Letter to the Editor: No matter how often Lackawanna County Commissioner Pat O’Malley flips, he flops

web1_NCAA-Dayton-Kentucky-_Sopr.jpg

Dayton reaches first Sweet 16 with 99-94 upset of Kentucky

Would it be a good idea to &#8230;&#8230; broadcast more loudly to would-be bad guys, and gals, in Northeastern Pennsylvania that if they commit a crime with a gun, they&#8217;ll spend a long, long time in prison?Campaigns have begun in other places to spread this message on the streets. In Erie, for instance, billboards put it bluntly: &#8220;Gun Crime = Hard Time.&#8221;That city&#8217;s police teamed with Lamar Advertising last year to target the message to crime-prone neighborhoods. Meanwhile, an FBI task force and others are joining efforts there this year to aggressively investigate gun crimes and disrupt sources of illegal weapons, according to the region&#8217;s anti-crime initiative known as Unified Erie.Whether potential offenders pay attention remains to be seen. But, as an editorial last month in the Erie Times-News suggested, the cautionary words are likely to become more meaningful when they move from official lines of communication to everyday conversation. &#8220;Parents, siblings, pastors, teachers, juvenile probation officers and social workers have to warn at-risk young people that they will face lengthy terms behind bars if they commit a gun crime &#8211; that is, if they don&#8217;t end up dead first,&#8221; the editorial stated.As recently as last week in Luzerne County, a judge sentenced a teenager for possessing a handgun with an obliterated serial number. Rather than hearing &#8220;90 days time served,&#8221; 18-year-old Ras Dalmar Johnson learned he will go to state prison for up to two years.Johnson, as noted in a pre-sentence report, is a reputed member of the Bloods street gang.Considering the dangers to the public, and the potential life-altering consequences to young people who foolishly pick up a gun, should we in Northeastern Pennsylvania drive home the point that &#8220;Gun Crime = Hard Time.&#8221;Give us your feedback by sending a letter to the editor or by posting comments to this editorial at timesleader.com.Likewise, tell us your ideas for improving the community and making area residents&#8217; lives better. Maybe we&#8217;ll spotlight your suggestion in a future editorial and ask readers, &#8220;Would it be a good idea to &#8230;&#8221;

Our Opinion: Discourage gun crimes in NEPA with public-awareness campaign