Imari
You're temporarily removing him from society, and putting him in a place where he can establish criminal ties. Not to mention the chance of him becoming more than bitter and doing something truely stupid whenever he gets out.
You're saying we shouldn't lock up people who commit crimes, because that puts them in contact with other criminals? I'm not following the logic there.
And saying that he plots the murder of other citizens is putting is very vague. He's not killing at random. He's not tricking random people into his own personal hunting ground.
It's not vague. He created a situation in which he planned to kill someone.
As for not killing at random, was the person he killed the person who had been robbing his house? Or could it have been almost anyone who walked past his open garage that night?
What he did was attempt to put a stop to a series of robberies. So stop trying to make it seem like he's some serial killer who kills at random.
He was trying to be a vigilante.
I didn't say he was a serial killer, he's killed one person. However, killing one person is generally considered to be enough to lock the killer up unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances.
While it's nice that he had good intentions and all, I doubt the boy's father really gives a ****, and I doubt anyone else in the community is safer for his good intentions. The man is unbalanced in a very dangerous way if he thinks setting up a death trap is the way to solve that problem.
In a society with unlimited resources, he would be provided with psychiatric treatment in a secure facility until it was established that he knew when it was appropriate to use lethal force. We don't live in that society, generally we just lock these people up and hope for the best. It's not a great solution, but what can you do, let the guy walk the streets? No thanks.
You ask what is stopping him from doing this again, and that is exactly what the removal of his license and gun would do. If he were to aqquire a gun illigally, then you bust his ass. A probation of some sort could go a long way in this.
A gun is not the only weapon you can use to kill someone. If he were not a gun owner, do you think this whole thing would never have happened?
I think he would have found another weapon and modified his plan accordingly. There has to be dozens of totally legal implements that can be used to kill someone very easily, from kitchen knifes to baseball bats to cars.
And how is it irrelevant that he killed someone who was trespassign with the possible intend of stealing? Are you actually saying that going out and killing someone at random is the same as killing someone who, as far as you know, are trying to steal from you?
If you are not in physical danger, then yes, that's what I'm saying.
One is more understandable than the other, but not more excusable. I don't even understand what goes through a serial killer's head. I can imagine what this guy was probably thinking as he set up his little trap, but the fact remains that he made a decision that resulted in someone's unnecessary death.
I think judging people's motivations is largely ********.
Even if you're insisting on punishing someone for doing this, they most definately should not recieve the same punishment for murdering someone in cold blood for no reason at all.
That I could certainly agree with.
The fact that the he had been robbed twice before, is important to the context, just as the fact that he baited someone into his garage with the intention to kill the person, is important. If you disregard any of these facts, you certainly won't be able to reach a fair conclusion.
Perhaps you could then explain, logically, how these facts lead to the conclusion that the appropriate punishment is that he have his gun license revoked.
I don't find his prior burglaries to be of importance, other than to explain why he felt the need to take these actions in the first place. It's not an extenuating circumstance, and his response is entirely irrational.
He baited someone into his garage with intent to kill the person. I struggle to think of many prior circumstances that would justify that.
If he had been in fear for his life from this person, his actions might have been reasonable. To defend yourself from burglary by blind firing into your garage when there's any number of other options is insane. The man is a danger to the community.
