TheStar.com - Thugs know they won't be severely punished, says Rondi Adamson

It's the main point of all discussion, if criminals believe they can get away with it, they will. The justice system in Canada is a joke and everybody knows it. We live in a nation where child pornography means staying in your home for about a year watching television.

We live in a nation where embezzlement of government funds means a suspended sentence and being forced to give lectures in universities on the subject of "why you should not steal".

Rondi Anderson gives the right answer for dealing with gun crime: Rather than banning handguns, assuming that were possible, or wasting money on a gun registry (how many of the Boxing Day offenders do you suppose would co-operate with that?), how about a mandatory minimum prison term for gun crimes?.

Let's say that if you commit a crime with a gun you have a n automatic sentence of five years, and this is before the sentence on the particular crime. Let's also say that age is not a problem, if you commit a weapons related offence as a young offender you get five years, with absolutely no parole. Would this help, well, it certainly can't hurt.