Many ports do not allow vessels in if they have arms. Why? Here's the fun part....to prevent piracy.

It's vital to keep an armed ship out of Goa so that they won't pirate anybody in the port. Oh wait, that doesn't work, they just jump the ship en route to Goa don't they?

This is gun control at sea. The logic runs thus: "if we ban guns at sea, the tools of violence will be unavailable and the violence will be lessened." Like other prohibition efforts, it has worked wonderfully....not.

My country has been involved in international mercantilism since its inception. Armed ships sailed into our ports for decades, with the weaponry on the ship often outgunning what the port had to defend its citizens. The same can be said for much of Europe. Why are we so enamored of making merchants defenseless now?