What is the issue if a felon

[Golferman]

What is the issue if a felon gets an automatic 5 yrs if carrying a gun in the commission of the felony? That is 5 FULL yrs tacked on to the sentence for the felony.

[edstephan]

And what is your question????

[Philbert]

What is the gun control act of 1968?

Gun laws for 400.

[Golferman]

Why is it not done - every time in PA? Whose call is it to not do it? Is it a matter of prison space, money, or what?

[Pennywise]

Why is it not done - every time in PA? Whose call is it to not do it? Is it a matter of prison space, money, or what?

IMHO it's all about money. If every criminal actually served ALL of the time they were sentenced to do then it would not only cost a whole lot more for each prisoner but more prisons would have to be built and THAT costs even more money. And lets not forget about plea bargains. The idea, AFAIK, is to cut a deal with the suspects to move them quickly through the court system, Thus saving money on trials.

All of the reasons I listed not only do nothing to control the criminal population in the country but serves to give the criminals more reason to believe that they can get away with doing thier crimes without fear of punishment.

The worst part is the theory nowadays inthis country is that if we take away the rights of law abiding citizens to own guns then the criminals would not be able to get them.
This, of course is complete BullShit!!! I would gladly pay more money in taxes to keep these scumbags locked up where they belong.

Just don't mess with my right to own a gun!

[Brown-Bear]

The gun fearing antis pushed for those types of laws. The only problems have been explained already, but I'll add a thing or two. The added sentence requirements were meant to make CRIMINALS think about it before doing the crime. But heres the kicker the antis never seem to understand. They're CRIMINALS, they don't give a crap, why because they're CRIMINALS and CRIMINALS don't care about the rules. Also, these CRIMINALS are smarter than they appear. They know full well, some even from experience, that they will most likely be fast tracked thru the system, and given early release, once they are finally given a watered down sentence, from a liberal judge who believes more in rehabilitation then in actually punishing the CRIMINALS.

All in all, its just another measure of "Feel good gun control" that serves no real purpose, other than to make people "feel" safer.

Dave

[Golferman]

Money would answer it. My interest was prompted by a chat with a Philly officer yesterday. Seems that at least the last 3 Philly cops killed by guns were all done by felons and each had gotten out of jail way before their sentence was supposed to end. Unfortunately, the parole boards (where's their accountability?), the media, and sorry to say, we citizenry, don't seem to scream often enough or loud enough. When we do, we're not heard.

Maybe some social scientists have found that in states where it's enforced, it doesn't reduce the murder rate. I wonder. Must be getting old since this last one (yet-to-be-buried officer) really, really bothers me (and the cop I was chatting with). Time for another letter to my legislators.

I firmly believe we have more than enough gun control laws to stop the nonsense.

[Scrumpyjack]

My guess would be that it is probably often dropped as part of the plea agreement.

[Hawk]

I have an idea! Bring back mandatory jail sentences with "hard labor" to criminals using a gun to commit a crime. Have them breaking rocks all day!

[NineseveN]

The gun fearing antis pushed for those types of laws. The only problems have been explained already, but I'll add a thing or two. The added sentence requirements were meant to make CRIMINALS think about it before doing the crime. But heres the kicker the antis never seem to understand. They're CRIMINALS, they don't give a crap, why because they're CRIMINALS and CRIMINALS don't care about the rules. Also, these CRIMINALS are smarter than they appear. They know full well, some even from experience, that they will most likely be fast tracked thru the system, and given early release, once they are finally given a watered down sentence, from a liberal judge who believes more in rehabilitation then in actually punishing the CRIMINALS.

Criminals don't often contemplate the consequences because they truly don't expect to get caught. The only consequences they truly seem to fear are those that arise from the criminal conduct itself, not those that hinge on getting caught after the fact. This is why you'll see criminals say when they go to rob or assault somebody, they're more worried about whether that person is armed or equipped to resist and fight back than about getting caught and going to jail.

All in all, its just another measure of "Feel good gun control" that serves no real purpose, other than to make people "feel" safer.

Dave

Very much correct. Mandatory sentences for "gun crime" merely feed the anti's perception that somehow the gun is as much of a factor as the criminal, maybe even more.

There is no such thing as "gun crime", guns are inanimate objects, they cannot commit crimes.

There is no such thing as "gun violence", guns cannot commit violence, they are inanimate objects.

The common use of terms like the above allow one to make the illogical leap that guns = crime, so gun control = crime control. One has nothing to do with the other.