In the wake of the Oregon mass shooting, President Obama proposed new restrictions on firearms that presumptively law-abiding people want to buy. This has been his reaction before, as the Washington Post notes. At the same time, he is, by his support for the SRCA of 2014 (the Senate's sentencing reform bill), proposing to be more lenient on gun violence when undertaken by felons (typically but not always drug dealers). Specifically, the President and other SRCA backers want dramatically to scale back the penalties of 18 USC 924(c), which at present mandates harsh punishment for carrying or using a gun in the commission of a federal felony,
Question: Why, when the President, unfortunately with good reason, views "gun violence" as one of the nation's most serious problems, does he want to take it easier on convicted criminals who carry and/or use guns while at "work"?
The 924(c) penalties are indeed harsh, and they are mandatory. This is for a reason. The mix of guns and drugs is probably the most lethal combination known to law enforcement. The shocking murder spike of the mid-1980's, coinciding with the crack wars, knocked us out of our stupor. Partly because, over the last 25 years, we have taken gun-totting traffickers off the street for a very long time, we have -- guess what! -- much safer streets. There are now 10,000 fewer murders per year in this country than there were when 924(c) punishments kicked in full time.
And what does this means to our Most Avid Gun Control President? Time to retreat to the softer sentencing of our more gun-violent past.
Yikes. I guess liberals were for gun control before they were against it.
Bill, for first offenders, SRCA seems only to fix the 924(c) stacking problem that required a first offender like Weldon Angelos (whom you agree got too long a sentence). Also, the bill increases the stat max for felons in possession of a weapon. This strikes me as a sensible fix, not a dramatic scale back. Can you give examples of folks whom you fear will be sentenced too leniently under the provisions of the new bill?