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T247's avatar

Licensed gun owners have a lower arrest rate than the police. If you want to solve the gun violence problem, enforce existing gun laws and actually prosecute the offenders. Operation Exile in Richmond was started in 1997 and was very successful (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-106hhrg66358/html/CHRG-106hhrg66358.htm) in that it directly targeted criminals by adding a mandatory federal sentence when a criminal was caught with a gun. Richmond is a predominately black city; the majority of criminals and victims were black, leading to a disproportionate number of young black men being incarcerated through this program. Although Operation Exile significantly reduced gun violence; it raised disparate impact concerns that eventually led the city to abandon the program.

Therein lies one of the biggest problems in fighting gun violence - our politicians and court system need to identify and address the problem, whether it’s criminality or mental illness, then have the gonads to follow through on treatment or incarceration. Don’t hold your breath.

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Terry's avatar

if the laws were enforced in a completely fair and colorblind manner, probably the number of incarcerated black males would be even higher.

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Celia M Paddock's avatar

Which is precisely the problem. It LOOKS "racist," regardless of the facts, so it can't be allowed.

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Lynne Morris's avatar

There is an inherent conflict in calling for strict enforcement and no disparate treatment at the same time.

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T247's avatar

Absolutely

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T Reid's avatar

THIS. We know what to do. Enforce existing gun laws + protect soft targets.

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