While Libs Attempt to Trivialize Eric Gardner's Crime- Back in Reality, Selling Illegal Cigarettes Funds Mafias and Even Muslim Terrorists

A textbook example of unintended consequences is provided by the heavy cigarette taxes levied in some US states-- each sets its own rate, and they vary wildly: Missouri's state cigarette tax is 17 cents. It's $4.35 in New York...

Thus, the ATF says the federal gub'ment loses $5 billion in tax revenue every year from the trafficking of illegal cigarettes. Worldwide, it's a $100 billion problem, and it's the No. 1 economic crime in Europe.

Couldn't be any simpler:

cigarettes are purchased by organized crime types in a low-tax state,
who then truck them in for sale back in a high tax state. Most of the delta is pure profit for the smugglers.

A carton of cigarettes in Virginia is $30, but in New York City or other high-tax states, it can be $90 or more. That's just one carton.

One 18-wheeler full can quickly translate into $1 million in cash. And it all couldn't happen without people like Eric Gardner on the retail end.

Rand Paul thinks the high taxes on cigs in NY state can be blamed for the death of Eric Gardner, who was killed by a chokehold while resisting arrest for selling illegal smokes on the street.

Well, Paul's got a point about the effectiveness and fairness of 
(highly regressive) 'sin' taxes, but HEY, I thought libertarians were all-into personal responsibility? 

What about his fault for doing business with the mafia... or worse?

Of course, the crime has long been a revenue source for the Italian/Russian mafias in this country. BUT these days the $ is so big, the perps range from gangs to terrorist groups. There are cases of illegal cigarette sales with ties to groups like Hezbollah and the Irish Republican Army.

One example would be the Charlotte Hezbollah case, where a
(radical, Islamist) cell out of Lebanon was trafficking cigarettes from
North Carolina (low-tax) to Michigan (high-tax).

They were using the proceeds to buy military armaments in Lebanon.

Did Gardner deserve to die for his illegal sales, like Rand Paul thinks he did? 

Of course not... but that ain't what killed him, resisting arrest is. 

Don't get physical with a cop, and nobody gets hurt (or killed). Capeche?
And perhaps not breaking the law in the first place would be
good for one's health, as well.