MPR running a series on guns in Minnesota

[hornswaggle]

"It is legal gun owners who, frankly, are fueling illegal gun violence in the city of Minneapolis," Allen said.

What???????

[LarryFlew]

"It is legal gun owners who, frankly, are fueling illegal gun violence in the city of Minneapolis," Allen said.

What???????

We are also responsible for providing stolen cars to the thieves driving them.

[R.E.T.]

The judge gave him a nearly 3 year sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon. I thought it was a 5 year minimum penalty.

[1911fan]

The guns in the basket are stolen and never used in a crime. They came out of a gunshop many years ago. Hoodlums don't use C stocked Sprinfields, M1's and M1As, or matching numbered Winchester P17's.

They have been held at least ten years because the insurance company wants them back. They were seized when the punks who robbed them tried to pawn them by showing the buyer a trunk full of guns.

[1911fan]

In one of the tiny photos there is a mg34, which IIRC was stolen from a Collector down near Rochester. Why that has not been returned is far beyond me. That thing is worth 40k or more. It's a NFA weapon, I would think the FBI would have jurisdiction. At least they have a history of returning NFA property.

[White Horseradish]

Part 2 of the series.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... rms-part2/

Another shocker there:

MPR's investigation of violent gun crimes in Minneapolis in 2010 found that most of the people who either pleaded to or were convicted of violent gun offenses were not legally allowed to possess a firearm.

[Heffay]

So how do we get guns out of the hands of criminals? They won't turn them in. We can't stop the supply side.

It's a problem that can't be solved. I'm ok with that.

[1911fan]

Well, how about getting felons to understand that getting caught with a gun means ten years of hard time

Violent Felon using a gun in another felony is twenty years in a cell.

Hang third offenders.

Should start having an effect

[DeanC]

Part 2 of the series.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/displa ... rms-part2/

Another shocker there:

MPR's investigation of violent gun crimes in Minneapolis in 2010 found that most of the people who either pleaded to or were convicted of violent gun offenses were not legally allowed to possess a firearm.

Stay tuned for part 3: Violence makes people sad
And part 4: The government screws everything up

[White Horseradish]

Well, how about getting felons to understand that getting caught with a gun means ten years of hard time

Violent Felon using a gun in another felony is twenty years in a cell.

Hang third offenders.

Should start having an effect

I doubt it. They count on not getting caught.

[Norsesmithy]

Crime deterrents usually aren't nearly as effective as hoped, though armed citizens as a crime deterrent is, according to prisoner polls, an unusually effective one.

Mostly, I think to reduce crime, we need to do four things.

The first is get more law abiding citizens carrying and defending themselves. This is a teaching and publicity issue, not necessarily a political issue, unless there are laws we can change to make self defense more accessible.

The second is to make it easier for a one time crook to go straight. Criminals fresh out of the house typically don't have very many good prospects, and I think that it's very likely that this lack of opportunity is a contributing factor to repeat offenses. I know there are exceptions to the rule, but there always are, I mean, look at how many people grew up to be functional adults in single parent homes, just because odds are stacked against you doesn't mean they are insurmountable, we just need to make them more easily surmountable. Whether this means making it easier to get your civil rights back, or whatever else, taking this action will, I think we will see, cut down on crime

The third is to reduce the number of offenses on the books. It's plain that many of the laws we wrote in order to try and sculpt the behavior of persons on a state and federal level just aren't effective. Many of these offenses don't hurt anyone but the offender unless there are other offenses tied in with them. Great. Put people in jail for robbing a store to get the money for their dope habit. It's plainly evident that we aren't going to make them clean up by threatening to put them in jail just for the dope, and a dope head that isn't otherwise breaking laws really isn't a threat to anyone but the GDP.

Fourth, stop making prisons criminal trade schools. Whether this means keeping prisoners so busy they can't misbehave, or keeping small time or first time offenders out of general population by bringing back corporal punishment, is another question, and some answers to this question will require the scrutiny of the courts. IMO, cruel and unusual doesn't mean stocks, caning, chain gangs, or being forced to break rocks into gravel, it means beheading, stoning, crushing, evisceration, crucification, being fitted to a stake, burning at the stake, being stuffed in a bag with a rat, a cat, and a dog, then tossed into the Tiber river, et al. Unfortunately, the opinion of the courts at the moment is that not having cable TV is cruel and unusual punishment.

[Snowgun]

Crime deterrents usually aren't nearly as effective as hoped, though armed citizens as a crime deterrent is, according to prisoner polls, an unusually effective one.

Mostly, I think to reduce crime, we need to do four things.

The first is get more law abiding citizens carrying and defending themselves. This is a teaching and publicity issue, not necessarily a political issue, unless there are laws we can change to make self defense more accessible.

The second is to make it easier for a one time crook to go straight. Criminals fresh out of the house typically don't have very many good prospects, and I think that it's very likely that this lack of opportunity is a contributing factor to repeat offenses. I know there are exceptions to the rule, but there always are, I mean, look at how many people grew up to be functional adults in single parent homes, just because odds are stacked against you doesn't mean they are insurmountable, we just need to make them more easily surmountable. Whether this means making it easier to get your civil rights back, or whatever else, taking this action will, I think we will see, cut down on crime

The third is to reduce the number of offenses on the books. It's plain that many of the laws we wrote in order to try and sculpt the behavior of persons on a state and federal level just aren't effective. Many of these offenses don't hurt anyone but the offender unless there are other offenses tied in with them. Great. Put people in jail for robbing a store to get the money for their dope habit. It's plainly evident that we aren't going to make them clean up by threatening to put them in jail just for the dope, and a dope head that isn't otherwise breaking laws really isn't a threat to anyone but the GDP.

Fourth, stop making prisons criminal trade schools. Whether this means keeping prisoners so busy they can't misbehave, or keeping small time or first time offenders out of general population by bringing back corporal punishment, is another question, and some answers to this question will require the scrutiny of the courts. IMO, cruel and unusual doesn't mean stocks, caning, chain gangs, or being forced to break rocks into gravel, it means beheading, stoning, crushing, evisceration, crucification, being fitted to a stake, burning at the stake, being stuffed in a bag with a rat, a cat, and a dog, then tossed into the Tiber river, et al. Unfortunately, the opinion of the courts at the moment is that not having cable TV is cruel and unusual punishment.

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However I would add dramatically increasing the penalty on particularly violent and heinous crimes. It has been shown that adding a couple years doesn't have an effect, but going right to Life with no parole or Capital Punishment does get attention. Get rid of "degrees" of murder, and ratchet up pastimes such as felony assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated rape, armed robbery, etc.

[tman]

Doesn't someone here work for Target and has a job involving security? I think you have a shopping cart you need to demand back, along with the possible merchandise that's shown in this photo.

That would be me

I am a bit curious how this cart wound up over there - though that's our old shopping cart design, so it's possible we gave it to them... I dunno
b

They probaboy seized it from a homeless person. It was already full of guns, I'm sure.

[nyffman]

Umm, does this activate you "Spidey Sense"?

MPR's investigation of gun violence is funded by grants from the Joyce Foundation and the David Bohnett Foundation, administered through the John Jay College Center on Media, Crime and Justice.

[Dick Unger]

Umm, does this activate you "Spidey Sense"?

MPR's investigation of gun violence is funded by grants from the Joyce Foundation and the David Bohnett Foundation, administered through the John Jay College Center on Media, Crime and Justice.

Perhaps ALL news media should be completely financed by governemnt. When you allow private fundation money, or private money disquised as "advertising", it influences content.