Having read the entire article linked to the post below it looks like the whole mess of nothing more than our government looking for a way to show us how much we deperately need them to save us from ourselves when it comes to anything enviromental... Seriosly look at how big of a deal the EPA makes over a small oil spill and how we are told of the environmental disaster a drop of oil is going to bring upon us....that after years and years of the government spraying dirt roads with used oil to keep down the dust....If a single drop is an environmental disaster then given the amount of oil put down in years past, we should all be cancer ridden mutants by now. But on to the Gibson raid and beyond.....
After reading the entire article it becomes quite apparent that common sense has been thrown out the window when it comes to enforcing whatever laws they say they are trying to enforce. I mean seriously, a man being prosecuted and going to jail, on our tax dollars, because of pieces on an OLD piano that were obviously grandfathered by the laws, but got him in trouble anyway because he couldn't get proper advice on filing out forms even when he asked....To me it sounds like the givernment really doesn't know what the law really says or means, but instead interpret it in whatever way they need to, in any given case, to meet their own needs.
Beyond that I was reading one of the replies that talked about ivory and animals left to rot, etc, etc. Granted I don't agree with poaching, but what makes me even sicker than the criminal making a profit off his ill gotten gains is watching the ivory, or whatever being burned by the agents that caught them. I mean it's a no brainer that there is a huge demand for ivory, rhino horn, etc, etc, etc, legally obtained or not. That demand is not going to go away just because one, or two, or three, or a dozen poachers/criminals gets caught. In fact when the supply they were going to sell never makes it to market the demand is only going to rise. As a result of the old rule of supply and demand the only thing that's going to happen is that with the supply not being there, the price for the item is going to rise and make it even more worthwhile for the next poacher/criminal to make an even bigger profit from his illegal activities.
Why not confiscate the item the criminal had taken illegally, be it ivory, rhino horn, wood, etc and simply sell it on the market legally. Then use the profits to help fund the law enforcment officers needed to enforce the laws that were origionally broken. To me that at least makes the loss of the animal, or whatever, and the time and funds spent looking for the criminal a bit less of an absolute waste than it is the way things are currently done. Seriously they already do it with vehicles and other items taken in drug busts, etc, etc, etc, what makes something like this any different except that the folks at PETA might raise a little stink about it...............But really, who care??? We already know they are often too stupid to realize that the tactics they are using to 'save' the precious animals are actually doing more harm to the animal, and the environment it lives in, than if they just minded their own business. But that's just my .02......
After reading the entire article it becomes quite apparent that common sense has been thrown out the window when it comes to enforcing whatever laws they say they are trying to enforce. I mean seriously, a man being prosecuted and going to jail, on our tax dollars, because of pieces on an OLD piano that were obviously grandfathered by the laws, but got him in trouble anyway because he couldn't get proper advice on filing out forms even when he asked....To me it sounds like the givernment really doesn't know what the law really says or means, but instead interpret it in whatever way they need to, in any given case, to meet their own needs.
Beyond that I was reading one of the replies that talked about ivory and animals left to rot, etc, etc. Granted I don't agree with poaching, but what makes me even sicker than the criminal making a profit off his ill gotten gains is watching the ivory, or whatever being burned by the agents that caught them. I mean it's a no brainer that there is a huge demand for ivory, rhino horn, etc, etc, etc, legally obtained or not. That demand is not going to go away just because one, or two, or three, or a dozen poachers/criminals gets caught. In fact when the supply they were going to sell never makes it to market the demand is only going to rise. As a result of the old rule of supply and demand the only thing that's going to happen is that with the supply not being there, the price for the item is going to rise and make it even more worthwhile for the next poacher/criminal to make an even bigger profit from his illegal activities.
Why not confiscate the item the criminal had taken illegally, be it ivory, rhino horn, wood, etc and simply sell it on the market legally. Then use the profits to help fund the law enforcment officers needed to enforce the laws that were origionally broken. To me that at least makes the loss of the animal, or whatever, and the time and funds spent looking for the criminal a bit less of an absolute waste than it is the way things are currently done. Seriously they already do it with vehicles and other items taken in drug busts, etc, etc, etc, what makes something like this any different except that the folks at PETA might raise a little stink about it...............But really, who care??? We already know they are often too stupid to realize that the tactics they are using to 'save' the precious animals are actually doing more harm to the animal, and the environment it lives in, than if they just minded their own business. But that's just my .02......
