The saga continues in Chicago as violence across the US ticks upward following the Dallas police attack.
Having 115 people shot last week is incredible in lieu of what we reported earlier this year when 120 people in Chicago inside a 10 day span:
“following the seven people shot to death and 30 more wounded during the latest weekend, the total number of shootings in the windy city has risen to 120 in just over a week into the new year,according to police.”
As if that isn’t enough, recall that May was the worst month since 1995 for Chicago in terms of homicides:
Sadly, the pace of the shootings did hold, and Memorial Day weekend saw 6 people killed and another 63 wounded in a weekend that topped off the deadliest May in Chicago in 21 years according to the Chicago Tribune. Tragically, the month’s 66th and final homicide victim was just a 15 year old boy named Fabien Lavinder. The 66 homicides represented the worst May since 1995 when 75 people were killed.
Remember also that over 40 people were shot during Memorial Day weekend in Chicago also.
This whole mess will likely to get worse following the attacks that have taken place between blacks and police over the weekend. In Chicago, it’s a pressure cooker that keeps building. Something is going to cause chaos to rupture and spill throughout the city in ways far worse what we’ve witnessed in 2016 if the country keeps speeding toward maximum emotional outrage. It is high likely that this kind of long-lasting, deeply rooted rage will not go away if guns are banned.
Thumbing through the stats on HeyJackAss.com landed us on the following graphics. When it comes to victims in Chicago, nearly 80% are black. As for arresting the culprits, nearly 80% are never found.
Race of Assailant And Victim:
Percent of Police Shooting Resulting In Death or Injury:
Compiled YTD Stats for Chicago:
All of which is quite a feat for a city which ranks as one of the most regulated cities in the nation for gun control.
Concealed carry is almost nonexistent. To purchase a gun or ammunition requires a Firearm Owners Identification card in the entire state of Illinois, and additionally, a Chicago Firearm Permit – which is required to possess a firearm in Chicago.Not only are the people heavily regulated in Chicago, but guns are also heavily regulated. Any long gun with a grip protruding from the stock or a firearm with a telescoping stock is prohibited and classified as an “assault weapon.”
Magazines are limited to a 12-round capacity.
Even a spring-powered pellet gun with a muzzle velocity of 700 feet-per-second is classified as a “firearm,” although it does not use gun powder, the component that puts the “fire” in “firearm.”
A stun-gun — a non-lethal device with no projectile — is considered a deadly weapon and cannot be carried for self-defense.
Chicago, for all intents and purposes, is a “gun-free zone.”
But all the state and city regulations associated with firearms in Chicago have failed to produce a safe city, and these are the policies that President Obama and Secretary Clinton wish to extend to the rest of the country.
While saying that “criminals go out-of-state to places where it is easier to obtain guns” is often used to push gun control, it illustrates that criminals ignore gun laws in every state and that onerous access to Second Amendment rights on law abiding citizens doesn’t stop crime.
Clinton’s campaign platform includes a call for federal legislation mandating background checks on all private firearms transfers and sales. Clinton also wants to repeal the “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.” That law protects firearm manufacturers from lawsuits for negligent use of firearms.
President Obama, through is spokesman Josh Earnest, has announced, “The president has frequently pushed his team to consider a range of executive actions that could more effectively keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who shouldn’t have access to them. That’s something that is ongoing here.”
Per the president’s policy, Chicago has taken every action “that could more effectively keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who shouldn’t have access to them.”
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When emotions are this elevated, gun control will not stop the violence. The anger is rooted deep inside of how America is structured. As we posted earlier in “America Is Broken” – The Week Anger Boiled Over”
Whatever the merits of particular historic parallels, however, there is little doubt that the nation is in uncommonly volatile shape. While vexing questions of race and the criminal justice system are a big part of that, it also involves other issues, from economic insecurity to disenchantment with the political system.
Guns and their role lately are merely a reflection of the immediate frustration that has been slowly coming to a boil in the US. Going after the guns won’t stop the bombers or knifers, or people that drive through crowds with cars. The issue is not guns, it is civilians and government living under one roof with complete distrust for each other. Although, it would be nice to stop statistics like these from originating in Chicago or any other American state for that matter.
Removing guns may enable us to focus on the more important things however…
Most of the gun violence is gang related….if they take each other out that’s ok by me……..while these dirt bags are slaughtering each other the docs are getting excellent trauma based medical training
“As for arresting the culprits, nearly 80% are never found.”
Because likely half of them would be those doing the arresting.