🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <38gmu0$8or@cxsoft.convex.com>, Mike Tighe <tighe@convex.COM> writes:
> You can't be serious. Have you ever looked at the facts?
> 
> Alcohol, nicotine, etc., are heavily taxed and controlled, and the number
> of deaths from them is over 20x that of guns. 

Alchohol & especially Nicotine consumption has been shown to go down 
as the price goes up.


> Cocaine and other drugs are
> outright BANNED, and while the number of deaths is small, the crime rate
> from them is out of this world.

Its much easier to smuggle in a million dollars worth of Cocaine than a 
million dollars worth of guns simply because of the size/weight of the
container.  Also Cocaine is much, much more profitable than smuggling
guns.  But once the supply of guns drop the price will skyrocket increasing
the price and the motivation to smuggle.  But the price would have to be
very high to smuggle the guns.

Alchohol and Drugs are a completely different beast.  They can be cheaply
made almost everywhere.  They are all derived from plants.  You cannot
grow a gun or bullets.  A much more sophisticated expensive process
needs to be available.  The cost of manufacture is much, much higher than
for drugs.  Therefore, the price of the gun would have to skyrocket to
make it wortwhile to smuggle.  But then again most crooks could not
afford this.  One only needs to look at other countries to see this is
the case.  Even in North Ireland where Bombs, Gernades and Automatic
weapons are posessed by well financed terror groups, the general public
does not have access to even small handguns. 

> Reports are 90% of all crime is drug
> related. And you think dealing with guns the way we deal with drugs is the
> answer? 

Deal with handguns the way we deal with more deadly weapons like
gernades, machine guns, etc.  They are effectively controlled.  And
there are many more people that would like to get their hands on
them than the few that do.  The reason is simple supply/demand.
The supply is not available to the public.