Options for ridding records of static electricity

Well he was certainly right about the Linn sounding better than the direct drive. Daveyf, I did not say that the Linn could not sound good, it can. I said that it is irreparably defective which it is. The plinth is poorly constructed, you can twist it in your hands. The suspension is poorly damped and unstable because of it's geometry. The sub chassis sits on its springs like an old AR instead of being hung from them like an SME or SOTA. The ONLY advantage it had (over the AR) was at least you could mount the tonearm of your choice. Now they are trying to take that away as well.
The Linn has long outlived it's usefulness there are too many well designed tables for the money. Plus you said it sounds bad with it's dust cover down. That is certainly a problem I could not live with.
And Daveyf, you'll have to trust me on this one. I can set up a turntable way better than your dealer can. I have much better tools.

@mijostyn  The fact that you believe you can set up a Linn LP 12 better than the Linn trained professional says a lot about your post and experience. 

Furutech Destat 2 is the best and the only one that is 100% effective.

Lewm, just touching a neutral record will not transfer electrons without rubbing. If the record is already charged then sure. You can even see the sparks jump with the lights out.Just picking up a neutral record will in no way, shape or form put a charge on the record so if you want a charge you are going to have to put some elbow grease into it. Take an old record and give it a try. It will help if the air is dry. I'm sure you have record cleaning stuff to touch it up afterwards. 
Now a record press closes with about 150 tons of pressure. The surface area of a record is Pi R squared = 36 X 3.14= 113 square inches. This would come out to 2665 PSI. The contact area of a fine line stylus is about 47 um squared. Lets use 2 grams VTF. 2 gm = 0.00440925 lb.
47 um squared = 0.000000071285 square inches. Divide pounds by square inches and you get 60,525.0515 psi or over 30,000 psi per contact patch. So I was a tiny bit off. Sorry about that folks. 

Daveyf, if you think the guy at any Hi Fi store is an expert at setting up a turntable you are more gullible than I thought. I have NEVER seen a turntable come from a store set up perfectly. I was not kidding you when I said I have much better tools. Message me and I will happily send you some pictures.