02.20.2013
Chicago Politicians Shoot for Gun Control, but Protect the Criminals
original article written by Net Advisor™
CHICAGO, IL. Chicago has the highest murder rate in the United States. There were some 506 murders in Chicago last year, that’s 16% more murders than occurred in 2011 (Source: Washington Times PDF). In fact more Americans were killed in Chicago in 2012 than Americans killed in Afghanistan.
“Chicago’s body count is 200 more than the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan last year.”
— Source: Real Clear Politics PDF
As the Gun Control proponents hit the social media and the political world, politicians in Chicago have seemed to ignore who is causing the crime. Clearly, Chicago’s ever-increasing tough gun laws are having the opposite effect (Source: Daily Mail.UK PDF). More gun control laws are not working.
An article by CBS News said that Chicago has some 100,000 gang members who commit 75-80% of the city’s homicides (PDF / Share Link). The Windy City has committed only 200 police officers to deal with the 100,000 gang members.
“Sgt. Matt Little leads one of the teams in Chicago’s Gang Enforcement Unit. There are about 200 such officers in the city — versus 100,000 gang members…Almost all the violence we’re seeing now is from the gangs,” Little said.
— Source: CBS News, 07-11-2012 (PDF)
Instead of focusing on Chicago’s gang problem, the Democratic ran government thinks that if we just have even tougher gun laws then the violence in Chicago and everywhere else will end? Chicago’s latest Mayor, Rahm Emanuel was President Obama’s Chief of Staff.
The gun control debate completely ignores the underline criminal nature that exists within the region. Instead the gun debate focuses on how government should limit law-biding citizens as to what type or style of guns they can legally own, such as “assault rifles” even though these LEGAL firearms are not the leading cause of crime in the USA.
Firearms Represent Only 9% of All Violent Crime: DOJ
A 2010 Department of Justice (DOJ) report found that 69% of all violent crimes in the USA did NOT involve any form of a weapon. In fact, the DOJ found that violent crimes that involved a firearm represented only 9% of violent crimes. The report also found that since 1993 to 2010 roughly 77% of the offenders knew their victims [Source: DOJ, National Crime Victimization Survey, 2010 (Table 4, page 8 of 20, PDF)]. This would dispute that violent crime is 77% of the time, NOT RANDOM.
Government’s Argument: Law-biding Citizens Are Guilty, Even When There is No Crime
Technically speaking no gun has ever committed a crime. It’s the user, so we must ban the weapon in case a user decides to use a weapon in the future for a non-lawful purpose. In other words, government is saying that you are guilty of a crime that you have NOT committed, nor even thought of, but that you might commit a crime in the future, and therefore we must limit or ban such weapons?
9,000 Gun Laws Aren’t Enough?
The United States has some 9,000 existing gun laws on the books, and people go to jail in most states for gun crimes, but that is irrelevant to the gun control crowd. We must ban the gun that LOOKS the scariest and does less damage on impact than a shotgun. OOPS don’t give them any ideas!
There is no national discussion about getting tough on felons, keeping felons in prison, or having the death penalty as an option for those who commit multiple murders.
Chicago Politicians Protect Felons
In fact, Illinois’ Democrat-controlled government abolished the death penalty in 2011. So if someone commits murder in Illinois, the Democrats have guaranteed that the criminal will be protected from being put to death.
The Democrats were concerned that “innocent people” allegedly have and could be put to death accidentally with a death penalty law. On top of that, the Illinois governor Pat Quinn (D), commuted the sentences of all 15 remaining inmates on Illinois’ death row.
Even though a trial court of their peers concluded that certain felons should be sentenced to death for their heinous crimes, the Democratic governor decided to just keep them in prison for life. This move may cost Illinois taxpayers $38,268 per year, per prisoner plus future health care costs. After all, you have the keep the death-row inmates healthy before they will die in prison anyway, right?
Thanks to the Democratic leadership, the felons who committed 500+ deliberate murders in Chicago last year have little to worry about. Not only will they never be at risk of the death penalty, they might not even go to jail. In fact, there is a 1 out of 3 chance they may not be punished at all.
Chicago: 50% Chance No Jail Time for Murder, 33% Chance Case Dismissed
One of the problems in Chicago is that there is a lack of prison housing. Even if convicted of a gun-related crime, there just isn’t enough room to house the current 10,000 inmates. As a result, felons get reduced sentences and are back out on the streets to re-offend someone else (Source: CBS News).
Another big problem in Chicago is a lack of willingness to prosecution crime.
“In Chicago, you’ve got a 50-50 chance that you’re not going to do any jail time almost — 33 percent of those cases are dismissed outright.”
— John Miller, former Deputy Commissioner NYPD (Source: CBS News PDF)
The DOJ data suggests that prosecution for gun-related crimes have generally trended down since 2004. Chicago ranked 80 out of 87 regions in 2011 for gun prosecutions in the USA. Los Angeles ranked 83rd, and San Francisco ranked dead last (no pun intended) at 87 – the lowest prosecution rate for gun-related crimes (Report PDF).
Firearms in Chicago
In order to purchase and own a firearm (that is not already banned) in Chicago it will cost you $100 every 3 years assuming one got approved for a local firearms license. This fee works out to be about 20% of the price for the typical hand-gun. The only purpose of this is to discourage people from owning a firearm.
Before rushing to fill out that paperwork, one also must complete no less than four hours of classroom training and one hour of range time. Getting some basic safety training and practice is a good idea, but be careful where you keep that gun. If you keep it in a garage, or have more than one in a “usable state” you are committing a crime in your own residence under Chicago law.
Chicago’s Gun Ban is Unconstitutional: U.S. Supreme Court
Chicago, like Washington DC tried to ban handguns altogether but that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court as “Unconstitutional.”
Local Chicago municipalities attempted to pass a law that violated both the 2nd and 14th Amendments. The Supreme Court upheld the 2nd Amendment based on existing case laws dating back to the 19th century [United States v. Cruikshank (1875), Presser v. Illinois (1886), and Miller v. Texas (1894)], and such Constitutional authority does apply to all U.S. states.
On June 28, 2010 a landmark decision in McDonald v. Chicago the U.S. Supreme Court determined the Second Amendment applies to the individual states. The High Court held that individuals have the right to “keep and bear arms.”
— Source: Cornell Law School
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Second Amendment, cities like Chicago are still trying to subvert the High Court for a work-around. In 2012 there were at least 9 lawsuits against the City of Chicago over lawful gun rights (Source: Chicago Tribune PDF).
Despite all the Chicago gun laws and seeking ever more, the city just isn’t enforcing the current laws, nor prosecuting or housing criminals. No wonder 100,000 gang members choose to live in Chicago.
Short link to this article: https://www.netadvisor.org/?p=16641
Further reading:
- An Analysis of Firearms and Violent Crime
- 1,000+ Army Special Forces Says ‘Americans Should Be Concerned’ About Gun Control
- National Poll Data on Gun Control (Rasmussen) (02-20-2013 PDF)
Photo Credits: As stated where known
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