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guns associated press photo
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg is trying to change a state law that lets juveniles get convicted five times for illegally possessing a gun before they face any real consequences. (AP image)

Lack of penalties encouraging young criminals to keep using guns

BY Josh Kerns  on January 29, 2013 @ 10:58 am (Updated: 12:07 pm - 1/29/13 )

When a young person uses a gun illegally, you'd figure the system would crack down hard to nip the problem in the bud. You'd be wrong. Currently, it takes five convictions before a juvenile caught illegally possessing a gun gets put into longer-term juvenile detention.

But King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg is trying to change that. After failing twice before to convince state lawmakers to stiffen penalties, he's again proposed a new measure with State Sen. Adam Kline and State Rep. Chris Hurst, along with an unprecedented alliance between gun control and gun rights advocates.

Under current laws, a kid caught illegally possessing a gun the first four times can get up to 30 days in a local juvenile facility, but Satterberg tells The David Boze Show they usually do much less or no time and usually just get a slap on the wrist.

"They can get some probation or they can pick up some trash for a couple of hours or write a book report. That's about it."

Only after a fifth conviction for illegal possession of a gun do they get sent to the Department of Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration for a 15-week sentence.

It's one of the reasons gangs recruit and leverage young people to carry their guns, because they know they won't face any serious consequences, Satterberg says.

"That just seems ridiculous to me. People are pretty surprised to find out," he says.

That would change under the new law. Satterberg's proposal, SB5376 and HB 1096, calls for a mandatory 10-day sentence on the first conviction, and a 15-week sentence at the JRA for the second.

"Our present law does kids absolutely no favors at all by being lenient, because what happens somewhere between that first conviction and that fifth one, they usually pull that gun out of their pocket and shoot somebody."

Satterberg says the 15-week sentence is about more than just having kids "cool their heels." He's also advocating a new juvenile gun curriculum that counters many of the myths about guns young people see in video games and media, and warns them of the consequences.

While lawmakers have defeated similar proposals over budget concerns, Satterberg calls that short sighted, arguing it'll cost a lot more later on if a kid turns into an adult offender.

"We're going to pay all of that money to lock one kid up for 30 years after they've killed somebody."

Boze agrees. "If the programs you're talking about would actually work and divert even 20 percent of these kids [it seems] that your savings overall would be fairly swift over the period of a few years."

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (56)


  • Add A Comment

  • CH wrote...
    You believe that the Government should take our freedoms away because you're afraid that some will abuse those freedoms
    January 29, 2013 5:25 pm
    yes
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • adiru wrote...
    Then
    January 29, 2013 7:07 pm
    Let the government take YOUR freedom away. Leave everyone else out of it. But you don't want to be in the minority so you want EVERYONE to lose their freedom. Typical.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleD wrote...
    What does he mean by "new juvenile gun curriculum"?
    January 29, 2013 6:21 pm
    That sounds like it involves a lot of target practice.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Ted Bundi wrote...
    "...possessing a gun the first four times can..."
    January 29, 2013 7:10 pm
    How can it be a "first" if they were already caught three times?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • fishnpol wrote...
    M 101
    January 29, 2013 7:41 pm
    Everytime you post you just show everyone that you're more ignorant than a person has the right to be. It's ignorant and or lazy fools that are ruining America!! You can post all the ignorant shiat you want, it'll never make you right, it just goes to show the fool that you are!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    fisnpol
    January 30, 2013 6:40 am
    You did not respond with any sense to my last post where I questioned your previous remarks. It shows that you either do not have a leg to stand on about what you said or your too darn ignorant to give a sensible reply
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • TimeForNewLeadership wrote...
    Slam them and they will learn
    January 30, 2013 12:27 am
    Word gets around on the street and in school. These kids know exactly what they are in for if they get caught. Stiffer initial penalties will most certainly be a deterrent.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Great point, "People need to get slammed". Only problem with this?
    January 30, 2013 6:18 am
    People ACTUALLY have to be punished!

    That Scumbag who killed Tuba man, how many times has he been out of the grey bar? Enforce the laws (22 hundred gun laws on the books!) put criminals in jail for years instead of how long it takes to throw their bail!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Concerned US Citizen wrote...
    Brilliant
    January 30, 2013 6:23 am
    Yet our so called brilliant president wants to spend $500,000,000 or 1/2 a billion dollars on why there is gun violence. With no consequences for carrying a gun for a juvenile whose mind is not as developed as an adult it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure ou why all these gang shootings are happening in our cities. With the president's policy of amnesty for illegals there is now drug turf wars between the black and Hispanic gangs. Yet our dummy in chief needs a study to figure it out!! On top of that he wants to turn me into a criminal for owning my guns to protect myself from these losers. Lock these kids up for their first offense and a 2nd offense they are tried as an adult and do HARD time in a real prison!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    Concerned
    January 30, 2013 6:43 am
    Whats your solution?Are you satisfied with the way things are? Do you believe anyone with a gun has a RIGHT to sell that gun to any other person?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • OceanPro wrote...
    Every action has an opposite and equal reaction - esp in this State
    January 30, 2013 7:52 am
    It's good in theory to increase the penalty for juveniles who get caught with guns....however this will trigger a waterfall of crapdom. The cries of "we need more money now and we need funding" and the cops will say "we have no more police resources to do this so we need more money" Blah blah blah. I have said it before, guns are extremely valuable on the street and there is no way you are going to stop them from being in the hands of bad people. Period. The horses are out of the barn, baby....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    How can it be a "first" if they were already caught three times?
    January 30, 2013 8:05 am
    It's liberal "logic". Sort of like spending and borrowing your way to "prosperity" and $16 trillion is NOT a problem.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • J-Bone wrote...
    Failure of the legal system
    January 30, 2013 8:09 am
    This is the kind of story that should dominate the evening news on an endless loop. Regardless of party affiliation, I'd hope that this would upset every rational citizen of Washington. 5 convictions! Change the sentencing guidelines, at least attempt to fix the problem at an early age. These judges and prosecutors are mostly elected officials and should be mocked for creating such an absurd rule.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    If your a gang thug
    January 30, 2013 8:22 am
    What good is a gun to you if someone else (under15)has it in his possession? Its like a homeowner having a gun to protect his home but keeps the gun locked up where its no use at all unless of course the criminal calls ahead and says he's on the way over
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SEATTLEPW wrote...
    ...a gang thug
    January 30, 2013 8:55 am
    recruits juveniles to commit much of there illegal activities, supplies them with whatever weapons are needed, then rewards them. For a impressionable youth, the punishment is minor and risk may worth it. That, my friend is called indocrination and creates the next generation of gang bangers. Make the punishment significant enough that someone under 15 would think twice. Amongst kids, word would get around quick. By the way, a gun locked up in a safe takes only a few seconds to get out for protection. Usually, that is plenty enough time so that a criminal does not need to 'call ahead'.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    SeattlePW
    January 31, 2013 9:51 am
    Only a IDIOT would lock up a home protection weapon.You'd be dead before you got to your Gun Safe.And thats why so many accidental shooting occur as folks leave guns in areas they can get to them (and so can everyone else)
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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