Chicago, Illinois, a city that boasts of some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, has suffered 32 Shot, 2 Stabbed and 6 Dead in a short period this weekend in gang related shootings and Police gun battles.
Chicago was so fed up with gun violence years ago that they even passed laws against the discharge of toy guns within the city. City Code 8-24-040 says,
“No person shall at any time discharge or set off anywhere within the city, or have in his possession for such purpose any toy firearm, air rifle, toy cannon, or any gun that discharges projectiles either by air, spring, explosive, substance, or any other force.”
With such restrictions against even toys, one can imagine the restrictions placed upon the sale or possession of real guns within the city, mostly restricting them to personal use for self-defense, provided you have obtained the required Firearms Owner Identification Card to have behind your drivers license and provided the
Police acknowledge the legality of it, if you are forced to use your gun or are transporting it to or from a legal shooting range.
In spite of being such a restrictive zone on guns, Chicago has suffered what they are referring to as a
“Bloody Weekend” this week.
Police are blaming warmer temperatures, where high’s have been approaching
70 degrees, for the spike in violence.
It is no secret that Chicago Mayor, Richard Daley advocates a complete ban on legal guns within the city, issuing what even reporters call his
"annual push for new gun-control legislation" and joining in with others who are trying to sue gun manufacturers, blaming them for the gun violence that Illinois Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama calls
"epidemic."
Victims and students have
held marches and lobbied for even stricter gun control, but the violence in near “
gun free” Chicago continues.
While it is uncertain if legal possession of guns by law-abiding citizens might have curbed some of the violence this past weekend, condemning and demonizing guns themselves and passing ever restrictive laws doesn’t seem to be working in Chicago.
Democrats ran and won elections in 2006 on a theme of a “
New Direction for America.” Chicago has long been a Democrat stronghold.
Maybe it is time Chicago’s Politicians and authorities tried a “
New Direction” for their selves and got tough on gangbangers and other criminals instead of legal law-abiding citizens who keep legal firearms for personal use.
