首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Blackmarket for Gun in the US As Americans digest the news of another gun atrocity, a mall shooting in Nebraska on December
Blackmarket for Gun in the US As Americans digest the news of another gun atrocity, a mall shooting in Nebraska on December
admin
2013-08-28
29
问题
Blackmarket for Gun in the US
As Americans digest the news of another gun atrocity, a mall shooting in Nebraska on December 5th, they cannot be blamed for thinking that guns are in too ready supply. But an article in the latest Economic Journal suggests that the demand for illegal guns, at least, is not met as easily as people might fear. Sudhir Venkatesh, now of Columbia University, has talked to 132 gang-members, 77 prostitutes, 116 gun-owning youths, 23 gun-dealers and numerous other denizens of Chicago’s Grand Boulevard and Washington Park neighbourhoods. He did not find many satisfied customers.
Chicago has unusually tough restrictions on legal handguns. Even so the black market is surprisingly "thin" , attracting relatively few buyers and sellers. The authors reckon that the 48 ,000 residents of the two neighbourhoods buy perhaps 1,400 guns a year, compared with at least 200,000 cocaine purchases. Underground brokers sell guns for $ 150~350, a mark-up of perhaps 200% over the legal price. They also demand a fee of $30~50 for orchestrating the deal. Even then, 30~40% of the transactions fall through because the seller cannot secure a gun, gets cold feet or cannot agree on a location for the deal.
Buyers also find it hard to verify the quality of the merchandise. They often know little about the weapons they covet. "Tony", who owns a 38 calibre handgun, learnt how to use his weapon by fiddling with it. He even put a stone in it. "Did it fire?" Mr Venkatesh asked. "I’m not sure. I think it did," Tony said.
Fortunately for Tony and his peers, their rivals and the victims of crime cannot tell if their guns work any better than they can. Often, showing the "bulge" is enough to gain the respect of rival gangs. In robberies brandishing the weapon will usually do. Storekeepers do not wait for proof that it works.
Markets can overcome thinness, the paper says; they can also overcome illegality. But they cannot overcome both. A thin market must rely on advertising or a centralised exchange: eBay, for example, has dedicated pages matching sellers of imitation pearl pins or Annette Funicello bears to the few, scattered buyers that can be found. But such solutions are too cumbersome and conspicuous for an underground market. The drugs market, by contrast, slips through the law’s fingers because of the natural density of drug transactions. Dealers can always find customers on their doorstep, and buyers can reassure themselves about suppliers through repeated custom. There are no fixed and formal institutions that the police could easily throttle.
Indeed, the authors argue that the gun market may be threadbare partly because the drug market is so plump. Gang-leaders are wary of gun-dealing because the extra police scrutiny that guns attract would jeopardise their earnings from coke and dope. Even Chicago’s gang-leaders have to worry about the effect of crime on commerce.
Towards the future of gun-dealing, the author’s attitude is______.
选项
A、pessimistic
B、optimistic
C、desperate
D、sorrowful
答案
A
解析
态度题。通过分析可知,目前美国枪支交易的情况比较惨淡,作者对于未来的情况也不是很看好。故作者持悲观态度,答案为A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/L4Ld777K
本试题收录于:
职称英语理工类A级题库职称英语分类
0
职称英语理工类A级
职称英语
相关试题推荐
MobilePhonesMobilephonesshouldcarryalabeliftheyprovedtobeadangeroussourceofradiation,accordingtoRobertBell,
WhydoestheauthorthinktheEiffelToweristransformedintosymbolofaworldonthemove?Whatseemsstrangetotheauthor?
Thepassageindicatesthatancienttreatmentsforinjuryanddiseasewere______.Whatdothemajorityofthepeopleinthewor
Accordingtothefirstparagraph,youngpeople______."Readycredit"or"reservedchecking"______.
Thedoctorshaveabandonedthehopetorescuetheoldman.
SingingAlarmsCouldSavetheBlindIfyoucannotsee,youmaynotbeabletofindyourwayoutofaburningbuilding--andtha
HighwaysintheUSTheUnitedStatesiswell-knownforitsnetworkofmajorhighwaysdesignedtohelpadrivergetfromoneplac
HighwaysintheUSTheUnitedStatesiswell-knownforitsnetworkofmajorhighwaysdesignedtohelpadrivergetfromoneplac
HighwaysintheUSTheUnitedStatesiswell-knownforitsnetworkofmajorhighwaysdesignedtohelpadrivergetfromoneplac
随机试题
日常工作中为了提高生产效率、工作效率而做出的牵涉范围较窄的决策是()
苏轼、辛弃疾二人同为()
A本周蛋白Bβ2-微球蛋白C微量清蛋白D尿液蛋白电泳ET-H蛋白评估肾脏早期损伤时肾小球和近端肾小管功能的是
A.疏散风热、清热解毒B.疏散风热、升阳举陷C.疏散风热、利咽透疹D.疏散风热、宣通鼻窍E.疏散风热、疏肝解郁
利小便而实大便的理论依据是
视网膜感光最敏锐的部位是视神经盘。()
货物采购合同中制造商违约责任有()。
【工商银行】生态入侵,是指人们有意识或无意识地把某种生物带入适宜其栖息和繁衍的地区,使得该生物种群不断扩大,分布区不断稳定地扩展,从而危害当地的生产和生活,改变当地生态环境的过程。根据上述定义,下列属于生态入侵的是()
匈牙利法的推广应用包括()等方面。
Whenhomebuyersexpecttheirincometoincrease,______areidealoptionsforthem.
最新回复
(
0
)