Guns needed to stop Chicago murders

Homicide soars in nation's new gun-control capital

If Chicago were serious about bringing its violent crime problem under control, it would recognize the constitutional right of residents to use firearms to protect themselves.

The city's troubles are so extreme that a pair of state lawmakers are calling on a fellow Democrat, Gov. Pat Quinn, to deploy the National Guard to help restore calm. The latest figures show that Chicago had racked up 122 homicides for the year, exceeding the 116 killings over the comparable period in 2009, a very bad year. Among the top 10 U.S. cities, Chicago is within shooting distance of advancing from second place to win the dubious distinction of being the U.S. murder capital. It's no coincidence that the Windy City is already the U.S. gun-control capital.

Since 1982, Chicago has banned the private ownership of handguns and rifles by requiring a convoluted registration process designed to be impossible to complete. Exceptions to the rules enable politicians and their personal friends to own and even carry handguns - but nobody else. This unconstitutional scheme has been a colossal failure. Before the ban took effect, Chicago's murder rate had been falling relative to the nine other largest cities, the 50 largest cities, the five counties that border Cook County, and the United States as a whole. After the ban, Chicago's murder rate rose relative to all these locations. During the first 19 years of the ban, there were just three years when the murder rate was as low as when the ban started.

Such facts are not important to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who continues to insist that more gun-control laws are the "solution" to his crime problem - as if hardened thugs carefully consulted the book of municipal ordinances before embarking on a crime spree. A more rational analysis would conclude that the restrictions apply only to good, law-abiding people looking for a way to defend themselves and their families. When the thugs know victims are defenseless, they pounce.

That means it is up to the Supreme Court to restore to Chicagoans their fundamental right to self-defense. In the pending case of McDonald v. Chicago, a number of residents are asking the high court to apply the reasoning it used to strike down Washington's gun ban. It is worth noting that a year after the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller ruling, Washington's murder rate dropped 25 percent - without resorting to using the National Guard.

Encouraging personal ownership of guns is the only proven solution to Chicago's crime problem.

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Georgia woman wrestles gunman, takes gun, then shoots him: "LaGrange Police say a woman wrestled a gunman, injuring him. A 27-year-old woman told police early Tuesday, David Jackson, 39, attacked her at an Old Airport Road home around 5:30 a.m. The woman said she had just arrived with her sister and her children, when Jackson tried to shoot her. The woman recounts she managed to grab the gun and shot Jackson in self-defense. When officers arrived, they found Jackson on the ground with gun wounds in a leg and an arm. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment. Jackson faces aggravated assault, stalking, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, criminal damage to property, criminal trespass and cruelty to children."


Florida ATM user Shoots Would-Be Robber: "A man turned the tables on his would-be robber while he was pulling out cash at an ATM, police said. Winter Garden Police said the victim was at the Wachovia ATM at 801 S. Dillard St. early Friday morning when he was approached by a man with a gun. The victim, who has a concealed weapons permit, pulled out a gun of his own and opened fire at the robber, identified as Tommie R. Ward, while he was being shot at himself, according to police. Ward, 18, was shot three times and fled the scene with two other people, police said. Police said officers caught up with the Ward’s vehicle about a mile away where he crashed the car. Ward was taken into custody and transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, police said. He is in stable condition. Police said at this time the man who shot the robbery suspect faces no charges.


Texas teenager shot while allegedly trying to rob a taco stand: "A 16-year-old is taken to the hospital after being shot while trying to rob a taco stand, police said. It happened late Thursday night at Monterrey Park off West Commerce Street on the city’s west side. Investigators believe two people with a gun walked up to the taco stand and demanded money from the owner. That’s when police say the owner pulled out his own gun. “The owner of the taco stand shot the actor instead of giving up money,” said Captain Chris Andersen with the San Antonio Police Department. Andersen says, the 16-year old suspect was shot in the upper left side of his chest and collapsed to the ground. The other suspect ran into a nearby apartment complex, where police tell us he was arrested. Police tell us the taco stand’s owner is not facing any charges."