maestro pistolero
New member
In the rash of shootings of the last several weeks, our vision has understandably become a little blurred with regard to violence in our society
As horrible and emotionally upsetting as these pathological tirades are, they are but a tiny fraction of the deaths that repeat criminals perpetrate on law abiding population all year long. The magnifying glass of the media, combined with the reality of a high number of tragedies in a short period of time, is skewing perception. This is not the time to be making policy decisions.
How can we refocus attention on the overwhelming majority of criminal homicides and other violent crime that occurs all year long, which, statistically speaking, make these anomalies of the past couple of weeks pale in comparison?
If the object is that we want to have the greatest effect in bringing down the numbers of innocent victims, then popular culture is presently looking in the wrong direction. It not the occasional psychopathic breakdown that we can control. It's the repeat offender who has the most predictable risk of hurting people.
I hate to say it, but as long as we have no room for violent offenders, then we certainly should not be making room for the recreational drug user or any other nonviolent offender. The only legislation that can help reduce violence is legislation that incarcerates the known sources of it for a very, very long time. These priorities need to be better reflected in sentencing guidelines.
This one sided reporting is a disservice to media viewers. I'm not saying don't report this stuff, but give due air time to the bulk of the violence problem. And offer real solutions that don't just affect law abiding folks.
As horrible and emotionally upsetting as these pathological tirades are, they are but a tiny fraction of the deaths that repeat criminals perpetrate on law abiding population all year long. The magnifying glass of the media, combined with the reality of a high number of tragedies in a short period of time, is skewing perception. This is not the time to be making policy decisions.
How can we refocus attention on the overwhelming majority of criminal homicides and other violent crime that occurs all year long, which, statistically speaking, make these anomalies of the past couple of weeks pale in comparison?
If the object is that we want to have the greatest effect in bringing down the numbers of innocent victims, then popular culture is presently looking in the wrong direction. It not the occasional psychopathic breakdown that we can control. It's the repeat offender who has the most predictable risk of hurting people.
I hate to say it, but as long as we have no room for violent offenders, then we certainly should not be making room for the recreational drug user or any other nonviolent offender. The only legislation that can help reduce violence is legislation that incarcerates the known sources of it for a very, very long time. These priorities need to be better reflected in sentencing guidelines.
This one sided reporting is a disservice to media viewers. I'm not saying don't report this stuff, but give due air time to the bulk of the violence problem. And offer real solutions that don't just affect law abiding folks.
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