Murder in Lafayette Indiana

[Officers'Wife]

In yesterday's newspaper story of a man that murdered a woman on her front porch much was made of a so called sentencing enhancement because the person used a firearm.

What is the reasoning that society needs further protection from the criminal that murders with a firearm rather than a knife or steel pipe? Is the relative ease of a bullet somehow more heinous than someone being beaten to death? What was the thinking process of the Great White Father in Indianapolis when this law was thought to be a good idea?

 

[steve4102]

They feel it is a deterrent??

 

[Spats McGee]

From the Legal Forum Guidelines:

Note: The Legal Forum is for the discussion of the law as it is and how the law actually applies in RKBA matters, not the way we think things should be or the way we wish they were. Comments and opinions should be based on legal principles and supported where appropriate with reference to legal authority, including court decisions, statutes and scholarly articles. Comments based on wishful thinking may be openly refuted or simply deleted by the staff.

As a general proposition, I agree with steve4102. I think that sentence enhancements like the one mentioned in the OP are spurred more by deterrence principles than anything else.

That said, this thread looks much more like a general discussion of legal theory, than a specific discussion of either statutory or common law. Accordingly, in the absence of any links to the appropriate articles, statutes, or other authority, I'm going to close this. If the OP or anyone else feels that he or she can make a persuasive argument that this one should be reopened, that person may feel free to PM me or another mod to make his or her case.