Did you have many members in those communities you led?
Would you rather lose equipment or a lvl 21 character? If people suddenly stopped respawning when they died as opposed to full item drop, the consequences suddenly change for both sides on the recieving end. Just look at Diablo II's hardcore mode. But of course none on this forum would ever consider such a change because it would be one step closer to a real wasteland. What a fun social experiment that would be...
It'd be much better if life was more expensive than any gear you had. The direct problem that would follow is that dying is too easy.
Players can do whatever they want as long as there's consequences. It might seem that pks don't get consequences from their wrongdoings, but if you look at the town control list the dominating factions are anti-pk. Players who don't dedicate their life making it harder for others. Pk-gangs happen to make more enemies than friends and it eventually backfires. Doesn't help the lonely nuub too much, however.
I don't know why but its not that pk gangs make to much enemies , it is just that pk factions rarely forge any alliances.