Riot Gear

Here's a quintessential dissorgaized outburst:
Every time I see a mob or a riot, it just makes my blood boil. Why people do that is beyond me, but there is definitly never an excuse for it and I would dearly love to see harsh (Robert Heinlein harsh) punishments given to those involved.
From the first time I saw one, I tried to figure out how to stop them. I continue to draw a blank. A crew served machine gun keeps popping up in my mind as a good idea, but I know it's not: too many innocents about. Tear gas is cool (been gassed myself... SPICY!) but it can cause panic as people who riot in the first place are weak minded, uncollected, and generally stupid and there's almost never anyone around who has any when you really need it. Perhaps some sort of mass anesthetic gas? Ah, there can never be a panacea for such things... it always take lots of trained professionals...
hmmm...