The Law of Unintended Consequences

[MountainDon]

The Law of Unintended Consequences; specifically from a viewpoint of attempts made in an effort to make the world a safer place to live in. Attempts to make the world safe, to legislate morality or enforce a world vision can create unintended consequences. Usually the problem gets worse.

Prohibition  - Objective: Stop people from ingesting a particular substance. Actual result: Creation of organized crime, loss of respect for law, criminalization of millions of Americans, invention of the "drive-by shooting."

War on Drugs  - So far, similar results.

Child-Proof Caps - Objective: Eliminate accidental child poisonings. Actual result: Increased child poisonings. People left the bottles around instead of putting them away because now they were safe. People also just left the caps off because they were so hard to remove.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children - Objective: Help suddenly widowed women with children get back on their feet. Actual result: By paying women as long as there is no man at home, and by increasing the amount paid for each additional child, we have more unwed mothers having more kids.

Pesticides - Objective: Less bugs, more food. Actual result: Poisoned food chain, pesticide resistant bugs and people with pesticide allergies.

Gun Control - Stated Objective: Reduce accidents and deaths involving the use of firearms. Actual result: Rapid increase in "hot" burglaries (burglaries that occur while people are at home), rapes, assaults and assaults with a weapon. (Australia, UK, Canada)

[Sonoran]

This is such an unfortunate reality.

I just want to comment on gun control and one thing that lawmakers will have failed to realize when they ban guns.
This is a quote from an article I read earlier although I do not know the author.

"People who are willing to use guns to break the law would also be willing to break the law to get guns"

I just want to remind everyone of the power of the media and controlled ideas.
We hear everyday about incidents were people were killed because of GUNS! Guns are bad. Guns are bad. We should ban guns.  But how many times to do we hear about incidents were a law abiding citizen with a firearm was able to save his or her life, or the life of others, though the use of firearms.
It happens, we just may not be as aware because it isn't covered by the media.

[MountainDon]

  to our forum Sonoran.

[Sonoran]

Thanks MountainDon.  I saw this forum when I was at Flutterby's and Whitlocks house for thanksgiving.  I definitley appreciate what is being said here and what I can learn from it.

[MountainDon]

But how many times to do we hear about incidents were a law abiding citizen with a firearm was able to save his or her life, or the life of others, though the use of firearms.
It happens, we just may not be as aware because it isn't covered by the media.

I've linked this in some other long forgotten topics here before. Time to re-list it... News stories that appeared mostly in local papers and never made it national.

http://www.nraila.org/ArmedCitizen/Default.aspx

also...

http://www.nrapublications.org/ac/Index.html

[glenn kangiser]

Great points, Sonoran.  

The controlled media just spews what the gov. politicians want them to.

Cool Sonoran--- I was going to ask if it was Sonora.  W was with me today.  We were acquiring toys.

[NM_Shooter]

"People who are willing to use guns to break the law would also be willing to break the law to get guns"

Oh great.  Just what this forum needs.  One of those pro gun nut types.   

Welcome to the fray!

[NM_Shooter]

BTW... has anyone ever read the book "Unintended Consequences"? 

-f-