MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Mayor Jim Strickland made a social media post addressing gun violence in Memphis Monday morning.
Strickland says the city government and police have zero tolerance for gun violence. He blames the court system and state law for enabling the increase of guns, low bonds, and weak jail sentences.
He released the following two examples supporting his statement:
Example 1: Tennessee law makes most crimes of shooting a gun at another person Aggravated Assault, where prison time is not mandatory. In 2021, 25% of people convicted in Shelby County Criminal Court for these types of shootings were put on probation (no prison), and another 37% served less than one year in prison.
Example 2: Over 1,600 people were arrested last year for car theft and breaking into cars, and 447 in the first 3 months of this year. As we have seen, almost all of them are armed with guns. Almost none of them were detained, punished, or rehabilitated; they were simply released with no consequences, thanks to the court system’s revolving door.
This statement comes after the two shootings that took place on Sunday. One shooting happened on Beale Street, leaving 2 people hurt and 2 people detained.
Another shooting happened later that night outside of Huey’s on Poplar Avenue, which involved an off-duty police officer and three or four suspects who were caught breaking into a vehicle.
