After violent weekend, Milwaukee officials seek tougher gun laws

Milwaukee J-S ^ | 06 aug 2013 | Don Walker and Ashley Luthern

[rellimpank]

With non-fatal shootings in the city up 19% in June and July compared with last year, Police Chief Edward Flynn and Mayor Tom Barrett on Monday called on state legislators to pass laws boosting penalties for criminals who possess firearms.

Three people were killed and eight others were wounded over the weekend, a toll more violent than the same weekend last year. Milwaukee police statistics also show that June and July this year have had the most non-fatal shootings since the same months in 2006.

Flynn and Barrett said the linkage between firearms-related deadly violence and criminals was clear-cut.

"The culture of retaliatory violence is aided and abetted by the fact that it's more dangerous to see your enemy without your gun than with it," Flynn said.

He added that the majority of shooters and their victims were people with long criminal histories.

Both called on legislators to enact a law that calls for a three-year minimum mandatory sentence for illegally possessing a firear

[Dilbert San Diego]

but will the youth gangs and other criminal element be deterred by more gun restrictions?

[rellimpank]

---gee whillikers---Barrett and C of P admit there may be a connection between criminals and crime--

--this is a bit different than the usual J-S stuff--

[Old North State]

Flynn and Barrett said the linkage between firearms-related deadly violence and criminals was clear-cut...

Well I'll be, who would have thought.

[umgud]

It is the number of criminals, not the number of guns that drive crime stats.

[Glennb51]

The gang bangers and the rest of the crud will not be deterred by the laws because they think they won’t get caught and prosecuted now. What it will do, if they get caught and the system doesn’t let them go, will be to warehouse them for three years so that they will be off the streets.

[hal ogen]

...and the criminals (being the good citizens there are) will follow those laws??? Idiocy!

[NotYourAverageDhimmi]

but will the youth gangs and other criminal element be deterred by more gun restrictions?

---------------

I wouldn't call it a gun restriction. Milwaukee's Mayor is pressing legislators to "pass laws boosting penalties for criminals who possess firearms." The Mayor isn't asking that citizens be prevented from possessing guns legally, nor is he calling for any penalties for those who use their guns legally. He's simply calling for sentencing penalty enhancers for people who use a gun while committing a criminal act or for possessing a gun illegally. As long as Wisconsin doesn't make it difficult to possess a firearm legally like other blue states often do, then I don't have a problem with the Mayor's suggestion.

[Travis McGee]

[2banana]

Hmmm - I think I see the problem. And gun control won't solve it.

He added that the majority of shooters and their victims were people with long criminal histories.

[Wurlitzer]

Make every violent criminal act committed with a gun a crime punishable by life without parole and leave the honest law abiding gun owners alone. Any violent crime committed with a gun is attempted murder.

Governments at all levels have let every crisis be an opportunity to remove, or restrict our Creator Given Rights, supposedly guaranteed by the Constitution. Nice, criminals commit a crime and the honest public pay twice. Once for the original crime and secondly for the loss of freedom.

Time is long passed where we need to treat all levels of government as criminal enterprises subject to RICO prosecution.

[VRWCarea51]

And have thoes life sentences carried out working chain gangs.

[VeniVidiVici]

Both called on legislators to enact a law that calls for a three-year minimum mandatory sentence for illegally possessing a firearms

Zero tolerance laws are needed because of crappy judges.

[thackney]

Make every violent criminal act committed with a gun a crime punishable by life without parole and leave the honest law abiding gun owners alone.

And hope if you ever need to use your legal gun in self defense, it won't be ruled a crime by a liberal judge/jury/DA.

[headstamp 2]

Gee Whiz. Why don’t they just raise taxes. That should solve the problem.

[barefoot_hiker]

So if I’m willing to murder someone, why would I give a whit about a 3 year sentence for firearm possession?

[rellimpank]

-- I thought it astounding to see Barrett and Flynn admit this-

-- will we now see them admitting that the "majority of shooters and their victims" are members of a certain ethnic group?

[Gay State Conservative]

That’ll do the trick.With about the toughest gun laws in the nation Chicago's murder rate has plummeted 2% to only 75 per weekend.

[massgopguy]

Was alcohol involved? Are they going to crack down on beer production?

[Wonder Warthog]

"...but will the youth gangs and other criminal element be deterred by more gun restrictions?"

Well actually these aren't "gun restrictions", they are sentences on/for commission of crimes using firearms.

My take.....the law should REQUIRE that violent firearm crimes should ALWAYS be tried, and not "plea-bargained" away as they for the most part are currently.

Also, that each use of a firearm in a violent felony count as a separate instance towards "three-strikes" permanent incarceration. In theory, a perp could then get life imprisonment for a single crime, if more than one firearms violation occurred during commission of the original felony.