Who is Responsible for the discharge of a firearm?



Written by R. A. Stewart

Just who is responsible for the outcome of the discharge of a firearm?

Is it the person who is in possession of the firearm, the person who owns it but is not the person who fired it, the person who bought it as a gift for the person who discharged it, or accomplices to a different crime which resulted in a firearm related death?

It all depends on which state we are talking about in the US.

In one state, parents of a teenager bought him a firearm and he went and used it to kill several of his fellow students with it. He received a life without parole sentence while the parents were charged of a less serious crime because they supplied him with the firearm in the knowledge that he had mental issues. This law-abiding couple still received severe sentences. 

In this case it seems that they were made the scapegoat for their son’s behaviour.

Florida is one of several states of America that has the “Felony law” in place. This is when a participant in a fatal crime receives the same sentence as the one who caused an individual’s death.

No thought is given to whether there was any intent involved in the tragedy.

This law does not even give judges the ability to use their discretion and treat each crime on it’s merits. It is a case of one shoe size that is supposed to fit everyone.

Emotions get the better of people whenever a life is lost and someone is held accountable, this is when judges need to act with absolute impartiality and make decisions according to the law and not allow emotion and hype to influence their decision making.

The law needs to be fair and reasonable and when it is not, it is the responsibility for lawmakers to change the law for the benefit of the citizens they were voted in to serve.

Here is a typical example of how the felony rule was applied in Florida:

A nineteen year old girl contacted a young man on Facebook and they both agreed to a date at a specified location, but, her motive was robbery, not romance, and with the assistance of two male colleagues attempted to mug the young man; this ended tragically when one of the two males involved in the mugging, fatally shot the victim. 

All three were charged with first degree murder and convicted and were sentenced to a life without the possibility of parole sentence. 

This is an unjust sentence on the basis that there was no intent involved in the murder as far as the young woman was concerned and nothing in the trial suggested otherwise.

It has been said, “The felony rule keeps Floridians safe,” then if that is so, isn’t it a fact that the State of California got rid of the felony rule 1 January 2019 and released some people who were affected by this rule and there was no noticeable increase in crime. 

The key factor which determined whether a prisoner was re-sentenced or released in California was intent or rather a lack of intent in their particular offence and this needs to be applied in Florida.

It is up to politicians in Florida to make this happen, so let's see some action on this issue. Remember, Slavery and apartheid were once legal and there were politicians who came up with all kinds of excuses as to why they should stick to the status quo.

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Www.floridalawchange.blogspot.com


Petition to change the Florida Felony Rule:

https://bit.ly/30KWYcA



Raising money to travel to Florida (From New Zealand). If you can help click on the link below:

https://www.fundmytravel.com/campaign/9JkIoBJW8K




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