An Austrian (Ludwig von Mises) View On: The Economics of Gun Prohibition.... [Archive]

GardoneVT

10-09-2013, 10:45 PM

Not to dismiss Mark Thorton's excellent statement, but this is a plain fact to anyone educated in Economics. Put simply, governments do NOT have the power to ban a materially desirable good. They can pass laws against ownership, sale, or trade of such a good, but all it does is empower the police and enforcement structure to become commercial distributors.

My freshman-year Econ 101 professor ran a demo which brought the point across excellently. He separated the lecture hall into two sides, and gave one side candy to sell and gave another power to enforce a "ban" on the candy. The "police" could arrest the dealers and get nothing, or they could "cut" deals and get half the package. Once time was called, there weren't very many honest "officers" left.

Sure , its just a 101 level class demo, but the point stands anyhow. Because criminals need to use force to acquire and defend money, they'll always be material demand for firearms no matter what the law says.

ford.304

10-10-2013, 09:09 AM

I've heard it said that conservatives should avoid economics, and liberals sociology - for they will both do little but reinforce their previously held assumptions.

That said, I agree completely with his analysis anyway :)