4 Apr
2002
4 Apr
'02
9:02 a.m.
On Thu, 4 Apr 2002, Richard Erlacher wrote:
I don't know that trying to make this a
supply-side thing is any smarter than
the same effort with respect to drugs. If having a gun on your person when
apprehended in the commission of a crime were, in itself, more likely to get
you a life-standing-on-your-head-in-a-16"-deep-pool-of-goat-feces-sentence
than the crime itself, perhaps people would behave differently. I don't see
why the GOV thinks that they should make the gun makers enforce the law. It's
worth a try, though.
I don't know where you'd find references, but try looking at the use
of sawed-off shotguns in robberies in the US. They're incredibly
effective as intimidators, and were very popular in the 'teens and '20s.
Federal laws were passed mandating atrocious jail time for use of
sawed-offs in crimes, ***those laws were agressively enforced***, and
shotguns almost disappeared as the gangster's choice.
Doc