Student gets 1-3 year prison term

[Disgusted-Daily]

www.uticaod.com/news/x2031260569/Student-gets-1-3-year-prison-term

This was a real dumb thing these kids did and now will pay for it the rest of their lives. Does anyone know if the kids had a previous record? I am on the fence about a 1-3 year sentence. This seems a little excessive since nobody was injured or killed. I know it had the potential to have gone real bad, but didn't.

I am puzzled as to why he was in Baltimore, Md. at the age of 17. and was able to purchase a gun with the identification number scratched off, so police were unable to track the weapon’s origin. What was there final plan with the gun.

State Prison for 1-3 years, they will not return home as the dumb school kid, but a real punk ass thug with a bad attitude. At such a young age to be a convicted felon, will never hold a decent job or be able to vote. There only hope is to find a rich women.

[Swimmy]

I disagree. I don't care whether they have previous records. At 17, they are smart enough to know that it is illegal to have a firearm on school grounds. The fact that they purposely smuggled it onto campus and had it LOADED is scary enough!

While agree with the U.S. Sup. Ct.'s decision, these kids are lucky the Lopez case struck down a federal criminal statute that made it illegal to possess a firearm within 100 yards of a school zone. They could have faced federal charges.

These kids wanted to act "bad-ass" and now they get to enjoy the consequences.

[Disgusted-Daily]

I agree with you swimmy. What I meant was if my kid was to ever do a stupid thing as this with a clean record I would not want him to get a 1-3 years in prison, whether the law said he would. I would almost expect some kind of leniency because of their age and no one got hurt or killed. I know the law is the law and this was very serious crime. I just hate to see a young adult with his whole life in front of him just thrown away over such a stupid and thoughtless crime. I know, they should have thought about before they did it, but kids will be kids and we all did stupid shit without much thought.

I do not agree with what they did, but I do question there intentions why they bought it or what they planned to do with it. Is their more involved or was this an isolated incident? I would also question your phrase "bad-ass" although this maybe true or they just came across a really good deal and without thinking they took it hook, line and sinker. Or were they trying to impress their friends which went from bad to worst.

I know the gun laws have got allot tougher after 9/11. I even thought a unregistered gun was a Federal crime that carried a 1yr prison sentence.

I am glad no one got hurt or killed and regret seeing two young kids go to prison.

[Swimmy]

There is stupid shit and then there's fucked up shit. I have done many stupid things in my life, like hanging out an 8th hotel window trying to pull a bed sheet hanging on tree branches back in before the chaperons caught us trying to contact the girls a floor above us. Knowing me, I'm sure I will continue to do stupid things, like becoming a lawyer. But never would I have ever thought about smuggling a loaded gun onto school grounds. Even now, the thought of carrying a loaded weapon is intimidating to me, though I've qualified for my concealed carry permit and can legally do so.

The difference between your kids and these idiots is that you would have never let them be so stupid. I am quite certain, with your background, that you would have instructed them to use their brains, not their egos.

If it were my kids, they would be begging for a prison sentence to avoid me. They would request bail be denied if they knew what was good for them.

I understand and agree that it is sad to see two young kids with so much life to live piss it away over a stupid act. But would you be thinking the same thing if that bullet lodged itself in that girl's head instead of the seat in front of her? It's time kids start to think more intelligently and take responsibility for their actions. We keep making excuses for kids (they didn't know any better) and wonder why they can't place Louisiana on a map weeks after hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans. They know damn well what they were doing, don't be fooled.

Perhaps if this was an incident on a city bus the reaction might be different. But this is school property. Columbine, VA Tech, that quaker school in PA come to mind when I think about what these boys did. They're damn lucky no one was injured.

I believe in the 2nd amendment as much as any NRA member, but you have to respect these weapons for the dangers that they pose. These kids not only did not respect this danger, they did not respect the laws, their peers, themselves, or the community.

I am not sure if an unregistered gun is a federal offense. I imagine it should be. Perhaps no federal charges were filed because the state charges stuck. From my criminal procedure classes, when we studied double jeopardy, we learned that many times, the federal government won't get involved with something that a state's penal laws adequately supply for unless the state's criminal system does not end up convicting the person. For example, say that guy involved in Officer Corr's death down in PA is acquitted, and he's tried here and acquitted. The feds might come in and prosecute him for the federal equivalent. It's not dj because it's not the same court system trying him. And with federal conviction rates at about 96% it's a good chance he would be convicted. But if he's slammed in PA and in NY, the feds won't press any further charges. They have bigger fish to fry. I imagine that's why there wasn't a federal charge as well. Don't take it as gospel. I don't know all the details of how that works. I'm just going by some of the case law I read in law school.

[Swimmy]

Oh, I forgot, my use of "bad-ass" was to incorporate them wanting to be cool in front of their friends, thinking they were gangsters, etc. Regardless whether they thought they got a great deal on the gun, they knew better than to load it and smuggle it onto campus.

[concerned]

I guess all they eventually learn is that they lose there freedom for awhile but in the end crime payes. They get fed, have free housing and medical

[Swimmy]

I hope that's not what they ultimately learn. With proper parental support, I see no reason why this kids can't return to society reformed with a better attitude of respect toward the law and authority.

[frankcor]

Times have changed. I was caught with a gun in school in 1966; a single-shot .22-cal rifle. I was buying it from a classmate. We both got detention. And Father brought us out to his car to show us his new rifle.

[dgriffin]

I agree with you, Swimmy. A society and a justice system that cannot differentiate between "stupid shit" and "fucked up shit" will suffer the consequences. I'd feel absolutely terrible if my kid did something like that and went to prison. I'd feel worse if he was shot by someone who brought a loaded gun to school.

[Swimmy]

something stupid: being caught with a dime bag. 1-3 yrs prison for this? yeah, i agree, a little harsh

something fucked up: smuggling a loaded firearm onto school grounds and allowing for the negligent discharge of that firearm. 1-3 yrs prison for this? without a shadow of a doubt.

[nhcitizen18]

Concerned,

Don't forget that Holland Patent Schools will still get a very large bill from the penal system for the cost of educating these two students. It's hard to imagine that the same taxpayer whose daughter was almost shot on school grounds will have to pay EXTRA to educate the two students that almost shot her. In my opinion the second those two students brought that gun to school they forfeited their right to an education at public expense. Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for them any more. I just wish our politicians in Albany would get off their ass and change the State Constitution so we wouldn't spend so much damn money educating criminals, while the "good" kids often have to have bake sales to go on a school trip.

[Swimmy]

I agree with you, nhcitizen18. If it weren't for that state constitutional right, things would be much different in education. But instead of making them forfeit their constitutional right to an education, how about we provide a facility that isolates them from general prisons and make it a military-style school where they are instilled discipline and educated properly. Require the parents to front half the tuition, and the school district to cover the other half. I think it's immoral to categorically hold back someone to the point that we force the child to have to turn to a life of crime because the child does not know any better. What kind of civilized society could we call ourselves?

[nhcitizen18]

Swimmy,

If you had posed that question to me 5 years ago before I had kids in school I would have been in total agreement with you. That changed for me as I became more involved in school since my children began attending. As it stands now I have seen time and time again that a huge amount of money and resources are spent on students whose behavior ranges from intentionally disruptive to outright criminal. The argument can be made that since their parents are totally ineffective society must spend more money on them to keep them from a life of crime, but I can't help but see how the massive amounts of money directed to these type of children could be redirected to enhancing the quality of education for children whose parents actually bother to raise them.

For the vast majority of the world's population (whose students are increasingly outperforming ours) education is a cherished privilege that students who are able to be accepted into a school are grateful for. It appears to me that a large percentage of American parents see schools as a 7-hour-a-day dumping ground for the children they never really wanted to have; and their children's behavior reflects that.

No other country in the world offers the tremendous opportunity for obtaining an education the way the United States does. Schools and communities should demand that schools be treated as a rare privilege for their children with a strict code of conduct that should be adhered to. If a student is unwilling to behave in such a manner that shows a respect for education then taxpayers should no longer be forced to pay for such a student and his/her parents should be required to home school the child.

50-100 years ago, the argument I just made regarding schools and education would have been common sense whereas today it is a radical statement. I think that shows how far our society has fallen and how accepting we have become of deviant behavior. If a person in the United States chooses to engage in a life of crime it is his/her choice to do so and they do not have the right to blame anyone else for their lot in life; least of all the schools that presented them with an opportunity that they willingly chose to reject.

[dgriffin]

Right you are, NHCitizen! In my extremely short teaching career (2 years, but another 5 working in school administration) I had no difficulty distinguishing between those students who truly needed emotional help and those who were simply afflicted with asshole-ism. Unfortunately, the Special Ed folks often seemed unable (or unwilling) to see the difference. But then, in the system I worked in, parents often showed up at a Individual Education Plan meeting with their attorney.

[concerned]

and because of some of these criminals in the classroom the teacher has a nervous breakdown, and attempts suicide,and the system laughs