Four people shot in a progressive Los Angeles suburb and a convicted felon caught packing three firearms in South Carolina expose the same broken system: a justice apparatus that refuses to lock up repeat offenders until innocent Americans pay the price.
When the smoke clears in Hawthorne, the establishment press will inevitably scream for more gun restrictions. What they will bury is the reality that the laws already on the books aren't enforced, and the soft-on-crime policies governing America's cities let dangerous people walk free until a street argument turns into a mass shooting.
The Hawthorne Police Department responded to the 14100 block of Crenshaw Boulevard just after 2 a.m. Thursday after reports of gunshots and “multiple people screaming,” according to the New York Post. Three adults shot at the scene were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and a fourth victim walked into a nearby hospital later. Witnesses told police a group gathered in the area got into an argument before the violence erupted. Officers recovered one handgun and “numerous spent bullet casings” at the scene. Video footage from the Citizen app captured at least 10 shots fired in three separate bursts. The number of suspects remains unknown, and no officers discharged their firearms.
Over 2,000 miles away, North Charleston police demonstrated exactly what a revolving-door justice system looks like. According to Live 5 News, an officer watched a vehicle leave a gas station, travel on the wrong side of the road, and cross a raised concrete median at a high rate of speed just before midnight Thursday. The driver was 22-year-old David Aquino-Santiago—a convicted felon the officer recognized from a prior traffic stop. Aquino-Santiago admitted his license was still suspended. He was charged as a habitual traffic offender. An inventory search of the vehicle revealed a backpack containing three unloaded firearms and a 30-round Glock extended magazine loaded with 15 rounds in the glove box. He now faces three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
These are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of the same disease. In South Carolina, a known felon and habitual offender was free to rack up charges and arm himself to the teeth. In California, a street dispute escalates into a mass shooting because the system fails to keep violent actors off the streets in the first place. The establishment will blame the hardware. Americans should blame the handlers who refuse to use the tools they already have.
The laws against felons possessing firearms already exist. The question is whether any jurisdiction has the will to enforce them before the next 911 call comes in.
