A Little History Lesson for Piers Morgan Followers

I watched a YouTube video of Mr. Morgan interviewing Ted Nugent a little over a year ago.  It went something like this:

Piers: Don't you think that not having as many guns available would solve this problem?

Ted:  No.  It is a proven fact that more guns equates to lower crime rates, based on data from the US Government and the UN.

Piers:  Yes, but don't you think that fewer guns would mean fewer shootings?

Ted: No.  As I just said, statistics show that crime drops where there are more guns, and it rises where there are more restrictions.

Piers: Yes, but don't you think that limiting access to guns would mean less crime?

Ted: *sigh*

And so it went.

I haven't seem any of his post-Sandy Hook tirades (although I have heard they are a sight to behold), I understand they take the same line of reasoning:  Less guns means less crime.

Well, it occurred to me that we have an American historical event that we can look to for instructive purposes in understanding what happens when a legal substance that people want is banned.  That event would be the passing of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution in 1919, more commonly known as Prohibition.  At the time, the evils of alcoholic beverages were considered to be so great that the Congress proposed and the States ratified the Amendment.  All except for Rhode Island, apparently.

Well what happened?  One of the results of the ban is that people ignored it.  Speakeasy's popped up everywhere, and people still got liquor, even though it was illegal.  Smugglers, called "runrunners" brought alcohol from places where it was still legal (like Canada and Mexico) into the US, giving rise to a criminal class.  Then there was the rise of Organized Crime, and people like Al Capone became household names for all the wrong reasons, not to mention events like the St. Valentines Day Massacre.

By 1933, the States had had enough of the crime, death, and corruption that went along with Prohibition, and Congress proposed and the States ratified the 21st Amendment which repealed it.  But we still have the criminal classes and the organized crime that it gave birth to.  Lucky us.

It has been generally accepted in the United States the Prohibition was the wrong thing to do, and that banning something by government edict generally doesn't work out very well for anyone.  At least, it used to be when actual history was taught in schools, and the lessons of history logically discussed.

So for you Morganites out there, including your leader, here is a factual lesson of history for you:  Prohibitions of anything don't get you what you want, they only increase the mess you are trying to clean up.  I don't care how good, important, pious, or superior it makes you feel - it only makes things worse.

And Piers - when you result to name calling and insults, it only shows you have lost the debate, and your arguments are weak and don't hold up to intelligent scrutiny.