Many in our society find it easier to pass laws that impact a faceless group then to punish a specific individual. We see it all the time when many call for more gun laws, but then several of those same characters protest when a specific individual is punished.
Also, I think many in our judicial system would prefer to plea-bargain a case down by dropping gun charges in exchange for a guilty plea. This serves to assure a conviction and reduce the caseload in an already overloaded court.
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A major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it ... gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.
- Milton Friedman
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