Quote:
Originally Posted by Taltarzac725
There should be a lot of due process in these kind of matters and not broad bumper sticker like policies. Some kids get in with the wrong crowd and then turn over a turn leaf. That certainly happened with me and my older brother in Reno, Nevada. I got away from my teen friends because they were too violent for my taste and surrounded myself with books. Then met an English teacher who challenged me to read the classics and the like and gave me a small Memorial Scholarship in her murdered daughter's name-- the Michelle Mitchell Memorial Scholarship. Some of my classmates in her English class and others at Earl Wooster HS were suspects in her murder which was not solved until 1979. It happened on my birthday of 2-24 in 1976. The police were interested in part with Earl Wooster HS students because a Earl Wooster HS student had committed a heinous murder in 1963 of a British skiing instructor Olympic athlete. I guess they thought history might be repeating itself. At least, some of us saw it that way. Both of these killings were with knives.
And it turned out that they got the wrong person in 1979 because of her false confession and the Reno, Nevada community's need to get this case closed. They did identify the most probably culprit in 2014. After the mentally ill woman was behind bars in a mental ward for 35 years.
Context is important and not painting with a too broad a brush. But mistakes are still made but fortunately not that often.
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I agree that a broad brush should not be applied, nor did I suggest it. However, where there is a clear criminal history involving crimes against a person (think robbery, assault, etc.) by a juvenile, then that should be considered when that juvenile becomes an adult if they are trying to purchase a firearm. I specifically parsed out the "property" crimes as an example of a "quick" compromise.
Overall, we still have to understand why we have a violence problem, and when someone has such a track record as a juvenile, it should not be expunged or erased from consideration once they become an adult IF they choose to own a firearm in particular.
I wouldn't leave this to politicians to decide the how, clearly the appropriate people need to be identified to put together an appropriate plan.
Will the system be perfect? Probably not, but then again, we do need to do something to keep firearms away from people who should not be in possession of them.