By Don
While we tend to think that all crimes are crimes of passion, likely because we can’t conceive of a “rational criminal,” few crimes are that spontaneous and most criminals are, in fact, rational actors. According to the FBI most homicides are committed by criminals against criminals. So why do people become criminals? Because in many circumstances crime pays. For a relatively small risk, the rewards can be quite large. Also according to the FBI – no surprise – most homicides happen in large metropolitan areas, generally in neighborhoods with high levels of drug related gang activity . . .
A major flaw people exhibit when thinking about homicide is that they make no allowance for the fact that not all homicides are created equally. We tend only to look at the method and result. But that conflates different kinds of crime and obfuscates possible solution paths. That’s like treating a brain tumor and a tension headache with the same remedy because they share a few symptoms. To have any indication of how to solve the problem we need to to look deeper, at both motive and incentive.
Much of the street crime in the US is drug-related and this is where much of the deaths occur as well. When you think about it, it makes sense. There’s huge consumer demand for illegal drugs, especially marijuana and cocaine. This demand means huge potential for profit and therefore a significant, completely rational reason to get involved in the drug trade for someone without a lot of other options.
A criminal involved in the drug trade has plenty of incentive to arm up. For example, drug gangs need to defend themselves against what’s usually the biggest gang in the city, the city police, AKA the drug warriors. They need to defend their market-share against encroaching business competition. In their line of business, there’s no such thing as a sanction or a leveraged buy-out.
The biggest thing motivating homicides are probably the huge piles of cash and product that float around on the streets. A drug dealer can’t get banking services or take credit cards. Their profit and operating cash doesn’t exist as a number in a computer attached to an account. It’s held in hard currency representing a huge carrot for anybody with enough stick to try to score.
Same goes for inventory. A drug dealer can’t very well keep their product in a fixed secure and alarmed warehouse or open a store up with bars on the windows on the corner (unless they operate in Colorado or Washington). A drug dealer can’t have his product insured against theft to mitigate his financial risk. There is, therefore, huge incentive for criminals to arm up to try to steal all of that cash and product floating around. And there is the obvious complimentary need to arm up to defend it. Again, this is rational behavior, as there really are no other options.
This violence happens in cities because that’s where the drug trade is predominately centered and that’s where most of the customers are. These are the nodes to which the national distribution networks link up. And it’s where the money ends up. If people want to get serious and cut down the amount of homicides that occur in this country, we need to un-motivate it. Guns aren’t the reason for the violence. The opportunity to acquire a ton of money is. The piles of cash to fight over makes homicide a simple means to a lucrative end. And then innocents are frequent collateral damage in the war taking place in the streets.
So unless people are willing to starve the drug market into extinction by boycotting the product, the violence won’t stop any time soon. Judging from some of my most ardently anti-gun acquaintances’ personal activities and predilections, not to mention the history of mankind, people aren’t going to stop being drug consumers. Funny that my recreational activity (guns) contributes nothing to the gun violence we see in the streets in this country, and their recreational activities are literally its lifeblood. So . . . the blood is on whose hands?
Instead of depending on an impossible solution (everyone voluntarily giving up recreational drug use), it’s possible to get creative and solve the problem another way. We could dilute the market instead. Make pot and coke legal. Legitimize it so that other businesses can get involved. Make it legal so that drug dealers can establish businesses in fixed locations with insurance and banking services so there isn’t a ton of cash sitting on the street tempting armed theft and requiring armed defense.
If you get the money off the street and into a bank, then it isn’t sitting out there for people to try to steal it or have to defend it violently. If you get the product out of apartment buildings and the trunks of cars and into a storefront with bars on the door and an alarm system, that makes it less tempting to go after. If you make it such that becoming a ruthless killer isn’t an occupation likely to result in financial for success you’ll see a lot less violence.
Finger off the trigger, pointed away from the baby. Nothing to see here.
OK, the kid was stupid for posting the pic, and probably showed sub-optimal judgment for not putting the BB gun down so he had two hands for the baby.
This is some DA trying to send a message.
If I was a woman with seven kids I’d open carry, too, just to keep the old man away so I wouldn’t have an eighth.
No kidding. too bad no one in Washington is all that interested in reducing violence.
They are dense. like wood.
+1
secondary benefit, we free up LE and prisons to deal with the violent criminals that continue to do harm.
But then the boys in blue, who is the most important group we should listen to, won’t have asset forfeiture money to spend playing soldier with new toys like machine guns, huge boats, helicopters, drones, and armored personnel carriers!
The drug war has corrupted our legal system beyond belief and debased what’s left of our republic. It’s led to police departments and the feds behaving like organized criminals (or worse). It’s led to no-knock raids, innocents jailed, innocents killed, thousands of animals destroyed and an entrenchment of the Us vs. Them mentality. It’s led to regular non-police citizens being referred to derisively as “civilians.” It’s led to the death of the peace officer. It’s led to police referring to themselves as the robotic and cold “law enforcement.” I don’t want law enforcement officers. I want peace officers who keep the damned peace. The law is often the tyrants’ will.
Here’s the latest high profile example of drug war insanity:
http://reason.com/archives/2013/01/28/drug-dealing-and-legal-stealing
This drug war is far more costly in both monetary and human costs than drug use ever will be. It is being used as an excuse to scrap the constitution and ruin the relationship between citizen and government.
While it is hard to argue with much of this article, the problem remains that a majority of people in the U.S. still perceive legalizing drugs like marijuana and cocaine as the next big tobacco and will eventually lead to massive numbers of drug crazed lunatics all over the country. Probably the worst that would happen is a few people who have never done drugs for the simple reason that they are illegal would try them and a certain percentage of those would become regular users. But I find it hard to believe that a large number of citizens would be wandering the streets in a daze because of legalized drugs.
The only major issue I see is developing a system that can measure toxicity levels similar to an alcohol breathalizer. It would definitely be necessary to keep the users from behind the wheel.
If the government offered a reward for the best systems developed by a certain date at least a year or two from now, I would be willing to put money down that we would have multiple solutions available very soon, similar to the way the DARPA program has created incentives for defense related tech.
I never really understood why we have laws against drugs. Look how expensive it is trying to fight it.
I wish they’d quit promoting abortion around here.
Other than the wannabe thug motif, I really don’t see a problem w this. BB Gun, not loaded, not pointed at the baby, finger off trigger… SFW!
Thank you for your service!
He’s right and the politicians don’t get the fact that criminals will never submit to checks, stricter gun laws, and gun-free zones.
The big problem with legalizing drugs is the same reason prohibition failed. The recent legalization efforts in Washington state resulted in a giant bureaucracy and a stifling tax structure that makes the illegal trade even more lucrative than before! Now there is a larger potential profit margin and less threat of being hassled by the local and state lawmen.
As usual, the Government, in “trying to help”, has placed us in greater danger and financial peril.
Agreed! End prohibition now!!!
Legalizing drugs would cut off a large source of funding for crime organzations (gangs), but it would hardly eliminate them. The Mafia didn’t go away when prohibition was repealed. Not that it wouldn’t be worth doing, at least IMO with marijuana. 60% of the Mexican drug cartels money comes from pot and taking it away would also greatly diminish the illegal traffic on our southern border.
But I think there is a larger problem here. Half of all the murders are perpetrated by just 13% of the population and half of the victims are also from that same 13%. In the late 1940s a 19 year old black man had a better chance of holding down a job than a 19 year old white man. Black on black crime was not a problem then. Children grew up with a mother and a father. Every morning Dad got up early and went off to work and their children watched and learned. Today a large percentage of children (black and white) grow up having never once watched a parent go to work. The willingness to work is not an innate characteristic. It’s learned. Why go work hard for $7.25/hr. when you can go stand on a street corner and make $100/hr.?
This is what happens when the state makes parenting optional.
G.W.J.L.P, they are not promoting abortion, they are letting those that hate us know that not everyone is a backwoods, knuckle dragging, far right gun lover, which is how we are viewed by those that want to disarm us! I know this might surprise you, but not everyone who is pro-gun is in lockstep with the far right, or is only a republican or a conservative. So get off your high horse and welcome those that will stand WITH you, against those that work tirelessly to take your 2A rights away.
If abortion bothers you that much, start your own blog TTAA (the truth about abortions)! Well your version of the truth!
You da man! Just the fact that this message is getting out there tells me this country might not be as screwed as I thought
Looks like Mayor Emanuel has asked 2 publicly traded banks to commit economic terrorism against the firearms industry.
Thank you for your service & continued defense of our Constitution.
Torben,
Your comment made my short list of favorite things EVER written. “Never ever consider giving an inch to anyone wanting to step on your rights or freedoms. You do not want your children and grandchildren growing up with the normalcy of running away from tyrants.”
You now stand in the company of greats like James Mattis, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Gandhi, and Margaret Thatcher.
Well said, indeed. Thank you for that piece.
If all else fails there are always judges here in Fresno.
Bless you. Shoot straight.
Don: if you were referring to legal marijuana growers, there are fourteen states now with various degrees of regulation, and only in Colorado are they legal. Perhaps that’s what you meant, but it doesn’t make them “drug dealers.”
It makes them LEGAL PROVIDERS.
Information Only: Anti-gun supporters frequently scan these types of sites to look for ways people plan on challenging/getting around the laws that are proposed.
DO NOT post ways the law can be circumvented, how certain items would make it unconstitutional, etc.
This has happened previously with SB 249 (Yee, bullet button ban). See Calguns for more information.
Please, do not help these people. Let them drown on their own.
Thanks
How about if we improve on their dumba$$ ideas by showing how they can be eliminated altogether? Like the Gun Free School Zone.
So that’s what the face of evil looks like…
Did anyone else notice that 30301(a)(2) requires that Anyone in this state, prior to selling, transferring, or otherwise furnishing ammunition to an individual or business entity in this state or any other state, shall Be an authorized firearms dealer, pursuant to Section 26500. This section would appear to require ANYONE wishing to shoot guns for ANY reason to obtain the ammo they will use through a licensed dealer and not allow them to give away any excess ammo unless they happen to be a licensed dealer themselves.
the thing that ticks me off is that in both Arizona and Sandy Hook an “Assault weapon” was not used in either of those attacks. the Coroners report as well as the investigation revealed that in Sandy Hook the perpetrator used four sidearms, a Bushmaster was found in the trunk of his car with a jam in the reciever and it was found to have been used by him to kill his mother. in the Arizona shooting the perpetrator used a Glock model 19. in the Aurora shooting the Smith and Wesson M&P 15 had a drum Magazine that jammed at under 30 rounds and was dropped on the floor, the bulk of the injuries were from a shotgun and the two sidearms he was carrying. in Virginia tech shooting there were no rifles used just two sidearms. i read a story that one of the Presidential aids was overheard saying” we need to pass the Assault weapons ban before the reports are let out to the public” knowing full well that a ban would carry more ammunition if the press and the public didnt know that a Semi Automatic Rifle was not used.
So he believes in small government even though he has worked for the government his entire life? Well if you truly believe that, how about you start making government smaller by quitting your job and finding work in the private sector?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know how much beef and hamburger you can buy for $6050! And have enough for more guns!
Hooray!
Wouldn’t you prefer that there are people working for the government that want to keep it in check? There is nothing wrong with being a public employee so long as you never lose sight of the fact that you are a public servant.
The AR-15 was designed to “reach out” (300yds+) and wound the enemy, causing them to use/risk more soldiers in the retrieval of their wounded comrades. The AK-47 is designed to operate in adverse conditions and put d**ks in the dirt. Fast. Which it does.
Both guns also come in pistol variants that are perfect for the home or vehicle. Neither is better since both do exactly what they’re designed to do. Go with the AR platform if you’re looking to trick it out, shoot in competition, or put a strangle hold on an foreign government. If you want to win a competition of “You vs Them”, get an AK.
AR-15 = H3
AK-47= Humvee
I’d thought the Glock would be safe because the 18 is a full-auto version of the semi-auto 17 and the rest of the Glock line are just variants on the 17.