Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> People who quite rightly see our drug laws as pointless and ineffective somehow often miss that a gun ban would be no more effective in the United States.

As an outsider, this is one of the most irrational things about American politics to me. Talk about guns, then talk about drugs, and each of the two major parties literally adopts the arguments of the other.

Then again, it's a perfectly rational system from the point of view of extracting maximum donations from supporters, so maybe I'm just looking at it the wrong way. Moderation doesn't sell.




> Talk about guns, then talk about drugs, and each party literally adopts the arguments of the other.

Except libertarians.

We believe in decriminalization of both.


Most Americans actually believe in the decriminalization of both - you don't need to be a libertarian. It is the parties they vote for that don't.


You're right. I only meant the big two; I went through about five variations of the phrasing and couldn't find one that wasn't awkward.

Fixed for correctness.


And authoritarians, believing in criminalization of both.

Gun laws reflect a society's general property rights, and drug laws their intellectual freedom.


What's even more hilarious, about gun laws, is that the same folks who tell you that the entire system is corrupt (that you can't trust the military or the police because they're just a bunch of power hungry savages) are the ones who think that only the police and the military should be able to use guns. Not a very logically consistent worldview.


The infantile level of discourse surrounding gun laws saddens and disgusts me. And no, I don't believe either the military or the police are corrupt. I think that is a pretty anecdotal remark.


>Talk about guns, then talk about drugs, and each of the two major parties literally adopts the arguments of the other.

Not really. Neither party has many elected officials in favor of changing anything about drug laws. And the main argument in favor of legal gun ownership is about the right to defend yourself, which doesn't apply as well to cocaine, for example.

The debate based on personal choice and responsibility versus increased government authority shows up almost exclusively from people of a more libertarian bent, but not necessarily on one side of D/R or the other.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: