5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk • Hacker News Board

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#71

Post by vidiviciveni » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:32 PM UTC

tristanperry wrote: post #17

itg wrote: post #5

Are the rioters buying these or the people and shop owners who want to protect their property?

(UK poster here - living away from the riots though, thankfully) There was apparently a decently large group of Turkish business owners in London last night who got together with baseball bats to protect their businesses (which apparently worked). I'd say it's a bit of both.

Ironic how the people defending their territory are not indigenous britains, but rather Turks.

Guess Turks have more of a right to be there since they actually protect their land.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#72

Post by gst » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:32 PM UTC

NathanKP wrote: post #53

hugh3 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely aluminium is the way to go?

An aluminum bat to the head would greatly increase the chance that the person will be killed rather than just knocked out. I certainly disapprove of the looters and rioters, but I don't think they deserve to die.

So this also greatly decreases the risk that this person will hit back and possibly kill you. During self-defense my primary concern is my own safety - not the safety of my enemy.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#73

Post by pitdesi » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:34 PM UTC

yid wrote: post #51

amitparikh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you picked an outlier. OP pointed out a trend -- 8/10 of the top "Movers and Shakers" are bats/batons. That is significant.

With the ease with which the burner can be turned into a bomb, it's portability (like a large Molotov), and the $15 price tag, I would be really surprised if it were genuinely an outlier (in the sense of being a chance correlation with current events).

It's Amazon.com, not Amazon.co.uk, so no.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#74

Post by burgerbrain » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:37 PM UTC

justincormack wrote: post #2

I would expect Amazon to make a statement saying they wont ship them, now this has hit the press. EDIT judging from hullo's comment above they have pulled all these products. Not sure why this comment is getting so many downvotes, it is a PR issue not a law enforcement issue, if the press are calling the company over this and it is going to be in the papers they will do this.

And the a few days later we get to read a story about a family who had their bat order canceled getting beat near to death in their own home. Brilliant.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#75

Post by mortenjorck » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:38 PM UTC

corin_ wrote: post #45

knowtheory wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Amazon run a shipping hub out of London? If so they may do same day delivery. Either way, you're hedging the cost of a bat vs the chance that riots are going to go on for multiple days, or spring up outside of your shop?

Next day delivery if ordered before a certain time (5pm I think, might be 7pm). I'd place money on the riots still being around by the time an order placed today arrived.

Presuming, that is, that delivery is running normally.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#76

Post by shrikant » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:40 PM UTC

cchurch wrote: post #66

nagrom wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, we refuse to sell bats to people who want to play baseball in the middle of the summer (the item's main and intended innocent purpose) because other people want to use them for other purposes? If you don't explicitly do that, you need to figure out a way to identify the potential nefarious users from the potential good ones. Do we allow a bat as long as you buy a mitt and a ball too? Only to people over the age o…

I believe Britain already has restrictions on knife ownership. This is sad. Honest people resorting to ordering baseball bats on a website for their defense. Imagine that that was your grandmother left with no other option. "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." --Ghandi

> I believe Britain already has restrictions on knife ownership.

I'm not sure about laws, but I've recently noticed that establishments that do sell knives and razors usually keep them behind the counter, instead of on the shelves. The idea being that you can't just pick a knife up off the shelf and make off with it.

[Knife crime is a serious issue in the UK - The Guardian even has a dedicated section to it! - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/ukcrime]

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#77

Post by mnutt » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:45 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #11

That doesn't make sense, by the time you get the bat the riots should be over. Are the local sporting good stores all sold out?

People are more likely to buy umbrellas online on days when it's raining.

Though it will certainly rain again, whereas hopefully we won't see that many riots over our lifetimes.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#78

Post by rcfox » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:47 PM UTC

cchurch wrote: post #66

nagrom wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, we refuse to sell bats to people who want to play baseball in the middle of the summer (the item's main and intended innocent purpose) because other people want to use them for other purposes? If you don't explicitly do that, you need to figure out a way to identify the potential nefarious users from the potential good ones. Do we allow a bat as long as you buy a mitt and a ball too? Only to people over the age o…

I believe Britain already has restrictions on knife ownership. This is sad. Honest people resorting to ordering baseball bats on a website for their defense. Imagine that that was your grandmother left with no other option. "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." --Ghandi

Grandma does have another option: She could leave the city.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#79

Post by mortenjorck » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:48 PM UTC

itg wrote: post #5

Are the rioters buying these or the people and shop owners who want to protect their property?

I would guess that many, if not a majority of the rioters lack a credit card, and quite possibly a registered permanent address for deliveries. These are people on the farthest margins of society, often with very little to lose.

Re: 5000% Increase in the sale of baseball bats on Amazon.co.uk

#80

Post by dennisgorelik » Tue, Aug 09, 2011, 6:49 PM UTC

mileszs wrote: post #70

dennisgorelik wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looter in action does not deserve to die? Why not? If looter was caught and is on trial - then few years in prison would be enough. But being killed while looting when police is overwhelmed - that's only fair.

I find your comment quite disturbing. I can get behind leaving a looter (slightly) bloody and bruised, I suppose, but the nonchalance with which you proclaim these other humans "deserve to die", and state that it's "only fair" is ... well, disturbing. That's the best word. It's disturbing. The whole damned thing is disturbing.

If the looter is alone and there is police squad nearby - there is no need to even beat the looter - catch him and send to prison.

Unfortunately looting mob during mass riots puts store owners into totally different situation. They basically have only two options: run vs fight.

I'm not sure if I personally would choose to fight in that situation, but if business owner chooses fight option, I would support him even if he kills looters during that fight. In part because that would make my neighborhood safer.