PROHIBITION GROWS SMALL PROBLEMS INTO ENORMOUS ONES

Reporter Editor:

A vote for "gun control is a vote for organized crime."

Here they come again with their tired old gun control proposals: senators
Don Perata and Jack Scott with SB 52; Assemblyman Kevin Shelley with AB 35;
and Alan Lowenthall, AB 22.

Sen. Scott, you may recall, lost his son to an unfortunate shotgun
accident, apparently at the hands of his son's friend. Sen. Perata, you may
recall, is the gun ban hypocrite who brags about carrying a Beratta
automatic pistol, capable of containing high-capacity magazines, which he
himself helped to make illegal.

Given the current energy-power catastrophe, it is probably fair to conclude
that California lawmakers and governors possess no more intelligence and
competence than the general public.

In the case of gun control proposals, there are two probabilities: first,
those making the proposals are directly or indirectly representing the best
interests of organized crime; or second, those making proposed laws simply
do not understand the dynamics of banning or restricting commodities such
as alcohol, drugs or firearms.

I prefer to believe the latter.

The model of this thinking is prohibition (of alcohol), and the rise of
organized crime. Organized crime has been so successful, that they now are
legit -- clean in legal businesses such as real estate, banking, finance,
stock brokerages, etc.

Some have even suggested that they are now filling important seats in
government (which controls law enforcement) and the intelligence agencies,
not to mention labor unions, entertainment, the media and sports. And how
did organized crime become so successful? Prohibition.

All we have to do is look around at our approach to illegal drugs. Not only
drug cartels, now drug nations. The more we fight drugs, the more powerful
the drug traders become. What is wrong with this picture?

Simple. If the simpletons in government are not in the pockets of drug
kingpins, then they are acting in the best interests of organized crime out
of ignorance and stupidity. It's the money, stupid.

Banning drugs drives them underground and drives up the price. Then we
don't have a small problem, we have an enormous problem.

A vote to ban or prohibit alcohol was a vote for organized crime. A vote to
ban drugs is a vote for organized crime. A vote to ban guns or "gun
control" is a vote for organized crime.

The law of unintended (we hope) consequences trumps some of the laws of the
California Legislature and some of the laws of the federal government.

Don Cauldwell, Vacaville