Clear Thinker Of The Day Award: Boston Globe
By Jeff Soyer at Alphecca ~ It's not often I award this occasional tribute to a newspaper but such is the case today. And, it's going to the Boston Globe, a paper rarely thinking clearly about anything! Last week I knocked Chicago Mayor Daley for his suggestion that gang members caught with illegal guns have their driver's licenses suspended. Idiots think alike because yesterday Boston's Mayor Tom Menino suggested the same stupid thing.
In an editorial, the Globe feels as I do: "Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is looking for any lever that might help police reduce gun violence in the city. But his latest proposal to strip driver's licenses from those convicted of gun crimes seems a bit naive. If a mandatory 18-month jail sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun doesn't dissuade people from toting weapons, why would a license suspension or revocation? Menino is taking a national leadership role in the fight against gun crime. He's on the prowl for news-making ideas. But quality is more important than quantity when it comes to anti crime strategies. Being stripped of a driver's license might be a significant deterrent in the suburbs where the car is king. But loss of a license is not likely to agitate gang-involved young people in cities where the vast majority of the shootings occur.
Public safety requires more arrests for gun crimes, not more sanctions on ex-offenders..."
Not surprisingly, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis agrees with Menino and actually says that gangsters don't fear jail but would fear losing their driving privileges upon release from jail. One has to wonder how someone as stupid as Davis actually wound up as the top cop in that city. Did lack of a state permit to own a gun prevent them from using guns in a crime? Does he really think lack of a driver's license is going to stop them from driving?
Anyway, it's refreshing to see the Boston Globe showing some common sense regarding this ridiculous crime fighting idea. I'm sure it won't last.
In an editorial, the Globe feels as I do: "Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is looking for any lever that might help police reduce gun violence in the city. But his latest proposal to strip driver's licenses from those convicted of gun crimes seems a bit naive. If a mandatory 18-month jail sentence for carrying an unlicensed gun doesn't dissuade people from toting weapons, why would a license suspension or revocation? Menino is taking a national leadership role in the fight against gun crime. He's on the prowl for news-making ideas. But quality is more important than quantity when it comes to anti crime strategies. Being stripped of a driver's license might be a significant deterrent in the suburbs where the car is king. But loss of a license is not likely to agitate gang-involved young people in cities where the vast majority of the shootings occur.
Public safety requires more arrests for gun crimes, not more sanctions on ex-offenders..."
Not surprisingly, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis agrees with Menino and actually says that gangsters don't fear jail but would fear losing their driving privileges upon release from jail. One has to wonder how someone as stupid as Davis actually wound up as the top cop in that city. Did lack of a state permit to own a gun prevent them from using guns in a crime? Does he really think lack of a driver's license is going to stop them from driving?
Anyway, it's refreshing to see the Boston Globe showing some common sense regarding this ridiculous crime fighting idea. I'm sure it won't last.
Labels: 2nd Amendment, Social Mores
posted by Mike McCarville @ 10:13 AM
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