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Mr. Mephisto:
My response did not directly deal with the issue of defensive carry, it was a thrust towards the heart of our Second Amendment: the guarantee that we Americans would always be able to do what your countrymen so nobly did in 1916 and 1920-21. Ireland has no violent-crime problem to speak of outside Dublin, so the Defensive-Carry arguement does not much apply to your country. However, it was observation while I was there that a similar sort of citizen-based deterrance is practiced in most areas: car-theives have an inconveniant tendancy to end up with both legs broken, for instance. That seems to work admirably for your country; keep it up!
I greatly admire the Gardai for their unarmed position: when I was in Ireland several years ago it was one of the things that most impressed me about your country, which in many aspects is freer than my own. However, it was my observation that a great many "pikes in the thatch" were still around, and that many an "old Fenian gun" was still to be found if one knew who to talk to. One old gentleman on the train from Limerick to Dublin quite proudly told me that the old Mauser in his bedroom wall was staying right where it was, "just in case." Perhaps he was taking the micky out on me, but I doubt it. This old fellow had a look in his eyes that said that he was all steel behind his wrinkles and checked cap.
As I've said, your countrymen have a far less crime-prone society than we do: in large part due to cultural homogenity, small population, and a tightly-knit system of informal social controls which results in swift community-based punishments ( like car-theives getting their legs broken. ) You have an entirely different set of day-to-day realities than we do here in the States. That being said, however, my original point was that you also have a much more recent history of armed struggle than we do, and that it is for such events that we Americans maintain our right to keep arms.
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