Re: Are guns extropian?

Michael Lorrey (retroman@together.net)
Mon, 27 Jul 1998 12:24:25 -0400

Hara Ra wrote:

> >So now I have two examples with a 100% success rate where guns and force are
> >successful public health policies....
>
> And so we wander a zillion miles from my point: Treat violence as a public
> health problem rather than a crime and law enforcement problem. I expect
> the results would be well worth it. One current example is how violent
> crime is down almost everywhere. Why? The 15 - 25 age group isn't as poor
> as it was a few years ago - due to the ECONOMY.

Wrong. Violent crime is down due to a) greater ease for law abiding citizens to go about their business armed (as evidenced by states retaining restrictive gun policies have not seen their vilent crime rates drop at all or nearly as much as states with liberalized gun laws), as well as b) youths that commit violent crime usually wind up in jail for long terms now, or get shot by rivals. Once a crook is shot by another crook, you have an immediate reduction in crime for the future.

Mike Lorrey