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The ballyhoo over the Supreme Court's recent decision that declared Washington DC's handgun ban
unconstitutional, and therefore implied the same for Chicago, didn't last through the holiday. Unfortunately, neither did five poor souls who fell victim to gun violence in downtown Chicago during the long weekend.
“Why should our streets be open to someone carrying a gun?” Daley remarked after the Supreme Court handed down the ruling. “Do [people] have a right to carry a gun on the CTA?” Daley's theatric rant blamed the rich and the powerful for protecting themselves but not the poor. “Those who are rich always feel safe ... those who are in power always feel safe.”
But after the violence this past weekend, Daley must face a stubborn fact: handgun bans don't actually prevent people from committing violence with hand guns. Handguns are illegal in Chicago, and yet on July 4th, four people were shot by handguns as they walked home from the fireworks display in Grant Park. Moreover, it is entirely likely these hand guns were brought to the fireworks show on CTA transportation. Fitting isn't it.
This is not unusual, in fact. Every day, innocent people in Chicago are killed by hand guns despite the ban. Chicago reported 442 homicides in 2007, according to Wikipedia. And yet, Daley would have us believe the law is keeping the “poor” people safe.
Of course, Daley could step up enforcement. He could put an officer armed with an assault rifle on every corner of the city. But still there would likely be some incidence of illegal gun violence. He simply doesn't have the power to control human behavior, no matter how much prohibition is enforced. Banning anything only drives it under ground.
We certainly should not be irresponsible with guns. But we shouldn't run roughshod over our constitutional rights in support of laws that embolden politicians but don't do much for public safety.
Daley would do better to focus on things that are within his control, like the safety issues on the CTA.
Comments
Hear hear!
It is ludicris to suggest that this is a "class" issue. The poor are not able to afford body guard and security, and thus are the very ones denied the ability to lawfully secure their own safety. Instead, only gangster criminals who generally obtain their weapons by theft (from private citizens or police) keep and bear arms.
The particular policies endorsed by Daley serve the criminal element by ensuring a pacified populace rich and easy for abuse. Would increased private firearms ownership increase the death rate by firearms? Possibly, but only because those who once preyed freely upon the law abiding would now face the possibilty of lawfully applied lethal force. In the US, the rights of the police and the government to bear arms and use lethal force is derived from the right of the people to bear arms and use lethal force. Daley has lost sight of such fundamental American principles.
Absolutely. When Daley finishes acting out his child-like response to the Heller decision, he ought to face facts one of the most compelling is, "...handgun bans don't actually prevent people from committing violence with hand guns." The 27 words comprising the second amendment clearly grant "the people" the right to keep and bear arms. What's unclear about that? Now, with Heller, the law of the land is that responsible, law abiding Americans can, if they choose, protect themselves in their homes with loaded handguns. Daley can and probably will waste a significant amount of Chicago's resources in a failed effort to avoid the implications of Heller, but he's not going to change it unless he thinks he can amend the U.S. Constitution, which, of course, is something he can't do.
Poor Boss Daley, he just can't begin to comprehend that good people have a right to armed self defense, even while he enjoys armed security guards at taxpayer expense.
The law-abiding poor of Chicago have no option under Daley's gun ban: they are legally disarmed, they can not afford armed security guards (like Boss Daley), and they can't afford to move out of the poor neighborhoods in which they are trapped and left vulnerable. I guess some people are more equal than others under Boss Daley's view point.
Perhaps Boss Daley should go into Chicago's most violent neighborhoods and direct his indignant self righteous ranting towards the criminals who commit the crimes. He can take Jesse Jackson along with him too. Go figure why that'll never happen.
Amen to this article, Daley is an idiot.
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