make them tell

  A fourteen year old shot and killed a man on the streets of Baltimore. A big point of discussion is, where did he get the gun? The authorities seem perplexed. Just how did he get the gun? Well, I'm no detective or fortune teller but I can tell you this much. He bought that gun off another criminal. Yes, someone sold it to him and I'm willing to bet it all that it wasn't in a gun shop. I know, I know, hard to believe isn't it, there are those willing to sell guns to children. But where did he get it, and should he be forced to tell as part of his plea deal? That's the question being asked. Even if he did tell, named a person, what could be done about that. The answer is nothing. Oh, I suppose you could place surveillance on that person, try to catch him in the act, but little else. 

 The fact of the matter is it is estimated that there are 400 million guns in the United States. It is further estimated that 393 millions of those guns are owned by civilians. This narrative of getting the guns off the streets by getting the guns is just nonsense. The idea that writing legislation, tightening the requirements to purchase and own guns will do anything is just nonsense as well. There will always be those willing to sell those guns! There will always be those willing to buy those guns. It isn't the guns that are the problem! It is the willingness of the criminals to use them! That is the problem. 

 Now I have been watching as legislation is being passed to "legalize" all sorts of vice in the name of choice and freedom. The state of Maryland is now all excited because there are going to allow sports betting. on your phone, with the app. Yes, you can bet on just about anything! That will stop the bookies! Yeah right, the bookies will simply offer a better deal and continue taking bets. The state and/or those apps aren't going to allow you to bet first and then pay. A bookie will, of course you have to pay a little interest. And you had best pay up, or else. That's been going on since forever and will continue. Drugs, prostitution, gambling, whatever vice ticks your clock will always be available, for a price. Guns aren't going to be any different.

 So, what to do about the illegal guns and those using them. The law needs to be swift, sure, and unyielding! Have an illegal gun, go to jail. Use a gun in the commission of a crime, you get time, lots of time, every time, no exceptions, or excuses. And it is immediate! You sit in jail, having shown yourself to be a danger to society, until such time as a trial can be held. No plea deals. It is the people carrying and using illegal guns that needs to be removed from society. 

 You are never going to prevent people from buying/selling whatever it is they want. You simply aren't. Legalizing those things doesn't change anything either. All that does it make it easier for those that want those things in the first place. Yes, it makes law enforcement a lot easier when there aren't laws to enforce, I get that. It is far easier to just allow the behavior than attempt to correct it. Of course, when people are getting killed, and the authorities themselves feel threatened, that is different. It's fine for some things to take place in seedy neighborhoods and back allies as long as it stays out of my yard. Go ahead, let them place their bets, let them smoke some dope that's fine as long as we can tax it. As long as we get a cut. But these guns, what to do about that? We'll make it as difficult as possible, maybe even ban them altogether, that way they will be too hard or impossible to get. Criminals and those that use those guns surely won't purchase them illegally. Well, they will but if we know who is selling them, we can stop that. Problem solved. All we need to do is make them tell!