Flanked by several parents who had lost children to gun violence, Mayor Richard Daley on Monday called for new laws to restrict gun sales and stiffen penalties for criminals who use them.
Although Daley announces new gun-control initiatives every year, this year's announcement took on added significance because the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to overturn the city's handgun ban.
Daley backed changes to state law that would require background checks for those buying a gun in a private sale, ban assault weapons, require that gun dealers be licensed and limit the number of handgun purchases to one per person per month. Those were all ideas that failed in previous legislative sessions.
This time, the mayor also is asking the General Assembly to make it a Class 1 felony to knowingly sell a gun to a known gang member, stiffen penalties for unlawfully using a weapon and require "micro-stamping" of guns that make it easier to match weapons used in crimes.
One interesting thing is that Mayors like Daley and Bloomberg keep getting re-elected in spite of their gun control opinions. Why do you think that is? In the case of Mayor Daley, it's with a majority of 70%. How can we explain that given the extensive grass-roots support for the 2nd amendment?
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
MikeB: “One interesting thing is that Mayors like Daley and Bloomberg keep getting re-elected in spite of their gun control opinions. Why do you think that is? In the case of Mayor Daley, it's with a majority of 70%. How can we explain that given the extensive grass-roots support for the 2nd amendment?”
ReplyDeleteBecause gun ownership is much more prevalent in rural areas. This is why the Supreme Court needs to step in to prevent the trampling of rights of the minority gun owners in urban areas (like myself). The voters certainly aren’t going to stop them. My question is why do Bloomberg and Daley keep calling for more gun control when they already have the strictest laws in the nation? I thought the slippery slope is a fabrication of the NRA to sell more guns?
-TS
In Chicago, that kind of electoral success indicates that the candidate polls very well among dead people.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in Chicago they vote early and vote often.
ReplyDeleteBut joking aside, is it a rural / urban thing as TS said?
Daley is right. Gun control is obviously not working so obviously they need more gun control. Of course!
ReplyDeleteMake the illegal illegal some more.
What they really need is to make murder illegal. I mean sure, it is illegal now but people are still killing each other by the hundreds in Chicago. If they would just make it illegal some more, then everything would be all right.
More murder control! Its for the children.
Hmmm, - Daley's the "do it again only harder" type. His draconian gun control in Chicago isn't working, even with outright bans, so he's trying to get the State of Illinois to pass the same BS laws that aren't working in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteThat is the very definition of insanity. I can't wait for the SCOTUS to knock this bigoted asshole down a peg.
Mikeb30200:
ReplyDeleteDaley get's re-elected because he's a crooked liberal pol, unlike that true patriot, Maricopa County (AZ) Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Mikeb says:
ReplyDeleteYeah, in Chicago they vote early and vote often.
But joking aside, is it a rural / urban thing as TS said?
Who's joking? Chicago has been (in)famous for corruption for decades.
As for your question, restrictive gun laws do seem to be popular, or at least accepted, in many large cities, especially in the Northeast and Midwest. Cities like Chicago and New York have been indoctrinated over the course of generations in the kind of hive-mind, slave mentality that embraces forcible citizen disarmament.
As democommie mentioned somewhere else, what about all that "hive-mind, slave mentality that embraces" the pro-gun position?
ReplyDeleteYou guys sound like broken records.
Mikeb says:
ReplyDeleteAs democommie mentioned somewhere else, what about all that "hive-mind, slave mentality that embraces" the pro-gun position?
In what way is equipping oneself for armed defense of one's life and liberty even vaguely reminiscent of a "hive mind, slave mentality"? Nanny-state collectivism shrieks in horror at such individual empowerment.
You guys sound like broken records.
We seem to be making some progress (albeit slowly) against the scourge of oppressive gun laws, using the arguments we are now--why change strategies? If you're getting tired of hearing it, consider backing off from the forcible citizen disarmament agenda--making our message unnecessary.