Don’t you enjoy it when people agree with you?
Today’s paragraphs come to us from the Chicago Sun-Times’ latest editorial, which addresses Chicago’s rampant gun violence – which, though the editorial sidesteps this reality – is most prevalent in the city’s Black neighborhoods:
Here are its key points:
“The vast majority of the violent crime that does occur in the city is driven by a very small percentage of individuals who have wreaked havoc on some of our neighborhoods for far, far too long,” (Police Chief Eddie) Johnson said.
The idea behind presumptive guidelines is to push judges — all but ordering them — to hand out stiffer sentences to repeat gun offenders. If a particular gun crime carries a sentence of three to 10 years, judges might be told repeat offenders should get seven 10 years, for example. The idea, (State Senator Kwame) Raoul said, is to “incapacitate” repeat gun offenders by keeping them in prison longer.
If a judge found extenuating circumstances in a case, he or she still would be free to impose a lesser sentence, but would have to explain in writing why. Unlike simply increasing mandatory minimum sentences, that allows judges to handle defendants on a case-by-case basis, which should make it easier to get a bill through the Legislature.
“This is a way of guiding the sentencing for violent offenders without totally hamstringing the judiciary,” Raoul said.
State Rep. Michael J. Zalewski, D-Riverside, who in the past has pushed for tougher mandatory sentences, called the “presumptive guidelines” an innovative approach that “gets us toward a place where repeat gun offenders are held accountable.”
Stiffer sentences for repeat offenders? OF COURSE. It couldn’t get more basic than that. Tougher mandatory sentences? Ditto.
Personally, I have been writing about mandatory sentences, among other gun legislation, for more years than I care to remember. One example is this paragraph, from my blog of December 5, 2012:
Please understand that I am not against stricter gun control laws. My personal belief is that handguns should be registered, ammunition should be tagged for identification purposes, and that there should be a mandatory jail term – at least five years – for anyone convicted of a crime while in possession of a gun, even if it was not used during the crime. These, in my view, are common-sense measures. The mandatory jail sentence in particular, would make most people intending criminal activity to think twice before carrying a gun.
All the gun control laws in the world will not inhibit even one person who uses guns illegally.
But, as noted in my 2012 blog, “a mandatory jail sentence for anyone convicted of a crime while in possession of a gun, even if it was not used during the crime… would make most people intending criminal activity to think twice before carrying a gun.”
That is the kind of law that would make even an illegal gun owner think twice before taking his weapon into the street. I’m sure there are others as well, and I hope law enforcement people in Chicago (and every other city) make sure to implement them.
The Chicago Sun-Times wins Paragraphs Of The Day honors for supporting Chief Johnson and Senator Raoul in moving toward this common sense approach.
“ammunition should be tagged for identification purposes”
Ken how can this be done???
free – I remember reading at the time that there was a way, which is why I added it in – and would do so today, assuming there is a feasible technique. I admit I
‘m no expert on guns or ammunition and do not know how ammunition can be IDed.