Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
Have mandatory minimums for gun crimes worked in other areas of the world they have been tried. What have Brisbane’s results been, Are they statistically significant?
Increased incarceration will cost a lot of money. Could that money be better spent on other crime reduction initiatives that would get better results. Say like adding more officers on the street. A year or two in prison for one person cost roughly what a single officer would cost.
I know there is strong evidence out there that mandatory minimums don’t have any affect on drug crimes and that Capital punishment doesn’t have an affect on murder rates. So my immediate reaction is that this likely has the same failing. The people who commit these crimes do not consider the penalty when choosing to commit the crime. I’m certainly open to being persuaded if there is evidence of it being effective.
|
The challenge I think is that what would those officers do? If they catch someone with an illegal gun there still is no punishment. I don't think its worth chasing something if the punishments are insignificant. I sort of think they should either stop caring (like they did with weed) or seriously enforce it.
In this particular case I would think they should be taking this a little more seriously.