City Council Rejects Weapons Offender Registry
Let’s examine the findings of this 2010 study from the State of Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management, Criminal Justice Policy & Planning Division:
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Offenders with a history of weapons charges had higher recidivism rates than offenders who have not been sentenced for similar charges.
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Seventy-five percent (75%) of male offenders, who had ever served a prison sentence for weapons, were rearrested withinthree years of their release or discharge from prison.
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87% of offenders who had a sentence history involving weapons also had been incarcerated for other serious crimes includingviolent felonies, drug or property crimes.
So when the Wilmington City Council proposed a gun offender registry that would have required any gun offender living in Wilmington to check in with the police department every six months for three years, it should have been a no-brainer, right? After all, the recidivism rate truly is “frightening and high” and approximately 1.4 million people have been killed using firearms in the U.S. between 1968 and 2011(Guns in the US: The statistics behind the violence“. BBC News. 5 January 2016).
So why then did the City Council vote against it when there’s a sex offender registry and sex offenders have an extremely LOW rate of recidivism and many on the registry are on for non-contact, non-violent offenses?
Let’s examine some of the reasons cited by the City Council Members:
- “This is nothing but double jeopardy,” said Councilman Nnamdi Chukwoucha. “We’re just placing them in another form of probation or being under city supervision. I think it’s uncalled for.”
- Councilman Sam Guy “didn’t want to punish those trying to reform their lives” and “It adds some more difficulties for people who are already under the supervision of the criminal justice system or have completed all of their requirements,”
- “many on council thought the registry would have placed additional barriers against those who already served their time.”
Interesting!
anyone remind those same councilmen of their quotes when it came to the sexual registry?
It just proves that politicians are stupid everywhere.
This is a GREAT outcome, IF the ACLU or one of the Lawyers working for us would use these findings as a tool against the fight against The REGISTERY for Sex Offenders !!!. These reasons that the courts say isn’t needed,, Is exactly the same reasons a Sex Offender REGISTERY isn’t needed !!. I’m sure there are Lawyers all over this already, And I hope this helps our fight !!. ANY type of REGISTERY is Wrong in so many ways !!. But it all boils down to MONEY, And the Sex Offender REGISTERY makes tons of money for the State’s !!. Loose the Grants for it, And we’ll loose the Registery !!.
Glad to hear that they decided not to go ahead with the registry. I think it’s a bad idea for any class of citizen.
Now if they could just apply those same concepts to that other registry……oh yeah, that one.
I feel like this should be referenced in EVERY sex offense case or any case relating to more registry rules.
Or how about the passport thing??
Double standards everywhere.
Double Jeopardy, Extra Probation, Punishment, DiffIculties to Reform, Additional Barriers after Served Time. Most my requierments Retroactive.Ill tell you real reason. Those Offenders wouldn’t comply
Nothing to see here. Just the usual America in a loving relationship with violence, yet in a frightened and obsessed relationship with anything that has the word “sex” or “nude” in it. This. This is another example of why the rest of the world looks at us and doesn’t understand us. Because there is so much rampant stupidity going on. America’s priorities are so screwed up that this is why we have lost the status of #1, long ago.
Wtf ? ( I’m actually speechless)
If such a registry for weapons were in FL, about 80% of Florida would be on that registry. Including lots of people I know and a few cousins. I can only imagine Texas as well, who really love their guns.