The Volokh Conspiracy - Here's a Great Idea for Solving the Drug Problem:

Let's make it a crime to possess them, and enforce it this way:

Special squads of police would be formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building. All drugs would be seized. The owners of drugs found in the searches would be prosecuted.

Fairly quickly there would begin to be drug-swept, drug-free areas where there should be no drugs. If there were, those carrying them would be subject to quick confiscation and prosecution. On the streets it would be a question of stop-and-search of anyone, even grandma with her walker, with the same penalties for possessing.

America's long land and sea borders present another kind of problem. It is easy to imagine mega-drug dealerships installing themselves in Mexico, to funnel drugs into the United States. That would constitute a problem for American immigration authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard, but not an insurmountable one over time.

Not persuaded? Think this might be a Fourth Amendment violation, maybe? Even if you approve of the criminalization of drugs, do you think this might be taking things too far?

Oh, wait, I got the noun wrong — this is actually a proposal, written by Dan Simpson, an editorial board member at the Toledo Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

[H]ow would one disarm the American population? First of all, federal or state laws would need to make it a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine and one year in prison per weapon to possess a firearm. The population would then be given three months to turn in their guns, without penalty.

Hunters would be able to deposit their hunting weapons in a centrally located arsenal, heavily guarded, from which they would be able to withdraw them each hunting season upon presentation of a valid hunting license. The weapons would be required to be redeposited at the end of the season on pain of arrest. [Details omitted. -EV]

The disarmament process would begin after the initial three-month amnesty. Special squads of police would be formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building. All firearms would be seized. The owners of weapons found in the searches would be prosecuted: $1,000 and one year in prison for each firearm.

Clearly, since such sweeps could not take place all across the country at the same time. But fairly quickly there would begin to be gun-swept, gun-free areas where there should be no firearms. If there were, those carrying them would be subject to quick confiscation and prosecution. On the streets it would be a question of stop-and-search of anyone, even grandma with her walker, with the same penalties for "carrying." ...

America's long land and sea borders present another kind of problem. It is easy to imagine mega-gun dealerships installing themselves in Mexico, and perhaps in more remote parts of the Canadian border area, to funnel guns into the United States. That would constitute a problem for American immigration authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard, but not an insurmountable one over time....

Well, then, that's sure to work!

Of course, I realize the guns-drugs analogy isn't complete. Drug addicts aren't quite the same as criminals who want guns for their crimes; gun and drug detection problems are different; drugs aren't used for self-defense; neither the federal nor state Constitutions mention a right to have drugs; we can add to the list. But it does seem to me that a War on Guns, with unannounced random searches on streets and in homes, should be highly unappealing to anyone who has even some reservations about the War on Drugs, and questionable even to those who support the War on Drugs.

Oh, and don't forget: No-one is trying to take away your guns; people's concerns about that are just a "gun lobby ... bogeyman."

	[Eugene Volokh, April 27, 2007 at 2:21pm] Trackbacks Here's a Great Idea for Solving the Drug Problem: Let's make it a crime to possess them, and enforce it this way: Special squads of police would be formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building. All drugs would be seized. The owners of drugs found in the searches would be prosecuted. Fairly quickly there would begin to be drug-swept, drug-free areas where there should be no drugs. If there were, those carrying them would be subject to quick confiscation and prosecution. On the streets it would be a question of stop-and-search of anyone, even grandma with her walker, with the same penalties for possessing. America's long land and sea borders present another kind of problem. It is easy to imagine mega-drug dealerships installing themselves in Mexico, to funnel drugs into the United States. That would constitute a problem for American immigration authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard, but not an insurmountable one over time. Not persuaded? Think this might be a Fourth Amendment violation, maybe? Even if you approve of the criminalization of drugs, do you think this might be taking things too far? Oh, wait, I got the noun wrong — this is actually a proposal, written by Dan Simpson, an editorial board member at the Toledo Blade and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: [H]ow would one disarm the American population? First of all, federal or state laws would need to make it a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine and one year in prison per weapon to possess a firearm. The population would then be given three months to turn in their guns, without penalty. Hunters would be able to deposit their hunting weapons in a centrally located arsenal, heavily guarded, from which they would be able to withdraw them each hunting season upon presentation of a valid hunting license. The weapons would be required to be redeposited at the end of the season on pain of arrest. [Details omitted. -EV] The disarmament process would begin after the initial three-month amnesty. Special squads of police would be formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building. All firearms would be seized. The owners of weapons found in the searches would be prosecuted: $1,000 and one year in prison for each firearm. Clearly, since such sweeps could not take place all across the country at the same time. But fairly quickly there would begin to be gun-swept, gun-free areas where there should be no firearms. If there were, those carrying them would be subject to quick confiscation and prosecution. On the streets it would be a question of stop-and-search of anyone, even grandma with her walker, with the same penalties for "carrying." ... America's long land and sea borders present another kind of problem. It is easy to imagine mega-gun dealerships installing themselves in Mexico, and perhaps in more remote parts of the Canadian border area, to funnel guns into the United States. That would constitute a problem for American immigration authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard, but not an insurmountable one over time.... Well, then, that's sure to work! Of course, I realize the guns-drugs analogy isn't complete. Drug addicts aren't quite the same as criminals who want guns for their crimes; gun and drug detection problems are different; drugs aren't used for self-defense; neither the federal nor state Constitutions mention a right to have drugs; we can add to the list. But it does seem to me that a War on Guns, with unannounced random searches on streets and in homes, should be highly unappealing to anyone who has even some reservations about the War on Drugs, and questionable even to those who support the War on Drugs. Oh, and don't forget: No-one is trying to take away your guns; people's concerns about that are just a "gun lobby ... bogeyman."