Re: 4 Guncho

"Mark Bedingfield" <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message news:filJh.10344$8U4.9435@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Heres a question for Brian and yourself. Has anyone you know ever murdered
anyone else?

Anyway heres my solution to the problem. Make sentences harsher, life
should mean life, not 10 years. Get tougher on assault, stuff this
community service malaky. Put people in longer for pinching guns. In
Victoria you can be prosocuted if somebody steels your firearms. Bang em
up. Legalise drugs and destroy the inflated profit drug dealers are
getting. Also reduces the workload for cops and clears out prisons of
people who shouldn't be there. Make it unprofitable to deal drugs. Get
people to be responsible for there actions, give the nanny state the
flick. ***, its illegal to own a sword in Victoria now without a permit.
Doesn't even matter if its bolted to wall. Yeah, right, like that'll ever
happen.

Whoa, that really is *not* the solution. It's vice versa. Take a look at
statistics - where people have less harsh sentences, there are also less
harsh crimes. Except on assault.

One reason why there is so little violent crime up here is that there is
always hope for you even if you are a criminal. Even if you get 'life' it
means 12 to 14 yrs and with good behaviour etc. usually half that. Now that
gives even a murderer some hope to continue living, and he might (and often
does) give up and surrender himself. Or herself.

On the other hand, if you are too eager to lock up people...I mean, if you
can ACTUALLY get like 20 yrs for armed robbery, or even just 3 strikes be it
pickpocketing or whatever - hell it makes sense that the criminal will do
ANYTHING to avoid that. Even kill. I would; I wouldn't spend 20 to life in
no jail, I'd rather try and shoot my way out. Which is exactly what happens.
THAT is insane. And pretty soon you have such a high percentage of
population in jails it's beginning to cut into GNP of the nation.

That doesn't mean that sentences should be swift and, as you say, harsh on a
small level. That is exactly why courts like to give hefty fines for ANY
violence, even from the part of the alleged victim.

BTW I know many a murderer personally. And attempted suicidees. A classmate
of mine has been jailed twice for manslaughter, and I know a couple kids as
well who committed murders...one around 13 when he knifed his little brother
(probably out already after 5 years) and another who with his dad killed a
couple with knives over dinner (probably never gets outta the asylum, they
be nuts)...but none that involved guns.


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