[Glock_22]

There was a great letter to the editor in the Philadelphia Inquirer back in July this year. The author was Joseph Fox, a Chief of Detectives in the Philly PD. I included it in my emails to the committee members, as I thought some good points were made by someone who would know what the problem in Philadelphia is.

Here's the letter:

GUN FRUSTRATION

"Every Tuesday morning, I chair a meeting of local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies during which every shooting from the previous week is reviewed.

The 30 to 50 cases reviewed each week reveal disturbing trends:

A large number of shooting victims have been shot before. The vast majority have criminal records, as do the shooters. Those records almost always involve weapons offenses. Some names crop up week in and week out.

The level of frustration in the room mounts with each case.

As these shooters are left to roam the streets, the quantity of innocent bloodshed increases. After all, they don't always hit those whom they are targeting.

We must have zero tolerance for illegal possession of a gun; on mandatory jail time, even for a first offense; and on maximum time for a subsequent offense.

All Philadelphians should be as sick and tired as we in that room are every Tuesday of the leniency of our judges and the refusal of our elected and appointed officials to insist on accountability."

Philadelphia's problem is definitely one of enforcement.