Creating Crime

There's a trend in law enforcement.

They create the situation where someone can break the law, then arrest the person for breaking that law.

The DEA will make a situation where someone will offer to buy or sell drugs.

The FBI will provide (fake) bomb materials to wannabe terrorists.

The BATFE will buy from and sell to felons at prices that would tempt anyone.

I wonder if we remove the feds from the equation if the criminals in question would be able to commit the crime in question.

If I wanted to buy a kilo of heroin, I am not certain I could.  I think I know someone who knows someone... but I don't know for sure.  Nor do I know how much it would cost.

I know how to make a bomb.  This is one place where I don't need the FBI for most of the materials.  Ironically it was the US Government that taught me how to make bombs, and it wasn't the Army.  It was the department of agriculture.  They used to give away pamphlets explaining to farmers how to remove stumps using diesel and fertilizer mixtures.  I have no clue where to get a blasting cap though.  Grampa had a padded box with about ten of them.  He sold those with the farm as far as I know.

If someone offered to buy my $1,500 SBR for $5,000 it'd sure be tempting.  But it'd also set off alarm bells.  That alarm would become deafening if it became clear that they were didn't intend to file a Form 4.  So far not one person I know has ever asked to buy ANY of my guns let alone attempted to bypass the NFA.

And what keeps me from committing crime?  Personal integrity!  That and sheer terror of prison.  I am deterred.

The only personal use I can think of for a kilo of heroin is to commit suicide.  Gee, the guns work just as well here, don't they?

I enjoy explosions, they're entertaining.  I don't have anything I want to blow up or a place to blow them up.  Being a responsible citizen, I don't want to hurt anyone for my entertainment.  If Joe Huffman ever had me over to shoot boomers I'd likely giggle my way to another plane of existence!

Selling guns?  For the right price I'd sell the entire contents of the gun safe.  But there'd be all sorts of checking up on the buyer.  Photocopies of ID and bills of sale; and now that I am a cruffler, logging in the bound book.  Buying guns?  They just don't make cases around the kinds of guns I would unthinkingly snap up at a suspiciously low price.  The only way those guns would be an illegal sale is if they're stolen and if the seller TELLS me they're stolen I do believe I'd call the cops myself.

And that makes me wonder...

Even with the feds enticing me, I'd not commit the crimes.  That creates an uncomfortable to me grey zone about entrapment.  The people who they seem to be catching aren't criminals until given opportunity; but they sure don't shy from the chance when it's presented.