XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: walterpigeon@missedme.org   
      
   On 4/10/2024 9:27 AM, max headroom wrote:   
   > How Can People Keep Claiming That Penalties Don't Deter Criminals?   
   >   
   > John R. Lott, Jr.   
   >   
   > Last week, New York's progressive Assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, claimed he   
   > doesn't believe increasing penalties deters crime. He said:   
   > "I was simply asked a question of, 'Do I believe that increasing penalties   
   > deters crime,' and I gave a simple answer, 'No,' " Heastie told reporters   
   > Tuesday. "I don't believe, in the history of increasing penalties, has that   
   ever   
   > been the reason that crime has gone down.   
   >   
   > "I'd love somebody to give me an example as to when that happened."   
   >   
   > Unfortunately, Heastie is hardly alone. Soros backed District Attorneys   
   across   
   > the country don't believe that their unwillingness to prosecute criminals has   
   > anything to do with increasing crime. In academia, most criminologists   
   (which is   
   > dominated by sociologists) don't even include things like arrest and   
   convictions   
   > rates in their empirical work on questions such as gun control because they   
   don't   
   > think that it matters in determining crime rates.   
   >   
   > It is hard to believe that anyone takes such a claim seriously, but it is a   
   > popular idea among progressives. If Heastie really believes that, then he   
   should   
   > be open to abolishing police and prisons. If penalties don't reduce crime,   
   then   
   > why waste money on police, courts, and prisons? By the same token, perhaps we   
   > should also eliminate the penalties for violating the gun control laws that   
   > Heastie so strongly supports.   
   >   
   > We can see what happens on our southern border when we don't enforce laws or   
   > impose penalties. People simply continue breaking the law and entering by the   
   > millions.   
   >   
   > California's murder rate peaked in 1993 at 13.1 per 100,000 people, an   
   increase   
   > from 10.9 per 100,000 in 1989. But by 2000, the murder rate had fallen by 53%   
   > compared to its 1993 peak. One obvious explanation is the enactment of   
   > California's tough, three-strikes criminal punishment law on March 7, 1994.   
   >   
   > New York City increased the number of police officers from 31,000 to 40,000   
   > during the 1990s, and major felonies meanwhile plunged from 430,460 in 1993   
   to   
   > 162,064 in 2001. Over those same years, the number of murders plummeted from   
   > 1,927 to 649.   
   >   
   > Amidst longer prison sentences and higher arrest and conviction rates,   
   criminals   
   > will commit fewer crimes. The vast majority of empirical research by   
   economists   
   > shows that. It's also simply logical that in addition to keeping criminals   
   off   
   > the street, the threat of arrest and conviction will deter criminals. The   
   higher   
   > price for crime, the less crime you get, Most criminals do not want to go to   
   > prison.   
   >   
   > Criminals also don't want to get hurt, and an armed citizenry can make   
   criminals   
   > think twice. The defensive value of guns is evidenced by international   
   > comparisons of so-called "hot burglaries," whereby a resident is at home   
   when a   
   > criminal strikes. In the United Kingdom, which has tough gun-control laws,   
   > almost 60% of all burglaries are "hot burglaries." In the United States,   
   where   
   > gun ownership is commonplace, the "hot burglary" rate stands at only 13   
   percent.   
   > The overall burglary rate in the UK is about two-thirds higher than the rate   
   in   
   > the US (2.7 per 1,000 in US and 4.5 per 1,000 in England & Wales).   
   >   
   > Convicted American felons reveal in surveys that they are much more worried   
   > about armed victims than about encountering the police. The fear of armed   
   > victims causes American burglars to spend more time than their foreign   
   > counterparts in "casing" a house to ensure that nobody is home. American   
   > burglars break into homes during the middle of the day, when homeowners are   
   less   
   > likely to be at home, but British burglars often break in during the evening   
   so   
   > that they can get the homeowners to open up any safes. Felons frequently   
   comment   
   > in interviews that they avoid late-night burglaries because "that's the way   
   to   
   > get shot."   
   >   
   > It isn't rocket science. Criminals are deterred with higher arrest and   
   > conviction rates, longer prison sentences, and the fact that victims might be   
   > able to defend themselves. One wonders if people like Carl Heastie have ever   
   had   
   > children.   
   >   
   > Lott is the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and the author   
   > most recently of "Gun Control Myths."   
   >   
   > https://townhall.com/columnists/johnrlottjr/2024/04/09/how-can   
   people-keep-claiming-that-penalties-dont-deter-criminals-n2637516   
      
   Want to deter crime?  Increase the penalty.   
      
   They hung horse thieves didn't they?  So why don't we execute liquor   
   store robbers?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)