Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Serious about reducing gun crime? Enforce existing laws!


Although I dislike the NRA’s keen jerk reaction against most, if not all, gun control proposals.  I think I understand their logic.  After every atrocity involving a gun, there are calls for new controls.  Some of these controls are enacted.  After the next round of atrocities the cry is that we need more gun control.  New controls are enacted which don’t work and the cycle continues to squeeze Second Amendment rights.  These laws are obeyed only by honest, law abiding citizens who may suffer a diminution of their rights and abilities to defend themselves and their families.  Too often the real problem, which is failure to enforce existing laws, is ignored.  Enforcement cost money and it’s cheaper for politicians to pretend that just one more law, enforced or not, will help solve the problem.  Another example of politicians playing the “let’s pretend” game.  Many citizens naively think laws are self-enforcing and that criminals care about conforming to gun control laws.

Excellent examples of non-enforcement involve state and federal laws which deprive convicted domestic violence offenders and subjects of family violence orders from possessing firearms.  A number of courts have found that these laws do not violate the Second Amendment.  However, as in Dallas, little or nothing is done to disarm these people.  After the Dallas Morning News published a report about non-enforcement, Dallas County (TX) finally came up with a plan.   However, is assigning one part-time Sheriff's deputy enough.? I doubt it.  It sounds like another case of when being confronted with an egrergious failure, government officials play the "let's pretend" that obviously insufficient funding and staffing will solve the problem.

2 comments:

  1. Enforce all you want. Won't reduce the rate. We're growing newbie bad guys faster than we can jail oldie bad guys.

    It may be constitutional, but taking away a gun-owner's rights because of a misdemeanor abuse act done years and decades before is intellectual vacuity.

    About the only correlation within the violent crime issue is demographic. The rate varies with the number of young males between 16 and 24, approximately. One study has offered the view that the continually falling rate has occurred with the removal of lead from gasoline.

    Regardless, gun-control laws accomplish nothing. It's already a crime to misuse any firearm.

    One thing which keeps bad guys on the street is plea-bargaining. We have no choice, there, because major-city courtroom facilities can only handle some 10% to 15% of felony indictments.

    Art

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