NATO Warship Sinks Pirate Mothership

[Eleven]

The English couple are still being held, still alive but getting weaker. UK will not pay up. This is the only way to stop piracy of people.
There is considerable aid going to these countries too, the western world needs to do more to follow up the application of that aid and ensure it is spread evenly through the people it was intended to help, not just sit in a private (Swiss) bank account.
And maybe these tanker and freighter companies need to be providing the defence systems needed. The old 'E'boats, MTB's and PT boats are quite adequate. It doesn't need a navy to take on a fishing boat!
Damn the do-goody softies who can't see the wolf for their principles.

By the way 500 hostages are currently being held in Somalia.

[Mariness]

Originally Posted by Bloodhound

Didn't piracy used to be a capital offense? What ever happened? I'll bet more pirates have swung from yard arms than were ever tried in courts of law. If a tiger is racing across a grassy field headed directly at me I'm not going to ask him, "Are you hungry Mr. Tiger?", but am going to shoot the bugger straightaway. No, I don't advocate shoot first and ask questions later, but if all shipping (not yachts) carried reasonable firearms for protection, and used them when under OBVIOUS attack, a few dozen missing mother ships (and "child" vessels) together with their crews would probably seriously reduce the incidence and attraction of piracy. And please don't give me that standard excuse crap of a country without a functioning government. Maybe time for a reality check: it's a war zone so best go well armed. ... Just my not-very-humble opinion.

I don't know what the statistics at sea are, but it might be well to remember that on land (at least in the US) more people have been shot by their OWN weapon than by an assailant's.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Mariness

I don't know what the statistics at sea are, but it might be well to remember that on land (at least in the US) more people have been shot by their OWN weapon than by an assailant's.

Yes. I wonder if thats true because it sounds like a Snopes Urban Legand because I heard it as Police are more often shot with their own gun than an assailants. And that was meant to be Australian police...

[Mariness]

One study found that a gun kept in the home is 43x more likely to kill a household member, friend, or acquaintance than an intruder. In reviewing nearly 400 homes that had experienced a homicide: 84.3% had no forced entry; 75% of victims were killed by spouse, family member, or acquaintance; only 3.6% were ruled as legally excusable self-defense. (Kellerman, et al., 1993).

[David_Old_Jersey]

Pirate Town captured by Islamic Militia.


Islamic Group Seizes Somali Pirate Town

BBC News - Somali Islamist insurgents seize pirate haven

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Mariness

One study found that a gun kept in the home is 43x more likely to kill a household member, friend, or acquaintance than an intruder. In reviewing nearly 400 homes that had experienced a homicide: 84.3% had no forced entry; 75% of victims were killed by spouse, family member, or acquaintance; only 3.6% were ruled as legally excusable self-defense. (Kellerman, et al., 1993).

You're absolutely right, guns at homes are not stored safely in most cases. But what does that have to do with fighting pirates at high seas? If crew gets armed on these ships, like Bloodhound wrote, what kind of relation is there in your opinion to the information about guns at homes and domestic accidents or violence? I think it's totally unrelated.

ciao!
Nick.

[hellosailor]

http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C81.txt
Can't tell the players without a scorecard. My recollection is that priacy USED TO BE a capitol offense when committed by an alien, but not by a citizen. Apparently this changed for all parties last year.

"One study found that a gun kept in the home is 43x more likely to kill " Is that a sloppy quote or a sloppy study? The guns I've known to be kept in homes never leaped out and killed anyone, not all by themselves.
Oh, and you never find a spouse beaten with a bat or stabbed by a kitchen knife, iunless there's one of them (the implement and spouse alike) present in the home. Yes yes, let's demonize guns, especially the ones that jump up and kill all by themselves. Let's keep ignoring domestic violence and the culture that encourages people to piss other people off and give them no other resolution. That'll solve the problem, sure. [sic]

Once we ban indoor cooking and Christmas tree lighting, we can save thousands more from burning horribly to death. Mother's March Against Stoves! There's no reason to eat hot food unless you're really trying to burn down the house, and your spouse with it! Ban those stoves! Slag 'em down! Evil evil stoves!

[Mariness]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

You're absolutely right, guns at homes are not stored safely in most cases. But what does that have to do with fighting pirates at high seas? If crew gets armed on these ships, like Bloodhound wrote, what kind of relation is there in your opinion to the information about guns at homes and domestic accidents or violence? I think it's totally unrelated.

ciao!
Nick.

Just that people who treat them unsafely on land are unlikely to be safer once they're on a boat.

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Pirate Town captured by Islamic Militia.


Islamic Group Seizes Somali Pirate Town

BBC News - Somali Islamist insurgents seize pirate haven

Great...we sit around and do nothing long enough and now we get to play ball with the A team.

Stupid diplomats!

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Mariness

Just that people who treat them unsafely on land are unlikely to be safer once they're on a boat.

So, you are really serious about this? You actually think that professional crew on commercial ships who would be trained and issued guns to repel pirates are comparable to the avg. gun owner in the US and when they use the gun, it's only 4% chance they shoot a pirate against what, 80% that they shoot themselves with it? I am sorry but you can't apply domestic statistics from one single country with this situation. Being armed with guns against pirates helps, it's proven over and over again with very few bad endings (I know of one: Sir Peter Blake)

cheers,
Nick.

[sww914]

I'd rather not see this become a guns in the home thread. Guns on a boat seem quite relevant but guns in the house?

[mercurial]

Just pissed on my batteries too, turned out they weren't flat after all. Wheres the first aid kit.........

[fishwife]

The Russian Navy have freed the crew of a tanker.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8664011.stm

[Jim D]

I am pleased to report that I have never shot myself while in my home, nor outside of it for that matter, with my own weapon. Oh, and not with anybody else's either. So that's a 100 percent guns-are-ok statistic for consideration.

Gotta love statistics: what fun we can have with them.

~

[Bloodhound]

What these last several posts have to do with piracy (or even sailing, for that matter) beats the hell out of me!!! Wow! Can people ever get off track.