This is a subverse designed to encourage adult discussion spanning the entirety of the political spectrum. All are welcome, from Libertarians to Authoritarians, Democrats to Republicans, An Caps to Anarchists, Socialists to Fascists to Communists, Green, Blue, Black, White, Purple with Yellow Polka dots, whatever color, persuasion, or affiliation, this is a place for you to post your thoughts, articles, and engage in discussion meant to foster understanding.
Politics is best when we try to avoid personal attacks, limits on discussion, censorship, trolling, shilling, racism, homophobia, antisemitism, or any other forms of bigotry and malfeasance.
Election 2020 Politics Sticky
Politics 2017 Christmas Theme sticky
Nov 2016 sticky on new CSS
This subverse belongs to the community of users. Users are invited to post meta-threads about v/politics and I will gladly sticky them. @flyawayhigh
Use the "Report Spam" link to report spam and someone will review the report. J-mods have the ability to remove duplicate noncommercial spam.
v/politics is for all politics.
v/uspolitics is for US politics only.
v/worldpolitics is for international or non-US politics.
v/politicalnews is dedicated to virtually censor-free politics and news
v/news is for news around the world.
v/usnews is for domestic news only.
Sort: Top
[–] JesTheRed 0 points 10 points 10 points (+10|-0) ago (edited ago)
Nobody really cares about the gun permits (they call it a FOID) in Illinois. Nowhere in the state is very far from a state border, across which ammo and firearms can easily be purchased without the card. I knew plenty of people with safes full of guns who just drove to Missouri to load up on bullets or spend a day at the range. Illinois sits in the middle of prime hunting and ranching territories too, so in college towns across the state it's ridiculously common to see college kids from Kentucky or Tennessee shooting skeet in their f'ing backyards. Most of them don't even bother getting IL licenses, without which they can't even apply for a FOID. Your chances of getting prosecuted as an everyday joe for not having a FOID is about the same as getting paid in the IL lottery, so at the end of the day it's just another tax on the stupid and a way to trump up charges against undesirables.
The crime problems in Illinois aren't really the result of stupid gun laws, it's just a silly coincidence that they have such idiotic laws and the murder rate. The problem is, and always has been, the massive criminal population needed to sustain one of the single largest addict population in the history of the world. The drug trade in Chicago is so lucrative that it runs murder rates similar to those found in Mexican cartel cities, and for precisely the same reason. Without a radical new policy toward poverty and addiction in Chicago, the whole state of Illinois is swirling in the bowl.
[–] Kurplow 1 point 1 point 2 points (+2|-1) ago
Addiction is symptom of poverty among other things. People who want to be present in their lives don't abuse drugs or alcohol. Conversely, if you give an addict a reason to want to be present in their lives, they often find the will to walk away from their addiction.
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/a-war-well-lost
The above is a great discussion between Sam Harris, a public intellectual I enjoy and Johann Hari, a journalist and writer who spent a long time looking at addiction and drug enforcement policies worldwide.
[–] mastersw999 ago
I agree with that to an extent but you don't just "walk away" from an addiction. But you are right though that there is some correlation between poverty and crime/addiction. But correlation don't equal causation but it might be a big part of the issue.
[–] Antichamp 0 points 5 points 5 points (+5|-0) ago
We should look into the English and Australian gun bans - Hillary Clinton
When are they going to learn that shit helps no one.
[–] jeegte12 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
She's not stupid. She knows the truth as well as you or I. You know who doesn't? The people she wants to like her.
[–] brother_tempus 2 points 4 points 6 points (+6|-2) ago
Regulations and taxation are just alternate forms of prohibition which can create a black market depending of the severity of such, the size of legitate demand , and lastly tie size ( in dollars ) of the market
Prohibition does not work and so logically neither does regulation and taxation
[–] cli-che-guevara ago
Your first statement is right. Severity of taxation is very important on whether a parallel marketplace develops.
But your conclusion is logically fallacious due to it's over simplification. Your first statement shows there is a gradient of severity, but your conclusion is a rule that ignores your own assertion of a vector.
Prohibition does not work if there is a market place willing to risk the punishment for operation. Someone will be willing to make money off of unlawfully supplying a restricted good or supplying a highly taxed item below the taxed value and keeping the difference. Alcohol prohibition through Constitutional regulation is a great example.
Moderate taxation, where the risks of operating a black market don't outweigh the rewards, is still a partial prohibitional taxation. These cases go against your simplified rule. Regulation and taxation can be used to change trends in usage of a good or service as long as they are implemented in a way to not incentivize the creation of a second, parallel market. A good example is tobacco use. Regulation of advertisement and slowly increasing costs due to taxation have effectively shrunk the legal marketplace domestically.
That being said, I think forcing gun owners to license their firearms is just as unconstitutional as voter ID laws. In both cases the government is adding a cost restriction on a Constitutionally given right.
[–] PopeBiscuit 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
I need a liberal to explain this to me. It's almost like people are getting guns regardless of the law. I don't get it.
[–] Coolidges_Ghost 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Mod deleted the other thread that was in /v/ news for some reason.
[–] arrggg [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
One of my posts got deleted there today too. They do that regularly in that sub to posts they disagree with.
[–] QuestionEverything 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
$15 EVERY year? Forever?
Under that setup, you're really just renting your gun..
Completely Unconstitutional.
[–] youareivan 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
after seeing this post i remembered a graphic i'd seen online showing where the chicago police department had traced where a bunch of guns they seized came from. it's pretty interesting and shows the problem as much more complicated than most people think it is.
where 50,000 guns recovered in chicago came from
[–] arrggg [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Interesting map. Its crazy that there were 50 thousand guns taken by police, and the linked article says there are only 7500 legal registered owners. In a city of 2.7million. No wonder its a warzone.
[–] Pawn 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
We need less gun regulation. Often these shooters go out and kill the unarmed since they can't retaliate. Arm more people, and the risk to the shooter increases once they're found to be hostile. Manhunt.
[–] Cacciaguida 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
and if they go on a spree they can be stopped in their tracks before too many get shot.