BehindBlueI's
Grandmaster
- Oct 3, 2012
- 26,608
- 113
Without being facetious in the least, what does a law against jaywalking do? People who wish to jaywalk will still do so, and if one happens to do so and become injured or dead, that law certainly didn't prevent or stop the death or injury.
What do laws do - pre-emptively - against actions? What do laws do to prevent a committed individual from carrying out any crime? What do laws do to actually stop any crime? All we can do is pass laws that deal with situations that have already occurred and to triage and deal with those situations from that point forward, after the crime has been committed. What good does legislation - any legislation at all - do except denounce certain activities and punish them ex-post-facto?
I would trade all the laws in the nation for the deterrents and personal responsibilities of common sense and self-defense.
Laws tell you what the consequences are if you choose to engage in a certain action or omission. No one believes it stops everyone from the act. Theft laws have never resulted in the elimination of thieves in the history of mankind, but most folks like a way to segregate them from society and punish them for their actions. We do that with laws. However its also disingenuous to pretend that laws have no deterrent effect, and that some people decide not to steal because they fear the legal repercussions should they be caught.