The City of Columbus, Ohio seems to think the solution is to try harder, with vigor this time:
“Young people have access to weapons and they’re using those weapons and unfortunately we’ve tried a lot through the city. The mayor in the past, we’ve brought weapons in, we’ve had strike patrols, we’ve done many many things to try to remove them. But, as we’re constantly trying to do our work, there’s another element out there that is also doing their work and putting those guns on the street,” Tyson said.
They might want to think about trying to get the gang members who are carrying the guns off the street rather than take the guns off the street. Maybe if you actually locked these delinquents up you’d see crime drop. In what messed up world does it make sense to take away the tools and leave them on the street? If you catch a burglar trying to pry open a window with a crowbar, do you take his crowbar, shake your finger at him, and send him on his way? No, that would be insane. But such is the logic of gun prohibitionists.
Makes about as much sense as ‘gun buybacks’. Which, of course, is grammatically incorrect. In order to buy back, one must have possessed it in the first place.
Or, get rid of cars in order to prevent hit and runs.
A few years ago gang violence hit a peak in Compton, part of the Los Angeles urban sprawl.
LA Sheriffs moved in hard and starting taking bad guys off the street and things got real quiet.
A spokesman said, “Yes, things are very quiet now. Everyone who was shooting is in jail.”
Did they learn and decide law-abiding citizens are not the problem? Nope.
Very interesting, recent article about this issue from the Chicago perspective.
In other words … shooters rarely caught, and when they are, rarely convicted, and when the are, rarely punished.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2530358,59hours-chicago-shooting-072410.article
I assumed the problem in the case of Columbus was that many of the shooters are high school kids with no records so they are under the radar until they shoot somebody. It’s tough to get them ‘off the streets’ in that scenario.
However, the two kids (16 and 17 years old) in the first shooting noted both had prior records.
“Prince was convicted of a delinquency count of carrying a concealed weapon after he was found to have a handgun in his “bag/backpack and a magazine with four live rounds in his front right pocket” in June 2008. He also has been convicted of receiving stolen property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and disorderly conduct.
Dawson was convicted of disorderly conduct after a March fistfight with another student. Parker’s mother said that other student was her son. Dawson also has been convicted of theft and complicity to petty theft.”
I wonder how serious those charges are? Should Prince have been jailed for carrying a concealed weapon?
If you catch a burglar trying to pry open a window with a crowbar, do you take someone else’s crowbar, shake your finger at everyone who didn’t do it, and send him on his way?
There you go, fixed it for you.