New Program Aims to Reduce Gun Crimes

Initiative Involves Federal and Local Law Enforcement

By Ruben CastanedaWashington Post Staff WriterFriday, March 24, 2006; Page B04

Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein announced yesterday the start of a joint federal-local initiative designed to crack down on gun crimes in Prince George's County, where the vast majority of last year's record number of homicides were committed with firearms.

At a news conference at the U.S. District Courthouse in Greenbelt, Rosenstein said that under the program -- Prince George's EXILE -- federal and Prince George's law enforcement officials will collaborate more closely to identify and investigate violent offenders who use firearms, to crack down on illegal gun traffickers and to use the threat of tough federal sentencing laws to pressure defendants to plead guilty to gun crimes in state court.

"We have too many criminals walking the streets with guns," said Rosenstein, flanked by more than a dozen local and federal law enforcement officials. "Our goal is not just to prosecute gun crimes. Our goal is to deter violent crime."

The threat of longer federal prison terms for gun offenses will be a key part of the initiative, Rosenstein said.

Federal prosecutors will provide Prince George's prosecutors with a letter informing defendants in gun crimes that they could face federal prosecution for weapons violations. The goal of such letters is to persuade defendants to plead guilty to firearms offenses in state court, where they could be sentenced to five years in prison.
Penalties for such offenses are stiffer in the federal system. Depending on the number of previous felony convictions, a defendant could be sentenced to life in prison for illegal possession of a firearm, Rosenstein said.

There is no parole in the federal system.
Rosenstein also said Prince George's offenders who are released from state prison after serving their sentences or being paroled will be handed brochures informing them that they face severe consequences if they are caught with an illegal firearm.
The initiative went into effect this month, Rosenstein said. He said it was too early to measure the results."
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Well, since the Washington Post included Messenger in "Who's Blogging...See What Bloggers Are Saying About This Story" (via Technorati and I still don't know how they signed me up), I might as well comment.

Pfffffffffffffffffffffftttttttt.

There. Using Federal statutes as a manner with which to induce plea bargains for LESSER sentences is precisely the absolute EXACT OPPOSITE of what "stiffer" penalties are designed to do. Any criminal will jump at the chance for what he's facing NOW, and leave LATER to later. They never believe they'll be caught again, so this is something of a godsend to the criminally insane among us.

Stiff penalties are stiff penalties, case closed. You find the crooks, lock them away for eternity or execute them if the crime warrants it. All of this namby-pamby fooling around isn't going to do anything but allow the Loons to coddle their favorite minorities with strict warnings that promise: "hey, someday soon we might be getting serious about this stuff so look out."

But, since Blogger has been inoperative most of the afternoon and into the evening, sorry to disappoint anyone who looked for such a comment prior to my actually being able to post it. Why the Post selected Messenger is beyond my ken, and I'd hate to let them down by not disagreeing with them quickly enough. Oh and yeah, here's WaPo's list of bloggers"

Read what bloggers are saying about this article.
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