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--"but if you include simple short term detention for indentification purposes..."
Not sure they do. That number's from the FBI UCR, but I'm not sure what the methedology of the reporting is.
--"That along with the nr of people actually in prison convicted on drug charges might give a better picture..."
Best I could find was some 1996 data that showed 23.7% of the prison population in jail on drug offenses as their most serious charge (these are convictions only). 12.6% (again of the convicted population) had drug possession as their most serious offense. Considering there are over 2 million people in jail in the US, those are some pretty hefty numbers.
There's also those idiotic three-strikes laws. Three minor possession convictions can get you put in jail for up to 99 years (no joke), with a pretty hefty minimum sentence that the judge is required to impose. Part of our problem is that we've got so many non-violent drug offenders in jail on mandatory sentences that we have to let the violent offenders out early. Another part is the plea-bargain system, which means if you name enough names you can get off easy. This just seems to result in the low and mid-level dealers getting off easy by turning in clients.
--"So what stands against connecting arms ownership with training (in handling the gun, not in military discipline)?"
I wouldn't be opposed to it, as long as it wasn't being used as an excuse to deny people purchases. In principle, there'd be nothing wrong, but it'd be too easy to make the classes cost too much, not run often enough, etc, and effectively bar anyone from getting a new weapon.
Wraith
I don't want children exposed to censorship - is there a chip for that?
Not sure they do. That number's from the FBI UCR, but I'm not sure what the methedology of the reporting is.
--"That along with the nr of people actually in prison convicted on drug charges might give a better picture..."
Best I could find was some 1996 data that showed 23.7% of the prison population in jail on drug offenses as their most serious charge (these are convictions only). 12.6% (again of the convicted population) had drug possession as their most serious offense. Considering there are over 2 million people in jail in the US, those are some pretty hefty numbers.
There's also those idiotic three-strikes laws. Three minor possession convictions can get you put in jail for up to 99 years (no joke), with a pretty hefty minimum sentence that the judge is required to impose. Part of our problem is that we've got so many non-violent drug offenders in jail on mandatory sentences that we have to let the violent offenders out early. Another part is the plea-bargain system, which means if you name enough names you can get off easy. This just seems to result in the low and mid-level dealers getting off easy by turning in clients.
--"So what stands against connecting arms ownership with training (in handling the gun, not in military discipline)?"
I wouldn't be opposed to it, as long as it wasn't being used as an excuse to deny people purchases. In principle, there'd be nothing wrong, but it'd be too easy to make the classes cost too much, not run often enough, etc, and effectively bar anyone from getting a new weapon.
Wraith
I don't want children exposed to censorship - is there a chip for that?
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