SEATTLE - This year's outburst of violent youth crimes is a direct result of weak state laws that allow too many chances for kids who carry guns, according to King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

The prosecutor is speaking out about the problem, which is leaving a trail of gunned-down corpses and teens facing a ruined future of decades behind prison walls.

As Exhibit A, Satterberg presents the case of three men who were gunned down at Chop Suey, Capitol Hill nightclub. The teen charged in the deadly shooting now faces up to 30 years in adult prison.

"Six months before that incident he was standing before the juvenile court on illegal gun possession and got six months probation; that's it," Satterberg said.

Currently, kids caught with a gun in King County appear for a juvenile hearing, and a judge sentences them to community service or up to 30 days in juvenile detention, usually less.

"It takes five felony convictions of illegal gun possession before a kid is removed from the community and put into juvenile institution, and that's ridiculous," Satterberg said.

Satterberg wants a "one-strike" limit.

As Exhibit B, he cites the case of a 17-year-old charged with shooting two men in SeaTac. He was in detention the year before for carrying a gun.

Every year, teens are involved in 60 unlawful gun possession cases in King County. Punishment didn't stop five of them, who now face serious prison time for other crimes.

Fourteen-year-old Gabriel Gazga says the threat of a few days detention won't stop gang members he knows from packing a pistol.

"I know a lot of people that got guns," he said. "Gotta protect themselves. Somebody pulls a gun on them, gotta have protection, too."

His mother, Rosa Gazga, agrees with the prosecutor's plan to push lawmakers for tougher sentences.

"Only one time catch you, and you go to jail," she says.

Satterberg will ask lawmakers to stiffen sentences for young offenders so they can get counseling about consequences early before they pull the trigger.