Describe the history of legislative bans on products and services in the United States and how they have set the stage for bans on guns and drugs

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The United States attempted to place severe restrictions on gambling after a series of lottery scandals in the nineteenth century. In addition, it was thought the Mafia was associated with illegal gambling, so aggressive anti-gambling laws would limit their presence. It was also believed that police corruption could be tied to gambling. However, gambling was seen as a low level offense and conviction rates for illegal gambling was extremely low.
Additionally, the United States chose to criminalize prostitution, but the court also saw this act as a low-level offense and the public also appeared to give little consideration to prostitution as a serious crime. The argument could be made that the issue was not supply of illegal products and services but rather the demand. Applying this concept to guns and drugs, one could argue that we should spend less time going after the people who supply the guns and drugs and , instead, focus more on treating or criminalizing the individuals who are demanding the guns and drugs.