Sometimes adolescent boys need their heads cracked. If no one teaches kids who's in charge, the kids will assume they are.
Outside of school hours, my Cornish village of St Day descends into a state of anarchy. Feral yobs run wild while adults live in fear of threats, vandalism and intimidation. I despair that while we spend millions battling global warming, terrorism and drugs, the biggest threat is harassment by degenerate thugs. ...For local residents, the protocol on Fore Street is simple: do not confront, do not engage, stay inside. A resident who raised thousands of pounds for a village youth club was repaid with a bag of horse manure, mixed with petrol, set ablaze against his front door.
Things got worse at the end of the summer. A gang broke into a funeral wake in the church hall. They smashed ornaments and hurled abuse at terrified guests, who were ferried home while the attackers ransacked the vicarage.
Days later a church wedding rehearsal suffered a similar attack. Despite plenty of witnesses, and evidence, no arrests were made because the police wanted to catch the suspects in the act.
The adults on the scene should lay the smack-down on these kids, not wait for the police to rescue them. Yet another example of emasculated men who are unwilling to take responsibility for their society. It seems like the Brits are especially pathetic these days.
Jason Steen isn't an obvious target for muggers. The 40-year-old heads his own company advising on mergers and acquisitions, and usually strides through life like a Master of the Universe. This evening, though, he looks shaken. Two days earlier, he was accosted outside his central London home by eight kids — the youngest was 11 — who punched him to the ground, hustled him to the nearest cash machine and forced him to reveal his PIN number. After a series of attacks in the area, local residents have gathered in Steen's apartment to talk to the policeman handling the case. His advice: "Don't go out unless you have to."
This is what happens when law-abiding citizens aren't allowed to carry guns.
And yes, to be clear, I'm advocating the use of force against these "yobs" -- if it came to that. I doubt it would take much to scatter these ruffians and put the fear of God in them.
There's a legal problem. If you defend yourself with a gun in the UK, you're very likely to get out of prison after your attackers. I predict that walking sticks will eventually come back in fashion.