Lawmakers must take aim at gun loophole...

[spin]

November 17, 2009

IN MAY, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that suspects who had carried loaded illegal firearms did not qualify as dangerous - that the offense was a “passive and victimless’’ crime. That phrase surely rings hollow for the 30 people shot, 10 fatally, in Bristol County in the six months since the court’s decision.

Before the SJC decision, Bristol County prosecutors and judges decided in case after case to hold offenders caught with illegal guns in jail until trial, and there was not a single gun murder in the county for 15 months.

***snip***

New Bedford had 38 shooting victims in 2006. Once dangerousness hearings began being employed in illegal gun cases, that number dropped to 13 in 2007. And in the six months before the SJC decision, there was not a single shooting in the city. No single step so improved the daily life of the people who live in our city. No city in the Commonwealth has seen such a drastic cut in gun violence.

The ramifications were countywide: Police calls of “shots fired’’ decreased an average of 33 percent in Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton when dangerousness hearings were applied to gun crimes. Gang members knew the policy was working. Police and prosecutors reported that detained suspects routinely discussed that they were no longer carrying illegal guns because they knew if they got caught, they were likely going straight to jail. Guns, in other words, were disappearing from the streets.

But now the guns are back. And the criminals know why - attested to by one gang member who, arrested for possession of an illegal loaded firearm, was overheard bragging to friends that he knew police couldn’t hold him and he would be back on the street in a flash.

Of the 10 fatal and 20 non-fatal shootings in our county since the SJC decision, more than 90 percent were committed with illegal firearms.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/11/17/lawmakers_must_take_aim_at_gun_loopholeemphasis added

[msongs]

1. legalize al weapons - convicted felons have a constitutional right to guns ya know nt

[eqfan592]

3. Thank you Mr. Strawman!

Now, back to reality....

[spin]

5. Seriously, criminals carrying illegal guns OFTEN murder people...

people who are licensed to carry weapons RARELY murder people.

It makes sense to treat a person who is illegally carrying a firearm as a serious threat. If this approach is taken, lives are saved as shown in the article.

[damntexdem]

8. And don't forget hand grenades and RPGs.

;-)

[spin]

10. Fortunately, that usually happens south of the border...

and hopefully it will stay there.

[rd_kent]

11. What a bunch of shit your post is.

[Euromutt]

13. Congratulations on completely missing the point!

If you bothered to pay attention, you'd find that the gun owners on this forum think the Massachusetts Supreme Court's ruling is utterly wrong-headed. We're all in favor of persons caught in illegal possession of a firearm being actively and vigorously prosecuted, because people who are legally ineligible to possess a firearm but possess one anyway generally do so for nefarious purposes.

[spin]

15. You summed it up nicely. (n/t)

[rrneck]

17. Heh

"Al weapons" This guy designs weapons?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

18. msongs: queen of the idiotic drive by posting.

[eqfan592]

2. Sorry man, hit unrec instead of rec!

My stupid computer screen jerks around sometimes, and I hit the wrong damned button. I wish they would let us change our votes on these!

[spin]

4. No big deal. Thanks. (n/t)

[PavePusher]

19. I balanced you out. All good. n/t

[gorfle]

6. Whodathunkit?

Wow, put thugs caught with guns in jail, and thugs stop wanting to use guns! Whodathunkit?

[spin]

7. The KISS principle in action...

Bad guys carry firearms illegally. Put bad guys in jail for carrying firearms, bad guys are hesitant to carry firearms. Lives are saved.

When you try to put out a fire with a fire extinguisher, you aim for the base of the fire not randomly spray everything.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

9. "When you try to put out a fire with a fire extinguisher..."

Who are you trying to kid?!?

You could probably commit a mass fire extinction if they allowed extinguishers with 2 or more of the following:
High capacity dicharge tanks
nozzle shrouds (the shoulder things that go up)
adjustable stocks
pistol grips (fight fires from the hip)
Axe lugs

[eqfan592]

12. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

That's one of the funnies damned things I've ever seen!!

And just for old time sake!

[Euromutt]

14. Denny Crane!

Who else would persuade the Mass. SJC that people carrying illegal firearms aren't dangerous?

[spin]

16. He's everywhere...