Laws and Criminals

I've wondered for quite some time when it will be that some people "get it" then I saw the T-shirt. It said, "I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy." This was obviously thought up by someone who gets it.

A lot of people think laws somehow prevent or discourage people from pursuing criminal behavior, and that simply isn't the case. Laws only tell criminals what might POSSIBLY happen to them IF they get caught.

I say POSSIBLY because there is a large chance of beating the system on a technicality even if you do get caught. I say IF because there is a large probability that they won't get caught at all. That's why so few people are responsible for such a large percentage of the crime. Criminals know this and they simply play the odds. The people who don't commit crimes because of laws already would not be committing them because to commit a crime would be at odds with their personality.

I don't steal, not because of a law, but because I simply don't steal. I don't burglarize homes, not because of a law, but because it's wrong. I don't put a gun in someone's face and rob them and maybe kill them in the process, not because of a law, but because its wrong. But what about the criminal.

The criminal doesn't care if anything is wrong, the only thing holding him or her back is realizing they have to avoid getting caught, or if caught; convicted. More laws don't hold them back. Stricter laws don't hold them back. So, what do more laws do? Let's consider gun control.

Will criminals abide by laws that restrict the ownership or possession of guns? Why would they? They already disobey laws because they commit crimes. What's one more law especially if disobeying it makes committing crimes easier. With a gun they might eliminate witnesses if necessary. They also do not depend upon obtaining guns "legally." In fact they prefer obtaining guns illegally since it makes them "harder to trace" which goes along with avoiding capture.

So, who would obey gun control laws? It would be the very people who would not be committing crimes with them in the first place. Does that mean gun control would simply have no effect? Quite the contrary. It means crime would increase.

Criminals would have all the guns they have always had, but the people they prey upon would be completely defenseless. Remember criminals "play the odds" and now the odds are shifted. There is less risk of being stopped or captured or leaving behind any witnesses. But what about the police? Can't we just depend on them to stop the criminals? No. We might depend upon them to catch a criminal after they have committed a crime, but unless the police have an immediate response time to a call for help, you are on your own for defense. And that's why the T-shirt made so much sense.