember one thing: Europe used to be the highly urban affair compared to America. This is a thing of the past, urbanization has progressed further in the US

the whole gun control discussion in the US is a bit whacky because this single fact is not taken in account

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:37 | 5695731 css1971
css1971's picture

Um. The European populace pretty much got round the no swords thing by making weapons which were very sword like but which were not technically swords.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcLcsvw8rw0

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 14:38 | 5697480 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

Funny video, but the grosses Messer was a rather extreme example.  To this day there are exemptions that have been carved into Scottish and English law for the sgian dubh which started out as tool which bypass certain other restrictions.  Then there are the jurisdictions with complete bass ackwards statutes like Virginia, where my old concealed weapons permit, which was issued on a may issue (discretionary) basis by TPTB was replaced by a concealed handgun permit on a shall issue (civil right) basis and I no longer have legal protections for concealing certain "knives" that I used to.  Of course the definition of a "knife" in Virginia is rather complex, such as what would the proper classification be if I were to sharpen the false edge on my Damascus steel dirk, since § 18.2-308 doesn't address concealed daggers.  Of course, WITHOUT RULE OF LAW... none of this matters. 

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:24 | 5695805 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

and the Chinese populace invented similar "innocuos everyday instruments for work", and techniques like Kung Fu to go with them

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:11 | 5695703 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

Perhaps the whole gun control discussion in the Europe is a bit whacky... because of the fact that the founding fathers of the US were quite familiar with the long history of usurpation of the natural rights and obligations of European citizenry by the European oligarchs that was facilitated by a half millennium of urban disarmament (in various of the distinct European locales) at that point 200 years ago is not taken into consideration in their discussions.  Just sayin'...

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:41 | 5695734 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

in Switzerland, too? ;-)

if you take the correct context of this "long history of usurpation of the natural rights", then you do have to differentiate, in Europe

in England, the greatest usurpation of rural populations was done with the so called "enclosures", the great Tragedy of the Commons

but on the continent, there was a long history of feudalism in rural regions and a free citizenry in the cities. "Stadtluft macht frei", i.e. the urban air is that of freedom

the citizen/city dweller was armed... but his long pike was in the city armoury

but yes, I agree, we do have a whacky discussion on gun control here in Europe. a very, very small one, not such a huge distracting one as in the US. as I said above, we treat guns a bit like drugs. all those who want to have/use them do, but don't talk about it much

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 09:06 | 5695893 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

Aren't you painting the entire continent and the good old days with a rather Teutonic brush?  The Staatsbürger, unehrliche Leute and the Untermensch had somewhat different privileges and obligations even within the Germanic free cities and Italian city states.  The French, Spanish and Portuguese weren't any better than the English IMO (but then my only southern ancestors were Canarios, who swiftly departed for the new world rather than hanging out with the imperial inbreds of Castile).

The city armoury model was employed in Sana'a and by-and-large worked well, one would check their kalishnakov at gate and carry just their jambiya into town (even though it could be circumvented with a wink and nod or a few banknotes), until some inbreds from Washington arrived and built an imperial military base and called it a new "embassy" which sort of undermined the trust required for a functioning social contract, and look at the place now- Progress!.    

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 10:00 | 5696182 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

lol. not that much. Spain and Portugal had similar things going on, the Canary Island not, they were "territories" devoid of cities for a long time. Toledo is an excellent example, like Lisbon or Porto

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 23:02 | 5698899 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

I bet your gun control conversations will take a very sublime twist if ever Russian tanks roll west. 

As to the man's pike being locked in the city armory...  Where is your weapon locked up and who have to give you permission to defend yourself before you can go get it?

You Euro's are so blind.  When that magic moment comes you will be utterly defenseless.  êtes-vous d'accord Charlie?

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:27 | 5695720 nmewn
nmewn's picture

I was going to say much the same thing.

The king had his men & weapons behind his wall and could do as he damned well pleased to the unarmed peasantry behind the wall. For the promise of "protection from" the ones outside the wall (who also had weapons by the way...lol) the peasants could be more easily controled, only suffering the occasional slight indignity of a little theft, rape & murder every so often at the hands of him & his minions seemed a small price to pay.

Back then.

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:45 | 5695740 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

that's a simplified, English-history based version. in the greater part of Europe, i.e. the continent, things were a bit more complicated, as in Scotland or Ireland, btw

ranging from Free Cities with republican or old-style corporative arrangements to the Free Lord, i.e. the smallest imaginable near-sovereign, including the Robber Barons

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 07:51 | 5695749 nmewn
nmewn's picture

No more simplified than your protective wall ;-)

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:01 | 5695761 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

you are confounding two kind of walls. that of the castles, which more often then not were a terrorizing instrument of rural oppression

and that of the cities, which were were a serf would flee to, if possible

because generally speaking being inside a city freed you from the rural/feudal oppression

Fri, 01/23/2015 - 08:04 | 5695766 nmewn
nmewn's picture

They also fled to armed men behind those walls.

Gotta go to work, later.

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