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Theft of Firearms-Sentence Enhancement Legislation |
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The intent of PA legislators to stem the tide of illegal guns by prosecuting those involved, such as efforts by Rep. Reichley, are noble but frankly will not change anything because the problem is not with the law but with the courts and the D/A’s. Now IF it is their genuine wish to stop theft of firearms by holding those who do it accountable then it is a measure doomed to failure in our opinion.
We would also point out that it does not appear, from public statements, that legislators are correctly interpreting and/or applying current law (which is included here in its’ entirety) from when it was last amended in 2005.
§3903. Grading of Theft Offenses. (a) Felony of the second degree.-Theft constitutes a felony of the second degree if (1) The offense is committed during a manmade disaster, a natural disaster or a war caused disaster and constitutes a violation of section 3921 (relating to theft by unlawful taking or disposition), 3925 (relating to receiving stolen property), 3928 (relating to unauthorized use of automobiles and other vehicles) or 3929 (relating to retail theft). (2) The property stolen is a firearm. (3) In the case of theft by receiving stolen property, the property received, retained or disposed of is a firearm and the receiver is in the business of buying or selling stolen property. (4) The property stolen is any amount of anhydrous ammonia
Now IF we cannot convict, for whatever reason, criminals in possession of stolen guns for stealing them as stated above then the current section below makes it a Misdemeanor 1 as long as the cost of the item is more than $200 not $2000 as other legislative memos have indicated. The valuation of most guns today are that they are, virtually, all worth more than $200 unless there is some arcane way of estimating value, or the other possibility is that we have incompetent D/A’s.
(b) Other grades.-Theft not within subsection (a) or (a.l) of this section, constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree, except that if the property was not taken from the person or by threat, or in breach of fiduciary obligation, and: (1) the amount involved was $50 or more but less than $200 the offense constitutes a misdemeanor of the second degree; or how do we arrive at our cynicism on the court’s approach to these issues? Examine the latest figures from the PA Sentencing Commission for just one aspect of Title 18 section 3903 (a) (2) ‘theft of a firearm’ below:
All Offenses: For this table, CRIMINALS only received jail time in 2/3 of the cases when convicted of a stolen gun charge as part of the overall prosecution. HOW can an individual who possessed a stolen gun as part of other ‘more serious’ charges walk away over 30% of the time?
(Min/Max=Months of Sentence)
Most Serious Offense per Judicial Proceeding: For the table below ONLY about half actually went to jail! How will criminals think society is serious about gun thefts when the courts handle these issues this way?
Once you have looked at the above, then take a look at the actual numbers of people prosecuted for using a firearm in the commission of a crime. Considering the number of criminals who misuse guns and the number of individuals prosecuted for just murder alone here in PA, these numbers alone indicate an institutional indifference to applying current law.
Offense #Offenses #Cleared Robbery Firearm 7,972 2,041 Assault Firearm 5,949 2,731 Weapons, Carrying, Posses, Etc. 5,872 4,826
The figures above are from the PSP annual crime report. In addition the figure from Philadelphia alone on weapon offenses is 2,218 for 2005. Obviously a significant number of these firearms are stolen as past studies show the figure at as high as 75%.
Therefore my premise is just that the justice system routinely ignores gun charges and this is but one example of it. The likelihood that raising the punishment to a Felony 1 interdicting the illegal possession of guns when the courts do not impose current sentences is remote at best. It is our view that raising the level of punishment will actually drive down prosecutions and since D/A’s are the charging officials in the long run will not make any ‘real’ difference.
It is time to be honest with Pennsylvania citizens and provide workable, constitutionally friendly solutions to violent crime!
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