Memphis channels New York, Boston
New York did it. So did Boston. Memphis has set up a special gun court:
Anyone caught carrying a gun illegally in Shelby County will get special attention from the criminal justice system starting next month.
Criminal Court Judge Louis Montesi Jr. will hear all illegal gun cases in the general sessions court system on a special “gun docket” beginning Aug. 1.
With this year’s Memphis homicide rate already just a few bodies short of 100, the gun docket is the centerpiece of a cross-jurisdictional initiative to get tougher and more consistent on illegal gun possession violations and curb gun crime.
Hopefully, the guy knows a thing or two about guns and gun laws. The mayor says:
We want to underscore the fact that there is no such thing as the trivial possession of guns in a civilized society
Actually, I think trivial possession of guns is indicative of a free society and a civilized society. I have trivial possession of many of them, personally. More:
Gibbons sent a letter this week to Memphis, Germantown, Bartlett, Collierville and Millington police departments asking them to arrest instead of cite unlawful gun possessors, as can be allowed under state law.
After the arrest, the initiative “will result in people spending some time in jail or more time in jail when they otherwise would not,” Gibbons said.
Maybe I am reading that wrong or it is poorly worded, but it seems the court is set up to violate state law, which requires citation and not incarceration. More:
“It sends the signal that illegally toting a gun in this community is not acceptable. That’s the bottom line.”
The initiative is an extension of the joint federal, state and local Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which primarily involves felony illegal gun possession by ex-convicts.
Tennessee law requires only a citation be issued for misdemeanor unlawful possession of a weapon with exceptions that include suspects who have outstanding arrest warrants, are considered a danger or are unlikely to appear in court.
With the new program, after the arrest, anyone found unlawfully possessing a gun could get more than a slap-on-the-wrist fine or citation.
Looks like I wasn’t reading it wrong.
July 20th, 2006 at 11:53 am
Yeah,
Memphis is working it’s way toward gun control. Ol’ Norm the commentator guy mentioned it again the other day, but by the time I got around to checking the website, they had already put up the next days commentary.
I hope they stick to prosecuting criminals.
July 20th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Who cares what the law says? We’ve got to stop gun crime (or at least make the public think we’re trying)!
July 20th, 2006 at 6:20 pm
We want to underscore the fact that there is no such thing as the trivial possession of guns in a civilized society
Well, I don’t know about how he meant that, but he’s actually right, if taken literally.
Possession of guns is a serious responsibility, not something trivial. (The same is also true of driving, having kids, and a zillion other things, of course.)
Great power, great responsibility, etc. I certainly don’t treat my guns as anything trivial. They’re serious, even when having fun with them.
July 21st, 2006 at 1:39 pm
I certainly carry everywhere I go in Memphis – and still feel the need to constantly check each direction, even more than I do here.
It will be funny to see the judge look to the statute the first time he or she sentences someone.