Today we discuss SB 2710, which goes into effect July 1 of this year. This law will add significant penalties for underage individuals who are possessing and using firearms to commit crimes. The bill will so target those that are unlawfully supplying firearms to underage individuals. Could this law be the blueprint for other states that are actually trying to stem their violence problem rather than just disarm their citizens? [Watch]
I have no problem with crimes of violence being escalated to adult consequences, and with that crime being what is prosecuted.
Possession and “sensitive area” charges raise some concerns for me. What do text, history, and tradition have to say about young people and those?
Asking for Posterity…
[Via Jess]
While at first impression bills like this seem “reasonable,” on further thought they are poorly drafted either unintentionally or by design. They almost always single out “firearms” specifically, and not “deadly weapons” more generally. It perpetuates a special stigma applied only to guns.