A post from David…
With the recent increase in mass shootings in this country, which I hope isn’t the “new normal “, I’m not surprised to hear that there’s been talk of making it mandatory to seek the death penalty for people convicted of mass shootings, especially when it’s of the hate crime variety.
It’s all a part of the “tough on crime “ rhetoric. If you’re on the fence as to whether there should be the death penalty , these are the cases that can flip you to being pro death penalty.
“Aren’t these the type of crimes that the death penalty should be reserved for?” “How can you defend cases like these?” These are the obvious questions. It is sad to see, and I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for people who have lost loved ones to such senseless violence. I imagine that revenge is one of the many emotions that they experience. It’d be hard to convince me otherwise.
The whole “tough on crime “ mantra, and threats of the death penalty for offenders, is the easiest way to stir things up, but that won’t change anything. We’re just ignoring the actual issue. Like, how are people with obvious mental health issues, and questionable backgrounds, able to legally obtain high powered weapons? I’m not anti-gun, but someone with an AK-41 with a 100-round drum usually doesn’t have good intentions. They have more than hunting animals on their mind.
Sorry to say, but until we address the real issue here – gun control – we’ll be having another conversation about this in the near future. Expanding the death penalty to include hate crimes, won’t change anything.
One Love
David
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