When I was in high school in the 1960s, during deer season about one pickup truck in four in the high school parking lot had a deer rifle in the back window rack. Unloaded, of course, but the shells were in the glove box.
There was never a school shooting.
Guns are not the problem
Cain killed Abel with a rock. David killed Goliath with a rock.
Rocks are not the problem.
The problem is gun crime, not guns. And the solution is simple.
Pass a law that discharging a gun in any crime, whether a felony or a misdemeanor, earns you a mandatory 15-year no-parole sentence to be served before the sentence for the crime. And possessing a gun during any crime gets you ten years, same conditions.
In addition, if you are so stupid or so evil as to discharge a gun during a crime for a second time, you get a mandatory 30-year no-parole sentence to be served before the sentence for the crime. And a second offense of possessing a gun during any crime gets you twenty years, same conditions.
Finally, people 15 years old or older who use or possess a gun in a crime should be subject to the same laws. We have far, far too many gang kids with guns killing people and getting a slap on the hand and a year in juvenile hall. Street gangs purposefully employ kids to do their killing for that very reason.
Yes, I understand that a number of states have enhancements for possessing or using firearms in crimes. But in most cases, the enhancements are short (3-10 years or so), not mandatory, and can be served concurrently with the sentence for the crime.
So if you get a 7-year sentence for a crime, a 5-year “enhancement” served concurrently with your other sentence doesn’t increase your jail time in the slightest. That’s no deterrent at all, and you can be sure the criminals know it.
Will these laws deter criminals? Yes, some of them. But more to the point, for the violent lawbreakers it doesn’t deter, it will put them where they can’t shoot anyone for a long, long time.
The Democrats running Chicago, New York, and the other crime-ridden cesspools have proven two things beyond question:
- Attempting to control guns doesn’t work. Criminals can always get guns illegally.
- Being soft on crime only gets us one thing. More crime. Duh.
Guns are not the problem. It’s time to take off the kid gloves and deal, not with guns, but with gun crimes and the people who commit those crimes.
My very best to everyone … well, except for the people using firearms to commit crimes. Them, I can do without.
w.
Skating Under The Ice 
I agree 100%
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One major problem across US court system is the dropping of firearm charges to “expedite” prosecutions. Here in PA the Allegheny County DA has said having a gun crime conviction “stigmatizes” minorities in his defense of dropping such charges. The Soros funded District Attorney Project has littered these kinds of anti law enforcement morons all across the country, instead of changing laws they simply refuse to enforce existing laws.
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Well said, and I agree 100%. It would be good also to make resisting arrest a crime punishable by a mandatory five-year sentence to be served prior to sentencing for the crime for which an offender was arrested.
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Too likely to be misused. Not a good idea.
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“Too like to be misused.” Sorry, but that vague concept could be applied to dispute any situation.
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Yeah, those kind of heavy handed approaches work so well in the 3rd world. I mean if you want every poor person, minority and immigrant to hate the System, then go for it. Or, maybe you could lock up all of “those” people. Does that remind you of anything…?
Perhaps all out fascism isn’t really the way to go…just a thought.
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So you think every “poor person, minority and immigrant” is just a criminal waiting to resist arrest, and imposing a mandatory five year jail sentence for resisting arrest is “heavy handed”. Geez! Your line of reasoning is why there is so much disrespect for the law and the resultant criminality. You used the word fascism, which doesn’t surprise me, but I am surprised you didn’t cite racism also.
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I have a great deal of respect for the 99% of police who serve their communities properly, but I’m not blind to the fact that our Justice system treats poor, minority and immigrants more harshly than wealthy people, particularly wealthy white people. Are you that blind?
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I completely agree with your first sentence. My reply to your second sentence is, are you that stupid?
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Your idea would work except when all the liberal governors commute the aforementioned sentences because they deem the suggested laws are either racist, sexist, discriminatory, unjust, biased, unfair, etc.
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Willis,
This strategy might work if the the majority of those committing gun crimes were educated, family-oriented, and looking forward to a future. Unfortunately, this simply is not the case. The daily gun carnage in urban areas is committed overwhelmingly by young, minority males which are poorly educated, lack family structure, and have no sense of a future beyond their opportunity-less neighborhoods. Stringent crime sentences don’t factor into their actions. This is well documented. And, to be clear, I’m not an anti gun zealot.
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Aren’t the crime sentences for crime committed in the city of Chicago set by the Republican controlled State of Illinois legislature?
So, is it the Democratic Party politicians in charge of Chicago and Cook County “going easy” on the “gun criminals” in the area?
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No, Republicans are not the ones responsible for what Democrats running Chiraqistan.
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No, you apparently misunderstand my question. I’m not commenting on local government policies or actions by anyone in Chicago or Cook county.
What I asked is about criminal sentencing, which was the subject of the original post.
Again, isn’t it correct that criminal sentencing anywhere in the State of Illinois, including Chicago and Cook County, determined solely by the Illinois state legislature?
And isn’t the Illinois State Legislature dominated and controlled by the Republican Party? And hasn’t that been the case for decades?
If all of that is true, shouldn’t Williams’s original complaints about light sentencing be directed to the Republican controlled Illinois state legislature?
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It is determined by prosecutor or District Attorney. State Legislatures are not involved in prosecutions or in the process of choosing what charges are to be leveled/pursued in individual cases. With the expansion of the number of DAs around the country who are actively not prosecuting individuals based on their political agenda crime is spiraling out of control in many areas. And no, it ain’t Republican pushing this crap. You’re welcome.
What Illinois Legislature can do is start removing DAs and prosecutors who refuse to prosecute based on their leftist political agendas. ACLU and other leftists will fight that tooth&nail. Why? It is their political agenda as well.
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Not sure where you’re getting your data, Bob:
===
Illinois General Assembly
Structure
Seats 177 voting members
59 senators 118 representatives
State Senate political groups
Democratic (40) Republican (19)
House of Representatives political groups
Democratic (78) Republican (39) Vacant (1)
===
w.
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The State of Illinois legislature is controlled by Democrats. All six statewide offices are held by Democrats.
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Willis said “The problem is gun crime, not guns.”
I agree that guns are not the problem. But I disagree that the problem is gun crime. The problem is that people commit crimes rather than being generally law abiding. The reason, if there is one, that people commit violent crimes are many; which makes the problem complicated.
I suspect the solution, if there is one, will have to address economic, education, cultural and demographic issues to really make a difference. Unfortunately, the way our politics work, things tend to get worse rather than better.
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Thanks, Paul. However, I disagree.
If you put someone who uses a gun in a crime in jail for 15 years plus 5 years for the underlying crime, you’ve absolutely solved the problem of that person’s willingness to “commit crimes rather than being generally law abiding” for at least 20 years. Repeat that enough times and society will have far less criminals.
I couldn’t care less why someone pulls out a gun and shoots someone. Might be alcohol, marriage breakup, greed, or jealousy, the causes are endless. Not only that, but they’re not readily solvable. Yes, we need to work on those … but in the meantime, we need to remove that person from society.
w.
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Actually, those things you list are not the problem . Criminals doing criminal shit are the problem. Domestics and suicides and alcohol are not the problem. Criminals are the problem. And Democrats/leftards. Officers of the Court who refuse to enforce the laws. Yea, Democrats.
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“It’s time to take off the kid gloves and deal, not with guns, but with gun crimes and the people who commit those crimes.”
It’s not just ‘gun crimes’ but all crime. Someone checked the homicide rates in the US and Japan. In Japan in 2020 for all homicides, including ‘by firearm’, the rate was 0.25/100,000. In the US in 2020 for homicides, excluding ‘by firearm’, the rate was 1.6/100,000. No gun crimes involved, and the US homicide rate is six times that of Japan.
“There’s No Gun Problem” – right on!
(No, gun laws aren’t why Japan has few shootings. By Tom Knighton | 8:30 PM on March 29, 2023 at “Bearing Arms”. It’s part of “Townhall”. The article has ‘live links’ to the sources.)
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