13114 of wpi.flame:
Path: bigboote.WPI.EDU!bigwpi.WPI.EDU!parker
From: parker@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (Chris Parker)
Newsgroups: wpi.flame
Subject: Children with guns
Date: 21 Sep 1996 02:12:15 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Lines: 41
Message-ID: <51vitv$8mt@bigboote.WPI.EDU>
NNTP-Posting-Host: bigwpi.wpi.edu

With all this debate going on here in .flame about rape, human sacrifice,
and annoying children, I'd like to add yet one more issue to the
discussion: How should we be dealing with children who carry armed
weapons.

For those of you not familiar with this issue (I know WPI does isolate us
all), statisitics show there is a significant number of children in schools
in every major city who seem to be carrying guns and occassionally wind up
shooting other kids or adults, sometimes killing the victim.

Everytime I hear about this issue in the news media, everyone seems to
advocate stricter penalties and supporting that they should be tried as
adults.  

I tend to disagree strongly on this topic, and it is my hope that this is
only being said to scare parents and children so the guns are being carried
around.  My reasoning is children (juveniles, aged 7-15 according to
federal law) are children, and when they get possession of a weapon, they
aren't old enough for they still aren't old enough to have it or use it.
It should be expected that they don't know how to use them since they 
aren't old enough, and don't have a license as well, and mis-use can and
does lead to misfortune.  

However, if we say that when they try to use them they are immediately 
an adult, are we then suggesting then that juvenile protection is only 
proper when it is convenient for the law?  Why don't we go one step 
further, and say there is no minimum age to carry a weapon and if you 
use it improperly you suffer the full consequences, regardless of how 
old you are?  (No, I don't think that would be a good idea, but I
think that is an unintended message being sent by authorities today).

I say if someone under 16 carries a weapon and hurts someone, they are
children playing with something that isn't a toy and they need to be
taught that and punished for that.  They aren't adults and they should
be dealt with in family court as such and if sentenced, sent to a 
children's prison.  As for the crime against the victim, the person(s) 
responsible for giving the child the gun or allowing him/her to have it
and use it should be held accountable for the crime (which would imply 
a parent tried if another individual can't be found).  

							Chris Parker




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