NATION : Bush Pushes ‘Use a Gun, Go to Jail’
President Bush issued guidelines for federal prosecutors today that he said will virtually prohibit plea bargains in gun-related felonies, raising the stakes for those who view crime as a “crap shoot.”
“When a criminal thinks about reaching for a gun, they are going to know, they are going to learn, that they are going to do time,” Bush told a White House gathering of 90 U.S. attorneys general from across the nation. “And when a criminal carries a gun and someone dies, he should die,” the President added, again endorsing capital punishment.
The guidelines took effect immediately, aides said. The President said he would like state and local prosecutors to join in the plea bargain guidelines developed under Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh for federal authorities.
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