‘Progressive’ Prosecutors Think Criminals are the Real Victims and Gun Control is for Civilians

Gun control is for civilians, not criminals. The criminal justice system should view criminals as victims. These are the guiding lights of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon.

On the same day that an 81-year-old woman was shot to death in a home invasion robbery, Gascon sent out a fundraising email decrying the use of sentencing enhancements. Enhancements add prison time for violent crimes for a number of reasons, from gang affiliation to the use of guns .

But Gascon thinks we shouldn’t be too hard on criminals. Gascon did not add a sentence enhancement to the charges against the woman’s killer, a man who, of course, had an extensive criminal history and was recently released on parole in September. The enhancement would add 25 years to his sentence.

Gascon said that this is because sentence enhancements are disproportionately used against minorities. It’s a dubious claim at best, but it ignores the real question: Does this individual, a repeat criminal who tried to rob another house after shooting a woman to death, deserve a sentencing enhancement that would keep him behind bars?