Sad. Per the linked NBC Bay Area article: "According to U.S. Postal Inspection Service data provided to the Associated Press, postal carrier robberies in the U.S. increased 78% last year." This Almanac article reports that 90% of the robbers, when apprehended, are armed (per Matthew Norfleet, a U.S. Postal Inspector for the Bay Area). Mail carriers only signed up for the occasional dog, not this kind of s*it from people. What's the answer?

The answer is to catch them, arrest them, prosecute them, convict them, and put them in prison.

If there is certainty to paying a penalty, the crime rate will fall. Right now, there isn't much of a threat - at least in most jurisdictions. San Mateo County is actually pretty good.

"The answer is to catch them, arrest them, prosecute them, convict them, and put them in prison."

And don't plea bargain away the gun enhancements as the DA's frequently do. It adds years to their sentences and if criminals knew it was always enforced, there'd be fewer armed robberies. Fewer gun crimes in general. Right now all of the gun laws we have in place are not effective primarily because the DA's don't enforce them. They get bargained away for a guilty plea with a lighter sentence.