"If I put this up your butt, you'll find out how effective it is. Let me put a round up your, you know." Strange words from our otherwise eloquent and contemplative mayor. This is his response to a reporter's question about the effectiveness of a 28 year gun ban in Chicago.
To be fair, it is quite aggravating to be called out publicly, and when you so thirstily pant after power, any challenge to your authority likely will stir angry feelings. But wow, to me this illustrates how personal this is to the mayor. The idea that things could get any worse is absurd. How difficult is it to see the failure of Chicago's successful erasure of constitutional rights, to keep the power of life and death in the hands of the elect.
"You have to go through driver's ed, you have to get a license, you have to pass a test for drivers, but you really don't have to do anything to own a gun." What offends me most by this explanatory statement offered by Daley, is his failure to observe that driving is not a constitutional right, where self-armament is. Not to mention he's lying or just ignorant of his own state's laws. In fact, Illinois is the only state that requires a state issued permit to purchase either a rifle or handgun. Illinois is one of two remaining states that have no provision for the concealed carry of firearms by citizens. Illinois has some of the most restrictive prerequisites for gun ownership in the entire U.S.
There's some statistical stuff out there about the effect of gun bans on violent crime. Yeah, lies, damn lies, and statistics. It's a place to start anyway. The lessons described in 25 years murder-free in 'Gun Town USA' may not apply to Chicago, but it's worth a moment's consideration.
"In March 1982, 25 years ago, the small town of Kennesaw – responding to a handgun ban in Morton Grove, Ill. – unanimously passed an ordinance requiring each head of household to own and maintain a gun. Since then, despite dire predictions of "Wild West" showdowns and increased violence accidents, not a single resident has been involved in a fatal shooting – as a victim, attacker or defender."
"By comparison, the population of Morton Grove, the first city in Illinois to adopt a gun ban for anyone other than police officers, has actually dropped slightly and stands at 22,202, according to 2005 statistics. More significantly, perhaps, the city's crime rate increased by 15.7 percent immediately after the gun ban, even though the overall crime rate in Cook County rose only 3 percent. Today, by comparison, the township's crime rate stands at 2,268 per 100,000."
No, it's not apples to apples. But comparing Morton Grove to the rest of Cook County is pretty interesting. Now that Morton Grove has chosen not to provoke a fight against 2nd amendment rights advocates, we may have a chance to see if crime jumps, falls or flatlines.
Either way, thank God I'm out of Chicago.
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