Posted by
Brian Garst on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 6:50:11 PM
Crimnals use many tools to aid in the commission of crime. One such
tool, apparently, is body armor. New York has decided to
do something about it.
Prohibits the purchase or sale of protective body vests
except to law enforcement or military personnel; provides for
registering of such sales by vendors; establishes unlawful purchase or
sale of a body vest as a class A misdemeanor.
. . .JUSTIFICATION : Body vests are utilized as a component of law
enforcement uniforms as well as for military personnel. They are
designed to protect police officers, peace officers and military
personnel from the gun fire of suspects or other acts of gun crime. In
many communities throughout the state, law enforcement officials have
seen a rise in the sale of body vests to protect drug dealers and other
criminals as they conduct their illegal activity. By wearing a body
vest criminals pose a larger threat to law enforcement because they are
more likely to flee the scene of a crime or in some cases, fire upon
law enforcement. It has been brought to the attention of the
Legislature by district attorneys and law enforcement officials that a
rise in the sale and distribution of body vests is occurring amongst
drug dealers and others involved in the regular commission of crimes.
This bill attempts to protect our law enforcement officials by
preventing criminals from obtaining body vests thereby making them more
dangerous and more difficult to apprehend.
The justification is a lot longer than it needs to be. All it really
says is that body armor makes commission of certain crimes easier and
therefore should be disallowed. But is that enough to justify
restricting the freedoms of all citizens? No, it's not.
Criminals use knives to stab people. Drug dealers use cars to shoot
people who have crossed them. Other criminals use cars to flee a scene,
such as bank robberies where bags are also used to stuff money in. Cell
phones can be used to watch for the police and warn other criminals of
their proximity. By this justification, all these items should be
banned.
I know what some of you want to say. "What about the fact that nobody
really needs to use body armor, while all those other things have
legitimate uses?" First of all, no where does the bill attempt to
assess whether or not body armor has significant "legitimate" uses
outside of criminal activity. As far as we can tell from the content of
the legislation, no such consideration was ever made. The closest it
came was in its self serving definition of body armor as something only
police and military use. But this is not an argument, this is assuming
the conclusion. Even if they did address the issue, however, the mere
act of attempting to determine what items have and do not have
"legitimate" uses is itself an abridgement of freedom. That decision,
ultimately, should reside with the individual.
If I'm traveling to a dangerous country, I may wish to purchase body
armor as a precaution. If I have significant reason to fear an attempt
on my life, I might wish to protect myself in public. Or, even if I
were merely crazy and paranoid, the option to purchase body armor
should still be mine.
But not only does this bill fail to adhere to American principles, it
has no practical chance of accomplishing its own state purpose anyway.
If you outlaw body armor, only outlaws will have body armor. Do we
really expect drug dealers and other major criminals to care about
racking up one more misdemeanor? Sure, criminalizing the sale of armor
will make it harder for criminals to acquire, but ultimately all it
will do is make it cost a little bit more as they turn to alternative
sources. Meanwhile, the rest of New York's citizens find themselves
less one choice and a little less freedom, as the list of prohibited
actions continues to grow exponentially, all for a goal that is
unlikely to be achieved.
Cross-posted at
Conservative Compendium.