Washington Post Discovers Basic Economics
The number of guns with high-capacity magazines seized by Virginia police dropped during a decade-long federal prohibition on assault weapons, but the rate has rebounded sharply since the ban was lifted in late 2004, according to a Washington Post analysis.
No shit! Next, you’re gonna tell me there’s were more incandescent light bulbs before the .gov banned them.
January 23rd, 2011 at 11:50 am
“guns seized by police” is a clever metric.
Seized for what? As suspected murder weapons? From a pot bust? A domestic violence conviction, or due to a boilerplate restraining order issued during a divorce? From some guy convicted of white collar crime?
How many of those seized guns were returned when it was found that no crime had been committed?
In other words, it’s a practically useless stat.
January 23rd, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Not only that, they were seized with Cop Killer hollow points bullets that shoot through 12 zillion bulletproof vests!
January 23rd, 2011 at 2:18 pm
The laws of economics only apply to the white market.. They tend to lose meaning in the grey and the black markets..
January 23rd, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Actually, absent .gov regulation and intervention, the laws of economics apply in their purest sense in the black market. Of course, the .gov is always trying to horn in even on the black market action.
January 23rd, 2011 at 6:03 pm
For sheer snark fodder, the print edition headline was: “In Virginia, high-yield clip seizures rise”
Wasn’t sure at first if this was a financial or medical article….
January 24th, 2011 at 1:11 am
From what I recall, there was no visible correlation to the number of gun-related murders committed. In fact, I seem to remember 2002 being the peak year. If we concede the number of high-capacity magazines available to any markets decreased during the ban yet the amount of violent crime did not visibly decrease, a theory that predicts crime prevention via gun control is flawed.
I’ll see if I can find tables of murder and other violent crimes grouped by weapons used. Anyone else, feel free to chime in with facts and/or links.
January 24th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
There’s always the issue that, if you live in a place that doesn’t have a high capacity mag ban, it can be tricky buying a pistol whose capacity is 10 rounds or less besides sub-compacts or 1911s. I just bought a “compact” 9mm (the Springfield XDm Compact) that came with a 13 round “compact” magazine. The full sized holds 19 rounds!
Chances are, if you buy a new 9mm, it comes with high capacity mags.