On May 12, 2012, in Orange County, Florida, two grown men had been charged and arrested for the deaths of two teenagers. Jesse Davis, 30-years-old and Hector Rodriguez, 31-years-old, have been denied bond for the murders. The teenagers, 16-year-old Nick Presha and 18-year-old Jeremy Stewart, were Winter Park High school students. On April 15, 2012, their bodies were found smoldering on a popular walking/ bike trail located in east Orange County. Autopsies showed that the teens hands were bound behind their backs and they both had been shot in the head, before their bodies were set on fire. Shortly after the discovery of the bodies, the Orange County Sheriff’s office had one person of interest under arrest on unrelated charges.
Early on into the investigation, the Orange County Sheriff’s office reported that Jesse Davis, who has been in and out of mental institutions, was known to terrorize people in the neighborhood where he lived, which was not to far from where the bodies were found. Now the sheriff’s office is reporting that the boys were killed while trying to sell two stolen handguns to the suspects.
Where are the adults here?
I’ll admit, when it comes to gun ownership–I’ve always been on the fence about it. On one hand, I understand why some people would choose to own one or more guns. But on the other hand, I know first hand about how careless people can be when it comes to storing guns. And sometimes the results in the owners carelessness with storing their guns can land in the guns in the wrong hands. What I really don’t get is– why gun makers haven’t done more to protect and detect guns when they are stolen?
Last Friday, I was watching the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC. I don’t watch Rachel’s show on a regular basis, but once again it was about timing. In the opening of her show, Rachel reported on how due to the reconfiguration of gas tanks on cars, truck and SUVs, the government has decided to take off the boot-like device that is attached to the nozzle of the end of the gas pumps. The purpose of the boot-like device on the nozzle was to prevent gas fumes from seeping into the environment. Rachel said that by removing those boot-like devices, the government and gas station owners will be saving millions– if not billions– of dollars.
Do you remember when car thefts was like one of the hottest crimes out there? When it was a huge deal for people to steal cars and such a tragedy for those who owned them? Over the years, engineers have come up with Vehicle Identification Numbers, GPS Navigation and On-Star systems, etc. in order to track vehicles. It’s been reported that it’s easier to find a stolen car than a kidnapped child–now that’s really sad. But the point I’m trying to make is– where is the tracking device on handguns? I’m not talking about simple serial numbers. I’m talking about a special device that should be able to go into the chamber of guns in order for gun sellers/ owners to track their guns. A device that could be built into the gun that if and when someone attempts to remove the device, they have to dismantle the gun in such a way that it will then be useless. Now, for those of you who may be saying–well, that sounds like a good idea–why don’t you come up with a device for it? I say to you, I know I’m not the only one who has thought about this. I’m sure that a lot of people (including gun makers/ owners, etc.) have thought about ways to track their guns. After all, it’s their investments. So really–how important is it to them to get guns off of the streets?
Mothers Against Unethical Laws (MAUL) 