If states strive to establish monopolies on the legitimate use of force, why is criminal governance---gang rule---over civilians so common and persistent, especially in urban zones within easy reach of state forces?  How have the resulting “duopolies of violence” survived decades of aggressive policing? Why do drug-retailing gangs often govern without taxing their subjects at all?  ``Market-for-Protection'' models of state formation and that assume competition among symmetric, would-be monopolists provide limited traction on these questions.