But I'm going to continue to beat this horse, no matter how dead it is, because there are too many people out there that simply can't get this through their thick heads.

This is from Philidelphia's Chief of Police in an editorial from the Philadelpha Inquirerer

We have to stop pointing the finger everywhere but at the very people who prey on us each day. Over time we have allowed our value system to erode. We refuse to hold people accountable for their actions and constantly make excuses for their inexcusable behavior. The incessant cry for tougher gun laws is a good example. Until we're ready to strictly enforce the current laws there is no reason for tougher ones.

Yes, there is a need to work on the social ills at the core of much of the unrest, but that does not mean we should accept those ills as a reason to excuse the behavior. Those engaged in this violent lifestyle know exactly what they're doing. They also know it is wrong. And they also know there are no serious consequences for their actions. It's not a matter of not knowing right from wrong, it's a matter of weighing the risk. And today they face very little risk.

Time after time these budding killers are arrested with guns, only to be returned to the streets with a slap on the wrist. Is it any wonder we have trouble getting witnesses to speak up? Instead of holding vigils at murder scenes, groups like Men United for a Better Philadelphia and Mothers in Charge should throw a ring around the Criminal In-Justice Center and demand that our judges hold the criminals accountable.

More than 80 percent of Philadelphia's cold-blooded killers have criminal records. Most of those records are lengthy, many for violent crimes. Every one of those arrests represents an opportunity to send a clear message, before they take another life.

Joseph Fox

Chief of Detectives

Philadelphia Police Department

Philadelphia

All emphasis mine.

There are several points there that need to be hammered over and over until people get it.

First, there is only one person responsible for your behavior. YOU!!! Not society, not your parents, not inanimate objects. You have free will and can choose what to do or what not to do. Influences are just that - influences - and nothing more. The final decsion to perform an action lies within your own brain and soul.

If you cannot comprehend that, then all is lost. You will never find solutions to social problems because you think you can influence a person's decisions 100%. Humans are not marionettes whose strings can be yanked to acheive precision results.

My personal view is that you cannot solve social problems, ever. You can help influence and limit them, but there is no utopia nor should we ever try to make one.

Next, laws do not affect those who refuse to follow them, especially when getting caught rarely results in penalties that are beyond their threshold. For example, many people speed because the penalty (a ticket) is both acceptable and the chance of getting caught is low.

The speed limit though, provides a method for prosecuting people who endanger others. What we don't do is require yearly tests, documenting the 'need' to own a car, speed-goveners on every vehicle, banning 'assault-vehicles' that simply look fast, or require federal background checks to ensure you are legally able to purchase a car. We simply prosecute those who use the tool illegally.

Finally, I'm going to say something that will even piss off my fellow Second Amendment friends - Personal gun ownership will not reduce crime. More or "tougher" laws will not reduce crime. What reduces crime is reducing the number of criminals.

Recognizing the human right of self defense is a start. If the possibility of getting shot / killed when trying to mug someone increases, thugs will start considering if it is worth it or not. Everyone looks out for their own self interest, criminals and all. But killing or wounding 1% isn't going to make that big of a dent. Regardless, it is everyone's right to not surrender our freedom or security to goblins.

The next way to reduce crime is illustrated in the last bolded sentence. When the judicial system cannot and will not incarcerate violent criminals, then they will continue to roam the streets looking for victims. The justice system must be fixed. Violent criminals get two years while a guy with a pot plant gets twenty years? That's simply fucked up logic.

Unfortunately, it seems like none of this will ever happen. The government exists because we all agree we need someone to dispense justice and protect our borders. It's hard work to do that, so instead we have legislators who prefer to make criminals out of people who smoke in their own house or serve kids french-fries then "protect us" from them. It's like Munchausen by proxy, only substituting crime instead of disease.

However, the fact that this was printed in a newspaper means that I'm not the only one who recognizes this, so I shouldn't complain. But we need to do more to get our country and our freedoms back into our (the people's) control.

Hat Tip Clayton Cramer