will england :: shooting sports : politics : chicago gun banwill england :: shooting sports : politics : chicago gun banBelow is a letter I fired off to, well, everyone.
August 19, 1999
Just heard a very interesting report on NPR this morning.
Apparently, the city of Chicago is cracking down on illegal
gun sales and strawman sales. Bravo to them! The
interesting part though is the statistics quoted in the
report. Chicago has had a complete ban on handguns since
the early 1980's. However, even with this complete ban on
guns, nearly all of the 700+ murders committed in the city
last year were done with guns. Also, all but 4 of the
gang-related murders were committed with guns.
"In 1998, Chicago had 704 homicides, 536 of them
attributable to guns, police spokesman Pat Camden
said. Gangs members were responsible for 182 homicides,
all but four involving guns."
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/AP19990818_361.html (link 404, sorry)
What this says to me is that banning guns simply does not work.
The criminals (gang members) will always have guns. They are
criminals - they disobey the law. It's just that simple. The
Chicago gun-ban has not reduced crime; in fact, last year was
one of the most violent years in recent history. 1997 was nearly
as bad, with over 65,000 violent crimes, according to the FBI
crime statistics. The Chicago gun-ban has prevented law-abiding
regular people from buying guns.
And why do people need to buy guns? It's a violent world out
there. Yes, we can reduce violence by teaching our children
and avoiding violent input to our minds, but in the short
term, real world, people need protection. There were over
700 murders in Chicago last year. How many of those murders
could have been prevented if the average person had been
carrying a concealed weapon and was trained in the proper and
lawful use of the concealed weapon?
People are dying, thousands every year, because they simply
cannot purchase or legally carry a concealed weapon. This is
wrong. No amount of gun-banning or regulating will prevent
the criminals and the gang-bangers from getting their guns.
Proper enforcement of existing laws, sensible laws allowing
people to own and carry guns, and stiff punishment for
violating gun laws will make matters better.
Food for thought.
Will England
Permission to reprint or re-mail for your own use is granted, as long as original authorship is noted as being by Will England. © 2000, All Rights Reserved.
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Created October 11, 2000 :: Updated Tuesday, February 28 2006 @ 01:29pm