Baltimore Sun: Arrests in Baltimore for Illegal Guns Often Lead to Dropped Charges or Little Jail Time

Earlier this week, the Baltimore Sun had this article titled "Arrests in Baltimore for illegal guns often lead to dropped charges or little jail time."

About one-quarter of such gun cases are dropped before defendants go to trial, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis. Even when convicted of illegally possessing a firearm, prosecutors say, defendants are sentenced on average to 16 months in jail, with a substantial portion of their sentences suspended.

At the same time, police data show that fewer people arrested with illegal guns are ordered held without bail.

The police commissioner told the Sun "There's no certainty of a consequence."  Gun control advocate Daniel Webster, a Johns Hopkins University professor with the Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the Sun "not everyone deserves lengthy prison time."  It's nice to know that at the same time Webster is pushing out data he claims shows more guns equal more crime, that he thinks some criminals that use guns in crime don't deserve lengthy jail sentences.