Senator Ashworth Azille has warned against treating harsher sentences as the single solution to gun crime.
The discussion highlights a distinction between increasing penalties for convicted offenders and improving the chances that crimes will be solved in the first place.
Effective responses to gun violence can require stronger investigations, reliable forensic evidence, better-trained police officers and preventive programmes that address the circumstances leading to crime.
The debate raises an important question for policymakers: how can the justice system improve both accountability and public safety?
