It would help if you guys first unified your laws across all states. One country, one law.
As has been said, we're a union of 50 states, and the states are sovereign within their own borders. It is not unlike the EU in that way. Not identical, but similar.
In a more realistic sense, the chances of all 50 states deciding to give up their sovereignty is nil. Flatly speaking, it won't happen, although the federal government does try an end-run around state law from time to time.
Its not much use having the death penalty in one state but not the other, Obviously its a deterent for severe crimes, but then the system lets them live on for years on end.. One appeal, within one year then bam, get rid of them.
Numerous studies have shown the death penalty not to be a deterrent. And as others have mentioned, once you've put someone to death, it's hard to fix if it turns out later that they might actually be innocent.
As difficult as it sometimes is to deal with from a victim's point of view, our legal system was built based on two basic principles - innocent until proven guilty, and that it is better a hundred guilty men go free than one innocent man go to prison.
Im quite sure the reason your prisons are packed out is becouse of the ridiculous amount of guns floating around the country, no way am i saying anything against the right to bare arms, but maybe much stricter laws defining exactly who gets to bare em..
What do you propose as a restriction? We already prohibit former felons from possessing guns, and drug addicts, the mentally disturbed, fugitives from justice, and anyone convicted of domestic assault, among other restrictions. Which additional restrictions would you propose that would fix the existing problems?
Second, how do you stop people from buying guns illegally? Many drugs are illegal, and surprisingly, people can buy them quite easily anyway. Guns are no different. Making them illegal, or adding more restrictions on getting them, doesn't stop bad people from getting their hands on them. Even banning them entirely would not stop bad guys from getting them - just like heroin or cocaine. Just like booze during prohibition.
Purchasing of weapons should be ridiculously strict, meaning only those that use them properly get to have them in the first place.
What it would mean is that only those who don't break the law get them legally. Everyone else who wants one gets theirs illegally. Eventually, what you end up with is a system where only criminals can get guns, because here's an interesting fact - criminals do not obey laws.
Dont get me wrong, theres plenty of guns in Australia too, but the legal requirements to own them keeps them out of morons hands. In America, if someone flips out, they go on a shooting rampage!! How can you guys put up with that possibility from day to day?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_gun_ownership
The USA has a gun culture, like it or not. Guns tend to last generations if not hundreds of years if they're not exposed to the elements. We have more guns than people, or close to it. How do you propose collecting them all up?
I understand the sheer horror that people from other countries display when they find out just how many guns we Americans have, and how much value we place on them.
What's actually amazing is how peaceful we are, given how many guns we have. We prove every day that it's not the availability of guns that cause the problems.
Law abiding citizens would still be able to apply for a gun liscence, with strict requirements, meaning you and i still get to own firearms. For cripes sake, get the guns off the streets. After all, they are the enablers for the crims man, thats all..
How do you take away guns from citizens who are more highly armed than the government, and who outnumber all police and military combined by a huge factor, and who believe they were given the right to own those guns by God? Give me some idea how you would go about that, I'd really like to hear it.
The moment the government began forcibly collecting up guns, house to house, the 2nd American Revolution would begin.
On the topic of slack judges, we are cursed with them here in Oz also.. As far as im concerned, at the moment someone commits a severe crime they dont have rights. They forego their rights the moment they decide to break the law, plain and simple.
Time to harden the .... up on repeat offenders big time..
Again, we in the USA have a larger percentage of our citizens in prison now than any other country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States
The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world.[1][2] The U.S. incarceration rate on December 31, 2008 was 754 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents.[3] The USA also has the highest total documented prison and jail population in the world.[1][4][5]
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS): "In 2008, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at year-end — 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults."[6]
Now, given that, how many more can we lock up? We can't afford to house and feed the prisoners we have locked up now. In California, the state is being forced to turn loose violent prisoners by court order, because they can't provide them with health care.
So tell me how you're going to accomplish harsher sentencing laws and longer prison sentences?
