Another weekend another rash of shootings in Buffalo.

All the attention is going to the City Grill shooting where eight were shot and four have died, but there were multiple other shootings this past weekend including some fatalities.
There is no easy solution but I have a couple ideas.
Mandatory minimums for possession of a gun while committing another crime. I'm thinking for a felony make it 10 years minimum and if the felony being committed already has a minimum of 10 or more years then the gun parts tacks on an additional 5. For a misdemenor where the perp directly encounters a victim (so not a case of breaking into an unoccupied car for example) the crime gets bumped to a felony with a 5 year minimum. Felon in possession (meaning a convicted felon simply possessing a gun not necessarily actively using it another crime) should be at least a 5 year minimum but I'm leaning towards 10. These times would be doubled on a second offense.
These minimums probably wouldn't change the thug culture but it would at least get them off the streets for longer amounts of time and it might make some of the less hardcore thugs decide not to use guns.

Additionally people need to wake up and realize that the so called "thug culture" is not acceptable. Parents need to get back to disciplining their kids and all levels of society need to get back to taking responsibility for their actions. Far too often someone screws up and instead of admitting they screwed up they blame everyone and everything but themselves. Having multiple children by multiple fathers, none of whom are married to the mother needs to stop and it definitely should not be rewarded through increased welfare benefits, although my welfare rant might be better served with its own post.

One excuse that is often heard is that it is due to poverty. Bullshit. I grew up outside a small town and although my school district was fairly well off with most families being comfrotably middle class or higher there were also a number of poor families. Their kids didn't act like thugs and glamorize violence. If anything the "thug lifestyle" causes the poverty not the other way around.