Smuggler Archive
Thread: Smuggler/BH an oxymoron??
DOK_D wrote:
... It would seem to me that someone who is a smuggler/BH would be considered the lowest scum in the universe. Someone who would sell out his own sick mother for a credit, the type of person that would sell their children to a slaver just to not have to feed them. You know the kinda person that beats up old ladies for their disabilitie credits and steals candy from children.
Stop... you're making me blush! 
Actually, I consider myself a Smuggler who knows the methods of Bounty Hunters. I use their tricks to get ahead in my trade. I don't do bounties.
Smugglers are *already* the lowest level of scum in the universe. We're the enablers, the traffickers. We'll move drugs to dealers, weapons to tyrants, slaves to their masters. Some may "Harumph," and say this isn't true, but somehow the hardened criminals always have the tools they need, and we're the means.
And it makes pretty decent sense to me that some Smugglers would have at least some concept of bounty-hunting. We're the really slimey ones that will bump off our competition. Spend a few credits to make a LOT more! 
-Zz
Smugger = scum
Bounty Hunter = scum
Scum + scum = Stylin'.
And it's all about style my friends. /sagenod
Bounty hunters are NOT law enforcement, as some seem to think.
Bearing that in mind, remember that a Bounty Hunter also lives outside the law, so that they can do things that the law doesn't exactly allow....such as hunting down private citizens for money. Not all bounty marks are guilty of a crime. Some are business enemies, trade rivals, or simply someone who annoyed a Hutt. For that indiscretion, they are now the target of a hired assassin.
Smugglers also live outside the law. They skirt authority in order to provide services to those seeking items/services not exactly legal.
A bounty hunter would be bonded and licensed via the BHG or the Imperial Bounty Commission. Thus doing so, they are permitted certain privileges, such as no customs inspections when entering/leaving starports (this is discussed in the Bounty Hunter Wars books).
Taking this into consideration, the BH would make the perfect smuggler...as they have friends, loopholes, and other social devices that would aid each other.