Guns are tools. Guns protect families and children. Guns save innocent life thousands of times each day.
Instead of trying to manipulate people into continued support of failed schemes like this buyback, our politicians, and even the Sun-Times, would be better served helping people understand the truth so we will all be better, smarter citizens.
The answer isn’t more racist, classist and sexist gun control laws or disarmament schemes.
The answer involves a commitment to take violent offenders off the streets for a long time.
Florida today enjoys the lowest firearm violent crime rate ever. It’s not because there is a paucity of guns in Florida, where 1.5 million people have concealed carry licenses.
It’s because if you commit a violent crime with a gun in Florida, you go away for a long, long time.
See, Florida passed a sentencing enhancement law many years ago to combat violent gun crime. Use a gun in a violent crime in the Sunshine State, you get 10 years added to your sentence. Fire the gun, add 20 years. Wound or kill someone and you go away for 25 years, minimum. There’s no parole or probation. It’s hard time.
By contrast, in Chicago in recent weeks, police nabbed three youths who allegedly committed a drive-by shooting, wounding two.
The Cook County state’s attorney charged the youths with a Class 4 felony: one to three years in prison. Another incident involved a woman on a YouTube video popping shots off at people on a busy street. She was charged with a misdemeanor. In Florida, all of these people would be gone for a generation.
The choice is ours to make. Prosecute and sentence violent offenders to long prison terms, or nibble around the edges with failed, feel-good symbolism that doesn’t work.
John Boch is executive director of Champaign-based Guns Save Life.
I must say, the Chicago Sun-Times has been fair and then some with us on this story. I applaud reporter Frank Main for his honorable and fair reporting and editorial writer Thomas Frisbie for the opportunity to expound our side of this issue. Thank you, gents.
Counterpoint: Go after the criminals, not the guns
Written By John Boch Posted: 10/20/2015, 04:30pm
Here we go again.
Chicago is squandering more taxpayer money on a symbolic gun buyback program to reduce violence in the Windy City.
Sure, it sounds like a good idea to get unwanted firearms out of circulation, but the science is settled: Gun buybacks don’t work.
Feelings and emotions don’t make good public policy.
This is what I sent to the Chicago Tribune.
Gun Crime Control That is Working
If someone injures or kills people by operation an SUV while under the influence, you do not outlaw the SUV or limit it to a 5 gallon gas tank. You go after the operator and impress upon them that it is not worth the penalty if they are caught.
You have not been able to keep illegal drugs or illegal aliens out of the country. Even if you could collect all the firearms now in the country, criminals would have replacements the next day. They cannot tell the police that someone took my drugs. They use firearms to protect their illegal goods.
Here are 5 simple straight forward penalties that address Gun Crime Control.
These would be absolute sentences with no reductions in time for any reason.
o If you are in possession of a firearm as a felon, you get an automatic three years in prison, no ifs, ands or buts.
o If you are in possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony crime, you get an extra 10-years in prison, minimum.
o If you fire your firearm, you get 20-years in prison, minimum, on top of the sentence for whatever felony you were committing.
o If you wound or kill someone with a firearm, the minimum sentence is 25-years in prison and the judge may impose Life in prison.
o If you wound a Law enforcement officer or cause the loss of life of a law enforcement office through the use of a firearm, the minimum sentence is 50 years in prison and the judge may impose Life in prison.
They are proven crime reduction items that the State of Florida has been using for many years.
Where do we put these people is a question that will be asked. There is an empty prison at Dwight Illinois that could be put to good use. If you want a lower cost option, contact Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio. He may even be helpful in how a low cost prison can be run.