Thirty days in jail for stealing eleven guns? Talk about a slap on the wrist!

***DISCLAIMER*** I AM NOT AN EMPLOYEE OF BANGOR DAILY NEWS.  THE OPINIONS IN THE FOLLOWING BLOG ARE MINE.

So this guy from Newport, and his 17 year old son swipe 11 guns from a home in Franklin County last November, along with ammo, and some other stuff. He gets caught when he hocks one of the guns at a local pawnshop.

Before he goes to trial, he apparently  makes sweet a deal with the courts. He ends up with a sentence of five years, with all but 30 days suspended, and two years probation. He also has to pay a total of 9 grand and change in restitution, and that amount is divided with his son. Only 1 of the 11 weapons were ever recovered.

WHAT????? REALLY???? THIRTY DAYS IN JAIL????????? How can this be????? I honestly don’t get it!

If I walk into Wal-Mart to buy a box of shotgun shells, and I forget my ID, I cant buy the shells. And if my wife who has her ID tries to buy the ammo? NOPE! She is with me, and I might be a Canadian.

If I have my 10 year old son with me, and I want to have him shoulder a rifle, to see how it fits, and I don’t have my ID…Too bad! Cant even touch the gun.

Yet this guy steals 11 weapons, and will be out of jail in less than a month? AND his 17 year old son, after 1 year, if he meets several court mandated requirements will have his felony charges reduced to a misdemeanor.

How many of us out there have our right to keep and bear arms attacked because of jerks like these? Most of us have done nothing wrong, but we are held under a microscope, while just exercising a right promised to us under the United States Constitution.

Clearly, folks like this have little regard for the rights of other citizens, but instead of being removed from the streets to pay for their crimes, they are slapped on the wrist, and given light sentences!

I admit, I am on the fence concerning the 17 year old son in the case. On one hand, to be a felon at 17 is pretty harsh. On the other? I didn’t do anything when I was 17 that would cause me to be a felon.

Nine grand in restitution sounds like a good gesture for the victim in this case. That should help replace some of the stolen property. No matter if there was some sort of sentimental value linked to any of the items.

BUT! Did you know that once a criminal has served their sentence, and is free from probation, any remaining restitution that hasn’t been paid is forgiven?

People, I am telling you….If you don’t stick up for your rights you are going to lose them! If you don’t start demanding that criminals start being treated like criminals, they will keep walking all over us.

Punishment for breaking the law should be so severe that it makes people AFRAID to break the law, for fear of being caught! A criminal should not have an opportunity to weigh the possibilities of their actions, and decide the reward is worth the risk!

Contact your elected officials, from the county sheriff all the way up to the President Of The United States, and DEMAND that your rights be protected, and that criminals start actually paying for their crimes!

Prisons can be turned into profit making factories, instead of tax payer burdens that breed better criminals. But unless we get together and demand change, our rights will continue to be trampled!

Doug Alley

About Doug Alley

I grew up in Bath, Maine in an upper lower class family with 3 step sisters, a step brother, and a little sister. After high school I spent 3 years serving in the USAF at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage AK. I've competed in, and won, demolition derbies. I've competed in, and never won, stock car races. I am the 47-year-old father of an 11-year-old boy who is pretty sure he is smarter than I ever was. We live on a little less than an acre of land in a 1973 mobile home in Stetson with my wife Jen, some cats, a few chickens, and rabbits, and a couple of goats. I hunt, fish, camp out, dabble in photography, gardening, and I cook in variable degrees of near success.