Can We Finally Say "Enough"?

Writing about the recent murder of John O'Keefe, Spacing's Adam Chaleef-Freudenthaler said "..there is no good reason for anyone to carry a handgun at any time.". I completely agree. The sports shooting excuse simply does not offset the damage done by handguns. Any other need for a gun, such as hunting, can be done with a rifle. The only reason to have a handgun is because you want to hide it, because you don't want people to know you are carrying a gun.

I also know that, while banning handguns would save lives, it will not end violence. For that our society must stop wringing out hands, pleading for peace and holding candle light vigils. We have to finally get serious and say, as a society, that violence is simply not acceptable to us - any of it. We have to rethink how we deal with crime and drugs and how we think about things like rehabilitation.

First of all when I say 'violence' I'm not talking only about murder and attempted murder. I'm talking about any act of violence committed that is not an act of reasonable self defense. In this I include sexual assault, simple assault, spousal abuse, child abuse, etc.,

Some of the old ideas are still good. At risk youth, and all youth, should have access to recreational activities. At risk youth, and all youth, should have access to higher education. Psychological counseling should be available, even mandatory in some cases, for young people who are displaying behaviors of concern to parents and educators.

We have to stop pretending though that young people who engage in violent crime and/or organized crime are simply 'misguided' or 'misunderstood' or even that it's very likely that they will 'rehabilitate.' The truth is that whether they are misunderstood or not, whether they rehabilitate or not is a seperate issue, our primary concern as a society should be to keep them off the street unless and until it is safe for them to be released.

This does not always mean prison. In many cases long term pyschological care may be far more effective than traditional jail sentences. My first recommendation would be to refer anyone convicted of a violent offense to mandatory pyschological counceling prior to sentencing and to use that evaluation as the basis for sentencing. Essentially, whether a person sent to prison, to psychological councelling or to some form of house arrest they should not be allowed free access to society until they are deemed psychologically fit to do so.

We also have to reevaluate our approach to drugs. The current approach serves as nothing more than a subsidy of organized crime. Successive governments have insisted on following the American path, or at least doing what the Americans say but the American's know nothing at all about how to prevent crime, or how to solve a drug problem. Despite decades of 'tough on crime' measures and the highest incarceration rate in the modern world, they have had no noticeable positive impact on drug use, the drug trade or crime. Canada would be far better served by moving toward marijuana legalization and a harm reduction model for other drugs.

Drug abuse is, after all, a public health issue not a criminal issue. Take the money out of drug dealing, empower public health officials and let them work on drugs. Let police work on making our streets safer and keep prison space available for those who pose a danger to people other than themselves.