The city of Baltimore is hurting. With 200 murders this year and counting (a rate faster than ever before) it’s obvious that the “business as usual” mentality isn’t working. Something needs to be done to stop the bloodshed. As usual with Democrat-controlled municipalities, the blame for these tragic events is placed not on the perpetrators but instead on the inanimate tools they use to commit their crimes.
A perfect illustration of this mentality happened last night as the legislators in Baltimore narrowly decided against a mandatory minimum jail sentence on those convicted of illegally carrying a firearm within city limits, that crime should only be met with a small fine.
From the Baltimore Sun:
[T]he Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee voted last month to gut the bill and move an amended version of the legislation to the full 15-member council — making the legislation little different from existing state law except for adding a $1,000 fine.
The committee unanimously adopted a pair of amendments that would make the mandatory sentence apply only on a second offense or if someone was carrying a gun “in connection with” a crime against a person or property.
Existing state laws provide a mandatory minimum one-year term on a second handgun-possession offense. They also require a five-year mandatory sentence for using guns in connection with violent crimes or drug dealing or possessing them as a felon.
This highlights a strange cognitive dissonance within the Democrat machine that runs Baltimore. They unanimously identify firearms as evil objects, things that as councilman John Bullock put it, are “inherently tools of violence that result in the loss of life.” And yet these same city fathers refuse to enact policies that would punish those who seek out and use those inherently evil objects. The crimes are repugnant, but they refuse to punish the perpetrators.
With shining examples like Chicago and Baltimore, it’s apparent that “feel good” legislation isn’t going to have an impact on reducing soaring crime rates. Law and order can only be enforced if punishment is swift, severe, and certain — otherwise there’s no real deterrent and criminals will continue acting with impunity.
In Chicago, less than 30% of all murders eventually result in an arrested. Convictions are even fewer. Baltimore hovers at around 50%. If the odds of arrest (just an arrest, not a conviction) for a given a murder aren’t better than the flip of a coin, what real deterrence exists to keep criminals from pulling the trigger?
The politicians in Baltimore don’t seem concerned.They appear to prefer to take pity on murderers, encouraging the violence to continue.