HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
May 8, 2005 Ten days ago I received an urgent e-mail from a friend insisting I call him. According to what he’d heard, my ex-wife’s son had been shot and killed. This would have marked the third killing of a young man under the age of thirty in a month. Fortunately, the message was inaccurate and my stepson was fine. He had simply had an argument with his ex. I didn’t worry about how such a rumor had started. I was thankful he hadn’t become a victim. I did however, worry about the epidemic of violent youth crimes. Watching the nightly news I hear of youths murdering each other with easily obtained handguns. This is particularly true in the Bay Area cities of Oakland, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and Richmond. How do we stop this madness? In California, the law holds gun owners responsible if a child has easy access to it and brandishes it, or uses it to injure or kill someone. Child safety locks must be sold with guns. A separate law is needed to penalize the offending minor. But most kids are not using their parents’ weapons to commit their murderous deeds. Cheap handguns can be bought on the streets. Statewide there are 2400 murder annually, of which just under 1100 (45%) are solved (California State Assembly, 2006). Often times this is due to the killers being youth and witnesses abiding by the code of the street—not to “snitch”—lest they be the next victim. More worrisome is the idea that violent youth will commit multiple killings. Over the past three years California authorities have thwarted several planned “Columbine type” massacres, but in other cases haven’t been as lucky: The Stockton Massacre (1989); Cleveland Elementary School, San Diego, California (January 29, 1979). Seventeen-year old Brenda Ann Spencer arms herself with a rifle, crosses the street from her home and kills two men, wounds eight children and a police officer. She later blamed it on her dislike of Mondays, adding “This livens up the day…and it was just a lot of fun…they looked like a herd of cows standing around, it was really easy pickings." Olivehurst, May 1, 1992: Twenty-year old Eric Houston, wielding a .22 pistol, killed four people and wounded 10. He was given the death penalty. The most deadly shooting binge happened at Santana High School, in Santee. Charles Williams slaughtered 13 classmates and two adults . Ironically, this cold-blooded killer would appear in court wearing a bullet-proof vest for his protection. While such attackers have no particular profile that administrators can look for, the Secret Service advises parents to ask the following questions: What has this child said? Does he have grievances? What do his friends know? Does he have access to weapons? Is he depressed or despondent? All of this guesswork is a start, but more important guns must be made so that they are easy to trace. Potential witnesses to crimes must be assured of protection from retaliation. Addressing the former, the California Assembly has passed AB 352, a law designed to help police solve murders and other gun cases. (The bill waits approval from the California State Senate). The bill calls for “micro-stamping,” where every handgun sold in the state would have the serial number engraved on the firing pin. Once the gun is fired the serial number would be imprinted on the bullet casing. This would make it so investigators could immediately trace ownership. AB 352 is a start, but there is another answer: Gun control laws so rigid that they send an unmistakable message: That violent youths will no longer be coddled. This calls for enhancing the penalties for gun possession and violent activity. My “One strike, ass out” policy would do just that. My policy would mandate that all youthful defendants in first-degree murder cases be tried as adults, with twenty-five to life sentences for those convicted. Youths under the age of 16 would serve the maximum sentence under current youth laws (incarceration until age 25). Subsequent gun possession would result in a sentence of no less than ten years; a third-strike would mandate the defendant, if found guilty, be sentenced under the “three strikes” guidelines. This no-nonsense approach is long overdue. Children as young as ten are recruited by gangs and exploited as killers, under the assumption that the age of the gunman will be a mitigating factor in obtaining a light sentence. To counter this, the stringent mandatory sentencing guidelines need to be adopted. This provides severe penalties even for first-time felons. My bill would also eliminate plea-bargaining for all repeat offenders. This revolving door policy of California’s prison system is a national disgrace. Furthermore, stringent post-prison penalties would also be adopted and would include counseling and a minimum five years of probation. Ten years for repeat offenders. Violators would be sentenced to prison to finish out the terms of their probation. Draconian perhaps, but nowhere as bad as the sentence inflicted upon gunshot victims. It’s time to stop the violence and the only way to do so would be enact penalties that make most kids think twice before they pull the trigger, or even make threats with a gun. Sources: “School Massacres,” www.wikipedia.com May 6, 2006 ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly, Sr. is a 46-year old poet, novelist and aspiring screenwriter who resides in northern California with his three youngest children--Lawrence, Kimberly and Dante. He is a member of various writer's groups and has three novels in print, his most recent, "Like A Straight-Up Sucka," is available at www.lulu.com. website: http://stellbreadO@tripod.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
