The whine about what happens when consumers hate gougers (apart from any law) is a pretty good measure of the stature of your arguments.
On the contrary, I find that the loudest voices are leftist politicians who decry "gouging".
There are politicians who despise any successful business because they perceive them as taking money from people that otherwise could be spent on taxes. They would rather that people be dependent on public relief rather than the free market.
Consider who benefits from anti-gouging laws. It isn't the public. Most of them are going to be deprived when goods sell out. The people who will benefit will be the ones who are willing to break the law -- criminals who know how to get around the law by bribing or finessing the system. When commerce is criminalized only criminals will do commerce.
Divert, divert, divert, spin, spin, spin.
It has been clearly shown that the public WILL boycott egregious offenders. No one criticizing them can force the public out of their doors; the public chooses.
So yes, your whine is weak and pathetic.