Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Jared T. Cox Sentenced to Three Months

Helena.com reports on the sentencing of Jared Cox for having purchased the gun for Sebastian Olivares-Coster with which he killed one and wounded two. We recently discussed Sebastian when he changed his plea to guilty.

A Helena man who supplied the handgun that a juvenile used to kill one teenager and seriously injure two others last June was sentenced Monday to three months in federal prison.

Jared was 22 and Sebastian 17 last May when the older boy purchased the handgun supposedly because the younger Sebastian wanted it for home protection.

Cox said he bought the gun from a private party and also purchased ammunition. The two men went to a shooting range twice because Cox wanted to make sure Olivares-Coster knew how to safely handle and fire the .45-caliber Tanfoglio pistol.

This is what I have a problem with. Private sales of handguns make it too easy for them to get into the wrong hands. This case is a perfect illustration. Gun registration would often take care of cases like this. Probably the man who sold the gun "privately" to Cox, was perfectly within the law. Then, Cox himself, who broke the law about providing guns to minors was probably acting in good faith. Let's face it, there not all that much difference between a 22-year-old and a 17-year-old in many cases. These were two young guys, one wanted a gun and the other could get it.

If each gun is registered to a particular owner, people who are acting in good faith would in many cases refuse to break what they see as minor laws. The Judge who sentenced Cox to only 3 months obviously didn't consider him a major threat to society. Even the law itself is "a misdemeanor federal charge of giving a juvenile a handgun."

What's your opinion? Is there too much easy movement of guns and does this contribute to the ease with which guns get into the wrong hands?

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