Gun Control vs Social Justice

Colorado House Bill 1162, which would have made it a class 6 felony to steal a firearm of any value punishable by up to 18 months in prison and subsequent or multiple guns a class 5 felony punishable by up to 3 years in prison was rejected in the house judiciary committee earlier this month. Currently, stealing a gun worth less than $300 is a petty offense punishable by 10 days in jail. The gun must be worth over $2,000 to be charged with a felony and face any serious prison time. Since most handguns are worth far less than this, and handguns are the most commonly used weapon in crimes, this seems like a no brainer.

In fact, this is one of the first legislative efforts that both the pro gun and the gun control groups were able to agree upon, yet it didn’t make it out of committee. The reason? Concerns by several Democrats over the cost of the additional incarcerations and that the bill would disproportionately affect people of color.

Is it just me, or does that seem kinda racist…

What we are seeing in decisions like this is exactly what is emboldening criminals. Cities like San Francisco are seeing massive increases in crime ever since they made theft of less than $1,000 worth of goods essentially legal by not prosecuting those criminals.

If we continue to let the criminals get away with crime, they will continue to criminal away without fear. Laws like this may actually help reduce incarcerations with stronger penalties. If someone may face stronger penalties for committing a crime, they might think twice before they do it.

Rather than trying to ban guns, we should focus on increasing penalties for using a gun in a crime – much like a hate crime carries stronger penalties. And then ENFORCE the existing thousands and thousands of infringements we already have.