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Question to those not in the USA, and who have lived outside the USA.
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
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Asklemmy
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I have no strong feelings on which particular weapons should be legal to carry, even if it's just pepper spray or brass knuckles or something. The main thing is that it should be legal to carry something.
Also, selectively enforced laws are a terrible, HORRIBLE concept and should be avoided at all costs. It gives police and those in power the ability to selectively punish (or pardon) whomever they choose, often at the whims of their personal biases. Passing and exploiting selectively enforced laws is a common tactic used by corrupt nations and can be used to silence political opponents, target selected groups, promote agendas and so forth. The law should not rely on cops 'being nice' and choosing not to arrest you.
@Rossphorus
That's a really good point. My lassaiz faire attitude to this is something I need to rethink. It's a bit like the abortion law thing we had a while ago.
Selective enforcement is one of those concepts that isn't talked about much outside of legal ethics circles unfortunately, but I think it's an important concept to be aware of and the potential issues with it. I first heard about it from The Dictators Handbook, which explores many behaviours of politicians and those in power, including how and why corrupt nations often employ selective enforcement. It's an interesting read, would recommend. It definitely changed how I looked at the world.
I guess there's passive selective enforcement (like NZ's old abortion law, where in theory women could only have an abortion if the pregnancy was a risk to health) and then there's more active selection (like corrupt countries use on political opponents)?
I will keep a look out for that book.