SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2013
There was a very smart commentary by Richard Feldman, head of the Independent Firearms Owners Association (IFOA), inUSAToday (Dec. 12, 2013) about the largely pointless debate about "guns" after the Newtown, CT.
Among Feldman's conclusions: "It's time we remove incentives encouraging criminals to use, rather than avoid, guns."
In a Dec. 15 email to the Executive Directors of Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, NORML, and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation on Dec. 15, Feldman elaborated:
A key point of Feldman's was confirmed -- without any acknowledgement of the significance of the data -- in The Washington Post, (Dec. 14, 2013). Twenty-four percent of all the children under 10 deliberately shot and killed with a firearm in 2012 was killed due to "random violence, drive-by shootings, and neighborhood gun battles." That sounds like killings associated with the drug trade!
Among Feldman's conclusions: "It's time we remove incentives encouraging criminals to use, rather than avoid, guns."
In a Dec. 15 email to the Executive Directors of Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, NORML, and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation on Dec. 15, Feldman elaborated:
"It's time we remove incentives encouraging criminals to use, rather than avoid, guns" The incentives I refer to are of course that guns are the main only option when dealing in black market goods - no call to 911 if stolen, no use of the courts for product distribution or supply dislocation - only the ability to use force, and that force is mainly from the barrel of a gun.
Let me be blunt: The organized firearm community has a vested interest in this [drug legalization] movement even if many of the established organizations don't! IFOA supports [drug] legalization because it makes sense and lowers harm.
A key point of Feldman's was confirmed -- without any acknowledgement of the significance of the data -- in The Washington Post, (Dec. 14, 2013). Twenty-four percent of all the children under 10 deliberately shot and killed with a firearm in 2012 was killed due to "random violence, drive-by shootings, and neighborhood gun battles." That sounds like killings associated with the drug trade!
No comments:
Post a Comment