[campbellcj]

It's very tough to generalize, but oftentimes here in SoCal we hear about truly heinous crimes comitted by "kids". Just the other day I heard about a ~34 year-old father gunned down in the parking lot of a store while getting food/milk for his toddler daughter. The shooters were purportedly 13, 16 and 18 year old gangbangers IIRC.

We also hear about tragic cop-shootings a couple times a year.

And yet, small businesses and private individuals are hamstrung by local legislation as to their ability to protect themselves with reasonable force and the right to bear arms. But I digresss...

Now, I'll never forget that I got into some rather serious trouble several times as a teenager, and in many cases these incidents cannot and should not be compared to adult transgressions. However, clearly by the time you're 16-17 years old, you damn well know what cold-blooded murder is.

Unfortunately, our capital punishment system is so diluted by legal maneuvers, media gun-avoidance, and multi-decade delays that it seems worthless as a deterrant. Maybe we should go back to public torture and hanging?