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Why bother with new gun laws when existing laws are not enforced?

Nessie

Penultimate Amazing
Nessie
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The more I read on the topic of gun control, the more it is clear that existing gun laws are not being properly enforced. The final straw was news that the person who loaned the Boston Bomber an illegal gun is getting out of prison

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boston-bombings-trial-silva-idUSKBN0U51BY20151222

"A man who lent the convicted Boston Marathon bomber the gun used to kill a police officer three days after the deadly 2013 attack was set to be released from prison after a judge sentenced him to time served on Tuesday for drug and firearms charges.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf sentenced Stephen Silva, who was arrested in July 2014, to time served plus three years' supervised release for the charges that he pleaded guilty to last year."

If the USA was to put more resources and effort into catching and convicting those with illegal guns and imposed stricter sentences that would reduce the problems.
 
Perhaps a better question is to ask why those existing laws are not being enforced.
 
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Nessie said:
The more I read on the topic of gun control, the more it is clear that existing gun laws are not being properly enforced. The final straw was news that the person who loaned the Boston Bomber an illegal gun is getting out of prison

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boston-bombings-trial-silva-idUSKBN0U51BY20151222

"A man who lent the convicted Boston Marathon bomber the gun used to kill a police officer three days after the deadly 2013 attack was set to be released from prison after a judge sentenced him to time served on Tuesday for drug and firearms charges.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf sentenced Stephen Silva, who was arrested in July 2014, to time served plus three years' supervised release for the charges that he pleaded guilty to last year."

If the USA was to put more resources and effort into catching and convicting those with illegal guns and imposed stricter sentences that would reduce the problems.
Click to expand...

Did he face any gun charges aside from having the serial numbers filed off a handgun? If not, what is a reasonable punishment for that charge?

I'm not sure that loaning the gun was itself an offense. The defense claimed he didn't know why Tsarnaev wanted it and I'm not sure the prosecution said otherwise.
 
Upchurch said:
if not, perhaps there is a need for new gun laws.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but I don't know how many crimes are committed with borrowed guns or how often guns are harmlessly loaned to a friend. I think we should keep in mind the positive and negative effects of any such law.
 
Q: Why bother with new gun laws when existing laws are not enforced?

A: Because they are all predicated on the premise that gun ownership is a right that cannot be denied, rather than a privilege that needs to be justified. It's a mindset change required, not just the laws.
 
Upchurch said:
Perhaps a better question is to ask why those existing laws are not being enforced.
Click to expand...
In Illinois it's because enforcing such laws has a disparate impact on minorities and is therefore racist and there's too many black and brown people in prison, so the black caucus in the state legislature blocks any attempts to increase sentences. So it's catch and release until they succeed in killing someone, then if they're the 20% that gets caught (no snitching!) they might get a long prison sentence.

The Feds under Obama seem to agree, the Northern District of Illinois ranks dead last (90 out of 90) in prosecuting gun crimes.
 
Nessie said:
The more I read on the topic of gun control, the more it is clear that existing gun laws are not being properly enforced. The final straw was news that the person who loaned the Boston Bomber an illegal gun is getting out of prison

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boston-bombings-trial-silva-idUSKBN0U51BY20151222

"A man who lent the convicted Boston Marathon bomber the gun used to kill a police officer three days after the deadly 2013 attack was set to be released from prison after a judge sentenced him to time served on Tuesday for drug and firearms charges.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf sentenced Stephen Silva, who was arrested in July 2014, to time served plus three years' supervised release for the charges that he pleaded guilty to last year."

If the USA was to put more resources and effort into catching and convicting those with illegal guns and imposed stricter sentences that would reduce the problems.
Click to expand...

Going back to the subject line, what laws were not enforced?
 
Norman Alexander said:
Q: Why bother with new gun laws when existing laws are not enforced?

A: Because they are all predicated on the premise that gun ownership is a right that cannot be denied, rather than a privilege that needs to be justified. It's a mindset change required, not just the laws.
Click to expand...

I am at the very opposite of the spectrum from you on this issue. It is absolutely aright.
 
John Jones said:
Going back to the subject line, what laws were not enforced?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I caught that too. The OP decries the lack of "proper enforcement," then gives an example of proper enforcement. The logic must be that "proper" is the problem.

If the laws as they exist are not resulting in sentences we find just, then new, stricter laws are generally the remedy.

The OP is a remarkable example of killing one's own argument when presenting it. Good job.
 
WildCat said:
In Illinois it's because enforcing such laws has a disparate impact on minorities and is therefore racist and there's too many black and brown people in prison, so the black caucus in the state legislature blocks any attempts to increase sentences. So it's catch and release until they succeed in killing someone, then if they're the 20% that gets caught (no snitching!) they might get a long prison sentence.

The Feds under Obama seem to agree, the Northern District of Illinois ranks dead last (90 out of 90) in prosecuting gun crimes.
Click to expand...
Then, perhaps there is a need for new gun laws.

Or, as you describe it, maybe it is (past) time to reform the justice system to get rid of the inherent systemic racism.
 
Laws that are not being enforced are laws that lack a clear control point for enforcement. Lawyer politicians seem to think merely passing the law is sufficient.
 
Nessie said:
The more I read on the topic of gun control, the more it is clear that existing gun laws are not being properly enforced. The final straw was news that the person who loaned the Boston Bomber an illegal gun is getting out of prison

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boston-bombings-trial-silva-idUSKBN0U51BY20151222

"A man who lent the convicted Boston Marathon bomber the gun used to kill a police officer three days after the deadly 2013 attack was set to be released from prison after a judge sentenced him to time served on Tuesday for drug and firearms charges.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf sentenced Stephen Silva, who was arrested in July 2014, to time served plus three years' supervised release for the charges that he pleaded guilty to last year."

If the USA was to put more resources and effort into catching and convicting those with illegal guns and imposed stricter sentences that would reduce the problems.
Click to expand...

When someone goes to prison, that generally means a law has been enforced. :cool:
 
BobTheCoward said:
I am at the very opposite of the spectrum from you on this issue. It is absolutely aright.
Click to expand...
Well there is the problems. It's about time our society catch up with most of the modern world and recognize that things such as education and the health of ones citizens are the rights necessary to continue the growth and improvement of societies.

Not the childish gun fantasies of the 18th century.
 
DavidJames said:
Well there is the problems. It's about time our society catch up with most of the modern world and recognize that things such as education and the health of ones citizens are the rights necessary to continue the growth and improvement of societies.

Not the childish gun fantasies of the 18th century.
Click to expand...


Bob has an odd philosophy.
 
One idea would be if there were some central figure who could sort of help set a standard for how a given set of laws could be enforced. You know, don't make new laws, but standardize enforcement of existing ones. That would probably only work at the federal level. There would need to be some sort of high level person in the Executive branch of a government. A chief who could issue orders on how the Executive branch operates.

Nah, that would be fascism. :rolleyes:
 
I wonder how the NRA would really feel if everyone who filed a NICS request that was not allowed was arrested? I know they claim to want that, but do you really think they would applaud "jack-booted thugs taking people to jail for filing improper paperwork"?

(The quotes reflect what I would expect the response to be from gun owners, not a direct quote of any person or entity.)
 
WildCat said:
It was in and of itself a crime, because it had no serial number and he gave it to him specifically to commit robberies.
Click to expand...

Has that been admitted by the accused or proved by the prosecution? If so, I missed it.
 
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