Where are they coming from and why are they so easy to get?
That’s a huge difference. It used to be that I’d only see kids with stolen cars and maybe a high-speed chase. Now, it’s stolen cars and guns and then the shootings – drive-by shootings, murder cases. We’re all shaking our heads, just like everybody else, with regard to how young a child can be who handles a gun. It’s not unusual for a child to be handling a gun around the age of 12 or 13.
I remember when I was in the prosecutor’s office, in the early ‘90s, and I’d go around to different schools to talk about safety, and they would bring a gun board, showing all the guns that were taken from suspects. And we would ask students, how many of you have ever seen a gun? And very few hands would go up.
Now, it’s not unusual for them to be handling a gun. And they’re typically not coming from the home. They’re being stolen, and then they’re getting their hands on them. And then these guns are being used to commit crimes – from aggravated robberies to felonious assaults to murders.
It’s not unusual for the court to see 12-year-olds robbing delivery drivers with a firearm. There was a ring that I had, from Westwood. Four or five kids. And one of them had a firearm. And they were robbing for food. And they ate the food.
Teens risking jail just for a hot meal. “Responsible gun owners” arming the youth by not keeping their shit locked up.
