Why is gun control a constant part of America’s political conversation? It is because of crime. It seems simple but it is easy to forget that crime is the reason gun control is even discussed.
There are of course those who would like to see a ban on firearms because of accidents and there are probably a couple dozen animal rights activists who consider gun control a solution to hunting. But in general, gun control is something that is discussed because of the actions of criminals and the mentality deranged. Understand that gun control is proposed as a solution for crime in America and in America all other proposals are swiped off the table.
In recent history there have been some serious attempts at criminal justice reform in America’s major cities and largest states. These areas have introduced bail reform and prosecutors have changed who they prosecute and how they prosecute cases. These changes can be described as the state being more lenient on criminals and those accused of committing crime. Evidence does not appear to be a major factor in these policies, if a suspect is caught red handed they are given the same treatment as those in cases where authorities have little evidence against them. In some cases, negligence and sloppiness from career prosecutors and judges is to blame for murderers being allowed to walk out on the street.
This brings us to today’s story out of Harris County, Texas. Where a man who was accused of murder was out on bond and found him self being arrested for a another murder shortly after.
Traveon Tatum was accused of murder in 2019 and his bond was set to $50,000. Shortly after making bond he was free to walk the streets again despite protest from some authorities. In May of 2020, Tatum ran into trouble again when he was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Some authorities tried once more to revoke his bond, but they failed and the bond was set to $150,000.
Tatum made bond once again after a year behind bars, in 2021 he was able to walk the streets again. Court records show that from this point forward, Tatum repeatedly broke his bond conditions.
In 2022, Tatum was arrested again for the murder of another man. This time, Tatum had his bond revoked and he will be held in custody until the trial for this murder.
Crystal Johnson, the mother of Ondreus Patterson who was allegedly murdered by Tatum in 2019 was in the court room when Judge Hill denied Tatum’s bail for this second murder. It is important to note that Judge Hill was the same judge who allowed Tatum to walk free in 2019. Johnson said in a statement that “all of this could have been prevented and could have been done a long time ago.”
Judge Hill had 3 opportunities to stop the murder of the second victim. Judge Hill could have denied bond in 2019 after Tatum was first accused of murder, he could have denied bond in 2020 after Tatum assaulted someone and once again in 2021 when Tatum violated his bond conditions. Judge Hill refused to do so on all three occasions. According to Hill, the state never went through the proper procedures to request his bond be denied.
Some activists will continue to call for more gun control despite the fact that there are clearly issues with the criminal justice system itself. From this story we can get a glimpse into how these problems occur and some other avenues for how we can fix the issue of crime in America when it comes to repeat offenders.
The discussion on crime in America is overwhelmed by the constant assault on the 2nd Amendment and law abiding gun owners. This has put the country in a state where the issue of crime can not be addressed by either of the two major political parties.
It is unclear how we can address crime as a nation and this is because no one is trying to address crime.
