The Sacramento mass shooting was more of the usual gang violence that has been enabled by a pro-crime policy machine that has dismantled prisons, bail, and the justice system, substituting a revolving door for criminals for the public safety that had previously existed.
And yet, equally predictably, lefties and their media are blaming a lack of gun control.
But what the shooting once again shows is that the guns don’t need to be locked up, the criminals do.
The man arrested for possessing a machine gun at the scene of Sunday’s mass shooting in Sacramento was allowed to leave prison in February despite opposition from the county’s district attorney to his early release.
Smiley Martin, 27, was convicted in 2018 and was serving a 10-year sentence for domestic violence and assault when he was released.
Police said he was injured in a gun battle in downtown Sacramento that broke out about 2 a.m. Sunday outside a series of nightclubs, causing the deaths of six people and injuring 12.
In a video confirmed by law enforcement, he is seen wielding the gun on social media on Saturday, just hours before the shooting. His brother, Dandrae Martin, has been arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Almost exactly a year ago, Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert’s office opposed Smiley Martin’s release from state prison to the Board of Parole Hearings in a two-page letter, first reported by the Sacramento Bee. The district attorney’s office asked that he not be freed because he is a career criminal and a danger to the community. Schubert released the letter after a records request but would not comment further.
“Inmate Martin has committed several felony violations and clearly has little regard for human life and the law, which can be shown by his conduct in his prior felony convictions of robbery, possession of a firearm and prior misdemeanor conviction of providing false information to a peace officer.”
Schubert, a former Republican who is running as an independent for state attorney general, is among a group of district attorneys who sued the state over its emergency regulations that led to a reduction in the state prison population. She has repeatedly warned that the “early releases” would result in prisoners facing 10-year sentences being freed after three years and four months.
And here we are.
Documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee show the DA’s office last year vehemently opposed Smiley Martin’s release from the 10-year prison sentence he received in Sacramento Superior Court on Jan. 12, 2018.
The old argument, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” has been tested both ways. Gun control hasn’t stopped crime, but locking up criminals has. Once pro-crime DAs and politicians decided to free criminals and legalize crime, the violence has exploded. More gun control culture wars won’t fix that.
Only locking up criminals will.
Leave a Reply