CRIME CRISIS
It must be a life-altering experience to be in a bar or restaurant when somebody starts shooting. Just the incredibly loud blast of a Glock pistol would be terrifying enough. In St. Paul, Minnesota last week, two bar patrons started a pistol duel that killed a young woman and wounded 14 others. This happened in an upscale area of the downtown populated by bars and restaurants. To say this is shocking is an understatement.
Unfortunately, St. Paul is in the process of embracing a more holistic approach to crime and punishment. Young felons are no longer to be incarcerated but counseled instead. Violent crimes won’t keep youthful felons in jail but almost immediately will allow them to return to the streets. I’m no expert on the subject of criminal behavior, but this sounds like an impractical liberal experiment. I’m sure that those who are implementing this new policy mean well, but it’s a hard sell when someone is gunned down in your city on a regular basis and violent crimes are increasing.
These frequent crimes may well turn the population against the “defund the police” movement and the soft-on-crime liberals. Nothing will turn a voter into a conservative faster than being a victim of a car-jacking or cowering in a restaurant while a gunfight goes on. Conservatives believe the way to combat crime is to put the criminals in jail. In light of the paralysis gripping the downtown areas of our cities, the voters may soon come to agree.
