On Mon, 4 Feb 2013 13:50:28 +0000 (UTC), Doug Miller
wrote:

John B. wrote in news:ii4ug89520098ipdia64nh4fucrsc62biv@
4ax.com:

But how about writing laws to punish the evil doers.
"Use of a firearm in a crime results in a mandatory death sentence",
that ought to cut down gun crime a bit.

Beware the Law of Unintended Consequences. One unintended, but entirely predictable,
consequence of that proposal would be a dramatic increase in murders -- as street thugs
decide that since the penalties are the same for armed robbery and for murder, they might as
well ensure that there are no witnesses to their crimes.

I'm not sure that is a valid example.

The recent, much publicized video of the two kids trying to rob the
shop and the guy with the CC licence driving them off doesn't seem to
indicate that anyone was interested in witnesses.

--
Cheers,

John B.