> What if a stalker buys a weapon, repeatedly tells a victim of planned murder plots, etc? They're probably still committing a crime. The thing with terrorism

> What if a stalker buys a weapon, repeatedly tells a victim of planned murder plots, etc? They're probably still committing a crime. The thing with terrorism vs stalking though, is the budgets that are being spent on preventing them. It's also the level of Law Enforcement that does the investigation. Local PD is much less capable and has much less man power than the FBI. Also, in case of 'tells a victim of planned murder plots' this often happens in person with no record existing. This happens about as often as fake victims saying someone is threatening them. So it's hard to judge whether any report of death threats from a stalker is real. I've personally worked on stalking cases and until you've got actual irrefutable evidence of a stalker having made threats, it's always a gamble. Even letters and messages are being faked by pretend victims. Overreaction by local PD, without evidence, is how people get shot when they get swatted.