Prohibition and the Surge of American Crime

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Prohibition causes crime
In 1920, the 18th Amendment was added to the constitution prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages. Despite the ban, public desire for alcohol did not diminish. This created a new business opportunity for criminals in the United States, and also caused many skilled laborers who were once law abiding citizens to turn to crime.
In 1830, it was estimated that the average American over the age of fifteen consumed more than seven gallons of pure alcohol per year. In comparison, modern Americans consume approximately two gallons per year (PBS, n.d.). This was a great concern to the women of the 1800s, who were almost solely reliant on their husbands for support. This gave birth to the Temperance Movement, The Women’s …show more content…

The United States have a unique relationship with firearms, which is often a major point of debate in the news media. The Second Amendment to the Constitution allows people their constitutional right to bear arms, but there are many activist groups that wish to see the sale and possession of firearms banned. Approximately forty seven percent of Americans support stricter gun laws, but this is in direct contrast to prohibition, where far less than that number supported the ban on the sale of alcohol (Swift, 2014). There is a distinct difference between prohibiting drugs and prohibiting firearms. Those who commit illegal acts with drugs typically only do direct harm to the end consumer and perhaps that consumer’s family, but those who commit gun crimes often force their will on innocent bystanders. If guns were banned in the United States, it would create a very similar situation as was experienced during the prohibition of 1920. The cost to enforce the ban and the violence that it would cause would likely eclipse what was seen as a result of prohibition. Many former law abiding citizens would become criminals by refusing to give up their firearms, skilled laborers would likely continue to manufacture firearms, and criminals would still obtain them (Illegal Gun Markets, 2013). The principle issue in this matter is that criminals already obtain illegal firearms for use in their operations, they would certainly continue to, and much of this is directly related to drug

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