An anonymous poster commented recently that laws that could potentially criminalize innocent people who commit a victimless “crime” are typically done to make law enforcement’s job easier.  I would have to agree with that.  It looks good for the local district attorney to have tons of convictions under his or her belt.  One way to make sure this happens is to outlaw more things. So, then, even if they don’t link a certain gun to a certain crime, they can get some kind of a conviction when evidence is lacking for the more insidious charges that they would prefer.

Yesterday, I discussed how the state of Michigan is considering criminalizing the alteration of a toy gun to make it look like a real one.  Mind you, this is proposed to be the law of the land whether the gun was used in a real crime or not.  Today, I read that Ohio is considering outlawing secret compartments on your vehicle.

In their way of thinking, only a criminal (specifically a drug dealer) would have anything to hide.  They can’t imagine a scenario where someone would want to have a secret compartment on their vehicle other than to shirk their war on drugs.  Darn it. That’s where I planned to keep all of my replica peacemakers.

In all seriousness, a “secret compartment” is where some people keep a spare key to their house or car in case of being locked out.  It would actually be a pretty wise move to keep your valuables in a compartment in the car so that they wouldn’t be obvious to a potential thief peering in your windows (we’ll assume your glove compartment is insufficient).  However, these scenarios either escape the legislators’ attention or are seen as necessary casualties in the war on drugs.

When I first moved to Indiana, it was the law of the land for everyone to show identification for every single purchase of alcohol.  I read a sign about it at the checkout line one day.  I asked the clerk if that sign was accurate.  She indicated that yes, every single person, regardless of how old they look, was required by law to show identification when purchasing alcohol.

Be assured, I think alcohol can be very dangerous.  In fact, I believe it is probably much more dangerous that marijuana on some levels.  Anyway, the clerk went on to tell me that the worst part about it was the absence of common sense.  If she sees some old codger coming through the line with a 6-pack of beer, she would be breaking the law not to ask him for his identification.  In addition, she could get fired.  But, when she does ask to see his identification, she risks being on the receiving end of less-than-kind comments because people generally don’t appreciate an extra hassle to their day, especially one that is completely devoid of common sense.

That law has changed now.  Now, the clerks are supposed to ask for identification from anyone who reasonably appears to be under 40.

All of that discussion brings me to today’s topic.  Evidently, Illinois has a new law in effect as of January 1st.  Now, in order to buy certain household cleaners, you must show identification.  In addition to showing identification, customers must sign a log that contains their name and address.  This essentially means that all purchase of certain cleaners will be tracked.

From the referenced article:

The law was proposed after acid was used as a weapon to cause disfiguring injuries, according to the Illinois Senate Republicans’ website. State Rep. Morthland said he heard committee testimony from victims of such attacks whose horrific injuries required multiple surgeries.

Rep. Morthland said among those testifying was Esperanza Medina, of Chicago, who had acid thrown in her face in 2008 and suffered burns over 25 percent of her body.

So, using this logic, we could somehow outlaw boiling water.  Maybe you should have to get a permit before boiling water or engaging in certain cooking activities.  Of course, it is horrific to think about someone getting burned with caustic chemicals.  But, requiring identification to buy the chemicals isn’t’ going to stop some crazed lunatic from throwing them at someone.

This reactionary law, like most reactionary laws, will do nothing to keep dangerous things away from madmen who are bent on hurting someone.  Even if it did, these same people will still have access to boiling water and sharp knives.  So, what is it accomplishing?  Nothing but a great, big hassle for anyone who wants to buy Drano.  It essentially treats everyone like a criminal because there might be the potential to do harm with the substance.

Drano is typically used to unclog toilets and other drains.  Usually it is used if a person tries to flush something too large or if there is small accumulation over time.  The funny thing here is that the state of Illinois itself is “going down the tubes,” so to speak.  They’re going to need a lot of Drano to unclog that beast.

*Note — Some of the links in this article  have been updated/changed from their original sources. The current links should work, but may not be as relevant as the originals, which were removed by their owners.

Update: the original cited link no longer exists. The one listed in this article is related to the original story, however.

A new law was recently passed in Escambia County, Florida.  This new law claims to try to keep the streets safer by outlawing panhandling.  This new ordinance is classified as a “road safety” measure. I don’t really see how banning panhandlers is going to make the road safer for anyone.  I suppose the panhandler will be somewhat safer because he or she won’t be standing at busy intersections and approaching the roadway to get money.  But, this assumes that all panhandlers are total fools who ignore oncoming traffic.  It also assumes that the “authorities” know what is best for the safety of each individual.

The crackdown on panhandling resulted in 16 arrests for law enforcement in one day last week as they made a sweep of the county.  Their pictures are shown on the link.  Some of them have addresses listed, but many of them are homeless or transient.

I personally can’t stand laws that are passed that end up hurting people.  Whoever introduced and passed this law knew that, if enforced, it would prevent certain people from receiving money.  I suppose they’d prefer that these people get help from some government agency rather than individual motorists along the street.  I guess in the end they did…most of these people are now being housed in the county jail.

Louisiana recently passed a law that bans the use of cash in second hand transactions.  I haven’t read the law, but according to this article, “those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions.”  They say that the reason behind this is to be able to track purchases and trace stolen goods.  As you know, thieves always use cash.  But, this doesn’t mean that everyone who uses cash is a thief.  But, their purchases will have to be tracked now, too.  So much for privacy.

I don’t know much about economics, but when the paper that the government says is “money” is no longer able to be used as such, we have problems.