Constitutional Law

Gad... victimization at sea

You've probably seen the images of Somali pirates, usually a handful of guys in small boats, with AK-47s or a few RPGs, taking over a commercial vessel. I wondered how (most of these guys would be toast to an M1A, let alone a .50 M2 -- or a stick of dynamite dropped over the side), and read that commercial vessels are forbidden to be armed. Now there's a proposal to allow armament, and here's some peculiar responses:

"Currently, pirates often fire indiscriminately during an attack but don't aim to kill or injure crew. The pirates usually use assault rifles but have rocket-propelled grenades; some reports also say they have mini-cannon.

"If someone onboard a ship pulls a gun, will the other side pull a grenade?" Mody asked."

Clue: if you're 30 feet above the guy, and 50 yards out, does it matter?

""The standard approach is for (pirates) to come in with all guns blazing at the bridge because when a boat is stopped it's easier to board," said David Johnson, director of British security firm Eos. "But if you have guns onboard, you are going to escalate the situation. We don't want to turn that part of the world into the Wild West.""

Hmm... they come in, "all guns blazing at the bridge," but you don't want to escalating things, or turn things into "the Wild West"????

Full post as published by Of Arms and the Law on October 26, 2008 (boomark / email).