[freepatriot32]

the crimes against persons and property the FBI tracks in its Uniform Crime Report -- ranging from murder to simple property crimes -- the annual clearance rate is an astonishingly low 19.6%.

what do private civilians need a gun for just call the police and they will protect you /sarcasm

[jmc813]

WOD Ping

[dark_lord]

I fully expect the WOD types to be here any moment calling you a smelly long haired hippy doper radical anarchist DU'er.

[jmc813]

I'm sure the authoritarians will be along shortly telling us how these crimes affect "society", and how "selfish" the anarcho-ideologues are.

[Rodney King]

Yes, but Marijuana is a gateway drug.

[Hugin]

In every city in America there are outstanding warrents on thousands of convicted felons who have not showed up for sentencing. There are generally only a small handful of cops assigned to find and arrest these people. We could significantly reduce real crime if we put the resources we spend enforcing the laws described in this article into tracking down and arresting the career criminals who have already been convicted.

[supercat]

what do private civilians need a gun for just call the police and they will protect you /sarcasm

As crime rates go up, clearance rates go down. This in turn reduces disincentives for committing crimes, allowing crime rates to go up further.

Unless citizens are allowed to be armed. If citizens can arm themselves, then as crime rates go up, citizen armament rates will also go up. This in turn increases the risk of criminals hitting an armed victim, providing an increased disincentive to committing crimes. Thus crime rates can be kept in check.

[Phantom Lord]

Some people say there is no such thing as a "victimless crime". They are very wrong. Here is just one example.

In North Carolina it is AGAINST THE LAW (a crime!) to have in your possession a lottery ticket! Now tell me, whose the victim in this crime?

[supercat]

If someone breaks into your house, there's only a 12.7% chance that the burglar will face charges.

What exactly does that figure mean? Is that the ratio of burglaries to charges brought, or is that the estimated ratio of distinct burglars to charges brought, or what?

[Long Cut]

WOW! This article is just chock full of...whattyacallit, GOOD SENSE.

Seems to me that the only people who find fault with it would be those who cannot mind their own business, and must meddle in others'.

[Courier]

The worst thing about many of these laws is that they could take absolutely model citizens and both taint them as criminals and sour them on legitimate law enforcement.

[Petruchio]

For some people, gambling can be a problem that leads to financial ruin and despair. But for most Americans, "gambling is simply a matter of fun, a voluntary and harmless pursuit that many find rewarding. In moderation, it is neither less wholesome nor less rational than other sources of entertainment," wrote Guy Calvert

Wanna bet?

*snicker*

[Balding_Eagle]

"Click It or Ticket"

When I saw that on the Interstate Highway signs, a chill ran down my spine.

The Germans must have felt similar things in the 30's.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Here's a glaring omission from the article:

Repeal all gun laws.

Except for those relating to the few hypothetical convicted felons who are safe enough to release into society and dangerous enough not to be trusted with a legal gun (and scrupulous enough not to get one illegally).

Let people and companies manufacture, sell, possess and use guns of any type they wish, any place they wish, in any manner they wish, subect to the right of property owners to restrict on their own property (you won't be allowed to carry a Lorcin or Jennings junk gun on my property!).

10 years in jail makes no sense for engaging in a simple business activity manufacturing tools for law-abiding willing buyers.

[tdadams]

We see almost a constant reduction of liberty in this country today in ways big and small. The main reason for that is because legislators write laws proscribing certain behaviors for everyone based on the speculation that the most irresponsible people in society would suffer ruinous consequences.

But when the great majority of us can handle these liberties responsibly, it feels just a bit patronizing to have the government treat us like children that need a parent's protection.

[waterstraat]

Cops only have so much time, and they cant do 2 things at the same time.

When cops stop, search millions in order to arrest 750,000 marijuanna smokers, take them to jail, and then appear at their trials, you have 750,000 murderers and rapists who were not arrested.

The police in america spend very very little time going after violent criminals, which is one reason why we have so many of them.

We also give very light prison time to convicted violent criminals(96 months for the average murder, 49 months for the average manslaughter, 73 months for rape, 48 months for robbery, 33 months for assault.

The fact that we have lots of violent crime should not surprise anyone. If our police spent their time on robbers and rapists instead of speeders and drug offendors, and if we gave lots of prison time to violent offendors, our crime rate would at least be cut in half in less than a year.

[A CA Guy]

Hey everyone, it's another invitation to anarchy by Libertarians/libertarians.

Vice for life, brought to you by the Libertarian Party.

[MarkL]

And only 24.9% of robbery investigations ended with the apprehension of the potential criminal.

They solve that many? A friend of mine's house was just recently robbed in OKC. The police got there, looked around, made a note of what a mess the house was (it was ransacked!) and left. Oh, and they ran a warrant check ON HER!

I guess they needed to get back to doing something important...

Mark

[MarkL]

Over the Memorial Day weekend (May 24-26, 2003), one of the largest law enforcement efforts in American history took place: In 29 states, 11,300 law enforcement agencies set up 18,000 random roadblocks.

As I recall, due to the road blocks on some highways in MO (for both seatbelts and DUI check), the backup was hours long. One person interviewed on the radio mentioned that it took an extra 3 1/2 hours to get home from the lake that weekend.

Mark

[BearArms]

"Today there are far more people in federal prison for marijuana crimes than for violent crimes," wrote Eric Schlosser in Reefer Madness, a book about America's black markets. "More people are now incarcerated in the nation's prisons for marijuana than for manslaughter or rape."

I wonder if anybody has calculated what the nationwide tax savings would be if these victimless crime perpetrators were all set free? This is a very important question to ask, particularly now, as many states are facing huge budget shortfalls and face the proposition of having to raise taxes. Prisons and police are a significant state/local government expense.

I think it's pretty obvious that legislating every little vice or moral lapse means more taxes will have to be exacted from all of us to pay for enforcement/incarceration. I really wish that social conservatives, instead of immediately jumping to the "let's ban it" option, would make an effort to try to find other solutions to social ills first. It would probably end up being a lot cheaper.

[KrisKrinkle]

Is DUI/DWI a victimless crime when no damage has been done?