Make Gangs Illegal; Don’t Touch Guns

Re “Each Tragedy Has a Name”(editorial, July 13), on standing up to street gangs:

How right you are about names. People in the communities where these senseless acts of terrorism are occurring know and have enough information as to who most of these criminals are. Yet without cooperation from witnesses and or persons who have personal knowledge and/or suspicion of the culprits, the police are faced with looking for a needle in a haystack.

We need to enact patriot laws in our own communities where these terrorist acts are occurring. Street gangs are intimidating the justice system and the communities that they reside in because they know the police no longer have the upper hand. We need to stop feeling sorry because juveniles are being tried and housed in adult jails. We need to stop pouring money into social programs that have not worked for decades, trying to end gang violence, and treat gang members as enemies of the United States. They have no purpose in our society.

Rehabilitation can start with a mandatory 25-year sentence for belonging to a street gang. Add another five years for any misdemeanor crime and 10 to 20 years for any felonies. We will always have these tragedies occurring, and all the mothers will not put a stop to these acts of terrorism. Make it illegal to be a gang member.

Dan Heredia

Dana Point

*

While my heart goes out to Nadine LeBlanc for the loss of her grandson, taking away the basic right of people to defend their homes and families fixes nothing. It is a fact that many violent crimes are thwarted without a single shot being fired. (Crook invades home, sees angry homeowner with gun, crook gets his you-know-what out of there quick.) Taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens will only promote more violent crime. Lock up the gun-using criminals; leave my right to defend my home alone.

Gary Haller

Santa Paula