Two people have been killed, and at least 24 other people -- one of them a 12-year-old girl -- have been wounded in shootings across the city since Friday afternoon.
You can read the list at the link, but there are no surprises there. This is what happens when guns are as available as they are in Chicago.
In spite of what the gun-rights folks keep saying, this does not prove Chicago's tough gun laws don't work. What this proves is that tough gun laws which are isolated in one particular city are useless if the surrounding cities and states have more lenient policies. What this proves is that gun-rights activism, although it sounds great with all the talk of freedom and rights, is a total failure in practice.
Gun rights policies which are supposedly geared towards protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens are directly responsible for arming the criminals. That's why I blame the NRA and it's supporters as well as the folks who support loose gun laws.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
" What this proves is that tough gun laws which are isolated in one particular city are useless if the surrounding cities and states have more lenient policies."
ReplyDeleteBy your logic, those surrounding cities and states should have a higher rate of "gun crime."
Which they do not.
Culture is to blame here. Not guns.
ReplyDeleteCulture is to blame, combined with gun availability. And guess whose fault that is?
DeleteObama's fault.
DeleteAmerica has had guns all along, and the crime rate goes up and down without relation to gun availability or number. The rate is currently down and going lower. That must by why you insist that gun ownership is declining, Mikeb. You can't bring yourself to admit that crime and guns aren't fundamentally tied together.
DeleteSince the surrounding areas aren't going to make their gun laws stricter, how about Chicago loosens its laws. That way, good citizens of Chicago can have guns, too.
ReplyDeleteMikeB: “What this proves is that tough gun laws which are isolated in one particular city are useless if the surrounding cities and states have more lenient policies.”
ReplyDeleteSo then what you are saying is that the tough laws only affect those who want to lawfully own a gun in Chicago while having zero affect on crime. Sure, you’d like Chicago laws everywhere, because you think it would start working at that point, but why hold onto local laws that are- to quote you: “useless”? At the same time that you admit this, why do you fight state preemption laws?
I saw a rough draft of a bill to be introduced soon that CHL holders are going to be permitted to carry on passanger planes. How they intend to work this out is way past me. But I remember a time that you could do just such a thing and there was no such thing as a "CHL" anywhere.
ReplyDeleteBut Mike, your constant posting of gun violence has convinced me to do something that I have never really considered before. Since I am retiring and handing over operations of this place to another as of two weeks from now, I am keeping all of my work arms instead of letting them go to the next hand. Personal arms not withstanding as those are family items. But I have just purchased myself an all stainless steel Kimber .45 full size (like my Colt) and that is going to be my daily carry, every day, everywhere.
Its the posts of mayhem everywhere. The posts of "you better stock up" if Obama gets re-elected. The implications of licensed carriers everywhere are commiting crimes, of which I find hard to belive and the reports dont support, but if its true then my self protection is even more needed from these people. Its the crazy law syndrome that makes me think about my safety. It has not made me paranoid, but opened my eyes to the possibility of things going wrong anywhere, anytime. Those posts have not made me a gun slinger but the posibility of running into gun slingers in any crowd.
Mike, your site has been very educational for me, providing me a look at the rest of the world that I was not exactly attuned to. Showing me that there are far more crazies out there than I would have belived. So I will be carrying for self protection now, instead of just wearing it to keep someone elses hands off of it when I went into a store. I know that hand guns were the most popular to steal out of a vehicle, I have never lost one but I have known those that have.
For me, its not about exercising a right or privalge. Its not about beating the drum for gun rights or the anti. It about the information that you have provided for me about the crazy world around me. But I will thank you for this new sight that you have given me about the rest of the world, even tho I never thought it would have been this way.
And its not just this site that I have read or even made a few comments on, altho this one I have commented the most on. I have read both the pro and con. But yours is unique in its way of presenting things as well as the discussion afterwards. To get a broader perspective of these issues, I have visited a number of sights, altho I have seen just a few people on each sight that commonly post just like on here, using lots of different blog sights have done their part of convincing me to change my perspective as well. But I am not thanking them Mike because you have been the most kind to me.
I will be signing off for a while, as I have a lot to do concerning the transition to retirement and the take over of another for my duties. Who knows, maybe I will become "the most interesting person in the world"!! LOLs! Its been fun and interesting guys, have fun! Texas Colt carry, carring a Kimber, retiring my Colt but not letting go of it.
Thanks for that, I think.
DeleteBest of luck with the retirement. I'm sure it will be wonderful.
MikeB wrote,
ReplyDelete"What this proves is that tough gun laws which are isolated in one particular city are useless if the surrounding cities and states have more lenient policies."
What this proves is that violent criminals will always find ways to acquire and use weapons. If the entire U.S. had laws like Chicago, criminals would simply purchase guns from smugglers or make "zip" guns with $20 worth of parts from their local hardware store.
Gun control laws will never affect criminals. They will only disarm citizens who have no intention of harming fellow citizens. Instead, citizens will be at the mercy of violent criminals -- who by the way have no mercy. Why does anyone promote this?
"What this proves is that violent criminals will always find ways to acquire and use weapons."
DeleteWrong. Haven't you ever participated in those tedious discussions about how the criminals in the UK began using knives. They did that so much that restrictions and controls being being instituted on knives. You know what the result of that is? Intentional homicide per capita is 5 times lower there than in the States.
And the U.K. is an island with European neighbors that also have strict gun laws. We have a long border with Mexico. We also have a lot more guns than Europeans ever had. But yes, when one ban doesn't work, try another--don't you get it? It's all about control. We've also shown you that the numbers aren't that different in the U.K. and the U.S., especially when compared with South Africa, et al.
DeleteIt's not about control, it's about minimizing gun availability to criminals and the unfit.
DeleteWhat you showed about the US, UK and south Africa was only convincing to you. What I saw is the UK has 5 times the intentional homicide rate as the US. I find that convincing.
The point is that both the U.S. and the U.K. have such low rates that any difference looks huge. But compare the U.S. to South Africa. We both have long borders with unstable nations, but they have strict gun control, and we don't. Which one has a better murder rate?
DeleteMike would argue that South Africa is an uncivilized country and shouldn't be held to the same crime standards as the US or UK.
DeleteAnd what about Jamaica? Strict guns laws there too, but they should be relaxed and enjoying the Cheetos, rather than murdering each other.
DeleteMike- Chicago no longer has any different gun laws than it's outer Suburbs. Only difference is that Chicago residents have to obtain a license to own a handgun. This is just a way for Chicago to make money that it so desperately needs.
ReplyDeleteIf the question is why are their so many shooting injuries and deaths in Chicago? The answer is that inner city youth have no respect for human life. Maybe we could start there.