should panhandling be legal?

[dead0man]

Last winter the ACLU made Omaha change it's rules.  linky  Now nearly every off ramp and busy street corner has a person in ratty clothes holding up unlege...unledg....unreadable signs.  Seems unsafe and looks like sh**t.  I don't like it.  My brain, on the other hand, says, "dude, free country, as long as they ain't hurtin' nobody right?".  So I punched myself in the head.

What do you guys think?

[they don't love you like i love you]

I voted option 3. It should be legal, but not if "aggressive" and businesses should be allowed to not permit it on their premises. There's a gas station in my neighborhood where half the time you go there someone will ask you for money, makes me wonder how much business gets lost from people not wanting to deal with that.

[politicallefty]

I voted option 3. It should be legal, but not if "aggressive" and businesses should be allowed to not permit it on their premises. There's a gas station in my neighborhood where half the time you go there someone will ask you for money, makes me wonder how much business gets lost from people not wanting to deal with that.

To be honest, it's not something I've really thought about, but I share your thoughts. I'm thinking maybe something like stay at least 25-50 feet away from an entrance/exit of any public place (including grocery stores, gas stations, etc). You can probably have a good balance.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Panhandling should be illegal:

[Figueira]

I'll say yes but I never thought about it.

[Pyro]

Yes. No to any laws that sh*t on the poor for being poor.
It's like when cities put spikes around buildings. Not helping the bigger issue.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

No, it's annoying and I don't know why anyone would want to do it. Doesn't seem like a lot of fun.

[DavidB.]

No, it's annoying and I don't know why anyone would want to do it. Doesn't seem like a lot of fun.

are you serious

Anyway, it depends. I'm not necessarily against a ban but only if there are truly adequate anti-poverty policies. This also means being able to treat drug addiction as a health issue instead of a crime issue. In the Netherlands, panhandling is illegal in most big cities and I'm okay with that. In the US, I'm not sure about it (but obviously businesses shouldn't lose customers over panhandlers doing their thing in front of their store).

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I voted option 3. It should be legal, but not if "aggressive" and businesses should be allowed to not permit it on their premises. There's a gas station in my neighborhood where half the time you go there someone will ask you for money, makes me wonder how much business gets lost from people not wanting to deal with that.

This. Tallahassee occasionally finds itself flooded with homeless people who Atlanta buses in, and living in the heart of the college town across the street from the liquor store and a mile down the road from both the Gray Hound station and from Frenchtown means that my area is ground zero.

I don't mind panhandling on the whole on a public street near a busy road. If I don't give a guy (at least one who either never asks me for money or I've never seen before) money, I'll always give a cigarette. However, there are several guys, several of whom I unfortunately know by name at this point, who loiter by the liquor store and chase down students walking in the area. They can be quite aggressive and annoying.

There was this one time back home in Boynton in which I stupidly pulled my wallet out only for the guy to reach in and take everything in it. Another time, a homeless guy called my friend a "house negro" for hanging out with me in public and threatened to throw me, "the white boy f****t," into the bricks.

I'm not for criminalizing homelessness to the extent that they can't sleep on a park bench in peace or be fed in public by charities, but yes, there needs to be a good degree of regulation to keep them from running off customers, from harassing people in line at McDonalds, etc, etc.

[IceSpear]

If you want to stop panhandling, then stop the conditions that lead to panhandling from happening in the first place.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Option 3.

It's a form of commercial speech in my opinion.  As such it is reasonable to limit the manner, time and place of how, when, and where it can be done. In particular, it should not be legal during primary commuting times where impediments to the free flow of traffic, be it vehicular or pedestrian should be kept to a minimum.

The panhandling that I see that irks me most is not that of common bums, largely because I seldom encounter it, but those fill-the-boot charity drives that firefighters around here are wont to do from time to time. Making yourself a traffic impediment does not make me want to contribute to a cause, no matter how worthy, and frankly it only lowers my opinion of firefighters, which otherwise is very high. (Not surprising since I had an uncle who was a battalion chief in the Baltimore City Fire Department.)

[ElectionsGuy]

Yes, so long as its not violent.

If you want to stop panhandling, then stop the conditions that lead to panhandling from happening in the first place.

Great politician answer.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

As much as I hate being harassed, it's something you have to deal with, and in a country with a "free market", we shouldn't be criminalizing appeals for money. As long as this is treated as an illegal act, we should outlaw advertising as well.

[dead0man]

I suppose you guys are right, it just so weird to me as I've never lived in a place where it happens regularly.  At least until the last few months.  Sure, I've seen homeless people sleeping downtown and the occasional person asking for money on corners, but it's everywhere now.  I suppose it's my new normal (at least in the summer) and I should get used to it.

[they don't love you like i love you]

To add to Averroes' point, no one really complains about street musicians even if they're doing it for money*. If anything they make those places more enjoyable so even businesses don't mind them. But a line does have to be drawn between that and someone harassing people who are trying to just fill their car up.

*Of note is that some of them actually do make pretty good money. I know a guy who's been in some bands here who used to play in downtown for awhile and said he made more money that way and tax free than he did at his part time retail job he held at the time. He did feel a little guilty about it since he wasn't homeless and didn't need the money that bad since he was living for free with friends, but it worked out well for him. Granted he's also way more talented than most.

[dead0man]

Aye, street musicians should be encouraged.  So should little kids selling bottled water at Pokemon hotspots.  It pisses off the hotdog cart guys who pay the city to sell sh**t to nerds and walkers, but what are they going to do run off a couple of little girls? call the cops on them?

[Antonio the Sixth]

If you want to stop panhandling, then stop the conditions that lead to panhandling from happening in the first place.

Great politician answer.

Uh, no. Politicians usually try to make you believe that ending homelessness is much harder than it actually is.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

No, it's annoying and I don't know why anyone would want to do it. Doesn't seem like a lot of fun.

are you serious

I don't think the part you bolded is any more ridiculous than the part you didn't.