Chicago and Guns

In June 2010 the US Supreme Court ruled that citizens in Chicago have a constitutional "right to keep and bear arms", striking down its handgun ban. In the immediate years that followed the violent crime rate dropped despite predictions of carnage in the streets. The majority of the gun owners are white, however, where most of the violent crime is committed by blacks and Hispanics.

It seems now, though, Chicago's violent crime rate is way up, reaching its 500th homicide for the year. Hard to blame on the second amendment though as it has been pinned on a spike in gang violence.

McCarthy and other officials blame the surge on a splintering of the city's traditional gangs and the rise of new cliques and factions that are vying, often violently, for control of turf on the city's south and west sides.

The spike in homicides was especially dramatic in the first quarter of the year, when murders jumped 66 percent. So far in the fourth quarter, McCarthy said, the murder rate is down 15 percent compared with the same period last year. Police have arrested 7,000 more gang members this year than in 2011, he said.

"We're doing what we can do and it's working," McCarthy said.

Who would have thought tougher policing, targeting the actual criminals, would work? Especially since 91.5% of homicide offenders have a prior arrest record - maybe the revolving door of Leftist justice can now be shut?

In response to the Supreme Court decision Chicago politicians immediately enacted strict laws to limit the amount of new guns.

To comply, gun owners must acquire a state firearm-owner identification card, undergo three background checks, take a training class, practice shooting at a range, pay $100 plus $15 per gun, and register with the police department. Registrations started last July 12.

But only a fraction of those who own guns in Chicago have bothered to register. And most of those who have registered are from white, low crime areas where most of the crime is gang related and committed by blacks and Hispanics. The idiocy of gun regulations is illustrated here

But observers in Chicago say there are other factors at work here: More convicted felons—most of whom can't legally own guns—live in south- and west-side neighborhoods, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. There's also a higher level of distrust of the police in black and Latino communities, which means fewer people there are willing to register a gun with the CPD. More retired cops live on the northwest and southwest sides. And concerns about racial change, especially on the diversifying southwest side, has also accompanied anxiety about safety, some residents say.

John Lott, an economist who argues that gun control laws like Chicago's actually lead to higher crime, says the cost of meeting the gun application's training and registration requirements essentially discriminates against low-income black communities. In Chicago, the training and permit fees cost about $250 on top of the price of the gun.

"Those who are most likely to be victims of crime benefit the most from owning guns, and unfortunately, that is one very well defined group in our country, poor blacks who live in high crime urban areas such as Chicago," Lott wrote in an e-mail. "But these white, middle class areas can much more easily afford the fees to register their guns and to go through the training requirements."

Roderick Sawyer, alderman of the Sixth Ward, is skeptical of that theory. "It's like buying a car," he says. "If you want one you'll find a way to do it."

Sawyer's south-side ward includes struggling, high-crime areas in Englewood as well as middle-class parts of Chatham where residents are openly talking about getting guns because of crime concerns. He says it's appropriate to have "reasonable restrictions" on gun ownership in the city, though it's also clear that many people aren't complying with the law. He recalled an evening when he offered to walk a senior citizen home after a community meeting.

"She moved her coat to the side and showed me she was packing," he recalls. "She said, 'How about if I walk you home?'" 

(Incidentally this is also an illustration of why the US' firearm induced homicide is so high compared to European countries - they have far more warring gang factions amongst blacks and Latinos.)