(courtesy chicagotribune.com)

My J-school prof told me never to put statistics in the opening paragraph. I agree. While the numbers in the chicagotribune.com story Chicago’s gun violence up from a year ago, topping 1,000 victims earlier are compelling, I’ll save them for after the jump. Meanwhile, note that the term “gun violence” is a done deal in the mainstream media. And check out this quote that the Trib dredged up in their search for “good news” about the Windy City’s dramatic increase in firearms-related deaths and injuries . . .

The numbers are startling. But not necessarily telling, said James Alan Fox, a criminologist from Northeastern University in Boston, who suggested that Chicago is in some ways the victim of its own success in reducing violence from its high-water mark a couple of decades ago.

“Maybe (Chicago) just started to hit a low point with gun violence and now you’ve got sort of a bounce back,” he said.

So the new numbers are “normal” – and that’s not that terrible. Gotcha. But I don’t think the Boston academician’s attempt at “context” will soften the blow delivered by the facts of the matter. Specifically . . .

The number of people shot this year in Chicago passed 1,000 late last week, a somber milestone reached days earlier than in past years.

Consider that through the end of May, fewer than 1,000 people had been shot in the larger cities of New York and Los Angeles combined. By early Monday, after another blur of weekend violence, about 1,050 people had been shot in Chicago since the year began, according to the Tribune’s data . . .

Shootings in Chicago exceed those in the nation’s two larger cities this year even though New York and Los Angeles are each seeing an uptick in violence over the last two years.

Through the end of May, 510 people had been shot in New York City — a city more than three times the size of Chicago — compared with 467 during the year-earlier period, a 9 percent increase, according to New York Police Department statistics.

In L.A., a city with over a million more people than Chicago, 438 people had been shot as of May 30, a 21 percent increase during the year-earlier period when there were 362, Los Angeles Police Department statistics show.

So Chicago has some “special” problems, then, even when compared to other Democratically-controlled cities where gun control means no guns for law-abiding residents.

And if we’re playing the “gun violence correlation game” please note that Chicago has 2.79m inhabitants. Houston is America’s next most populous conurbation with 2.3m residents. breitbart.com reports 53 people died from firearms-related fatalities in Houston in the first quarter of tho year. Chicago’s firearms-related death toll from January to May, 2015: 161.

Anyway, the Trib article offers two more explanations for the firearms-related deaths and injuries. Not enough investment in poorer neighborhoods and . . . wait for it . . . the supply of illegal guns.

Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has said in the past that the constant flow of illegal firearms through dangerous neighborhoods is a bigger problem in Chicago than it is in New York or Los Angeles.

In other words, Chicago’s gang problems, deeply embedded in the city’s culture of official corruption, are not the root cause of the carnage. People are being shot in Chicago because guns. Not to coin a phrase, this is what happens to a disarmed populace, exploited by political leaders who accept poverty, crime, gangster culture and the collapse of the education system as the cost of doing business.

 

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45 COMMENTS

      • Thanks to Michael Moore, Mary Shepard, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association, that is no longer the case. U.S. Law abiding types are also now carrying in Chicago.

  2. As the liberal politicians cry “We need more gun control laws”…..

    They know damn well more gun laws isn’t the answer (and actually only makes the issue worse). They have no intention of actually addressing the root causes. Their real agenda is to keep the public diverted and keep themselves in power, by polarizing the voting public and making them think they need to keep voting for Dems so they can pass more gun control laws (and that will be the answer to their crime issues). They are not insane*. They are Politicians.
    —
    * Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
    – Albert Einstein

  3. I would like to know the number of shootings in Houston, TX this year is. Population is about 500,000 or so less, but I would bet the number of shootings is half at least that of Chicago. Even in “the Wild West” that is Texas “gun crazy” culture.

  4. ” . . .Chicago’s gang problems, deeply embedded in the city’s culture of official corruption, are not the root cause of the carnage. . .”

    But, of course, the culture of official corruption in every sector of Chicago’s government coupled with the related intentional destruction black family structures and values ARE the root causes of the carnage. Official corruption goes hand in hand with Progressive/Fascist politics. Fascist Italy was corrupt to the core. Oh, yeah. The trains did run on time. Wonder if the trains run on time in Chicago?

  5. Cause guns,
    Yet again……

    Solution……?
    Cry over guns,
    Yet again.

    Fix problems?
    YEAH RIGHT
    Yet again.

  6. What are the meanings of the dots and background colors in the lead image? I can guess, but we really ought to have the legends.

    Anecdotally, we recognize that there is some correlation between gun-violence incidents and demographics. However, this correlation never seems to be brought out in sharp relief such as via multiple-regression factors, tables or maps. I think it would strongly benefit a broad understanding of the problem to publish such data in a form – color-coded maps – that the public will understand.

    If we could manage this the public would have to face-up to the fact that OFWGs are not an important part of the demographic relationship to gun-violence.

    Moreover, imagine overlaying the maps of gun-crime and drug-use. Now, invite the observer to consider the correlation between the propensity to violate the law by:
    – using illegal drugs; vs.
    – using illegal guns.
    How about mounting a multi-billion dollar War-on-Illegal-Guns targeted directly at the communities suffering from gun violence? No? Ok, so, then we can resume the war on OFWGs putting them in prison so that more violent criminals can be paroled. (Bearing in mind that these OFWGs can’t pay taxes or support their families while doing time).

  7. can’t wait for that presidential library to be built…will there be any books in there with the word “gun” in them?

  8. Do the pol. masters of Chi town even care that some of their voters are essentially being slowly quelled by other residents? hahahaha sorry couldnt even keep a straight face for that long 🙂

    More breakdown of the image with a legend would be great, I bet I could troll around on heyjackass for some of that info.

    “So Chicago has some “special” problems” Like figuring out why the residents want to act like theyre having an inner city bush war.

  9. “I’m not going to mention these numbers in my opening paragraph, so don’t mind me while I mention these numbers”

  10. I don’t remember ever laughing out loud because of anything I’ve read here, but asserting that Chicago has been a victim of their own success at reducing crime got me.

  11. Hated chicago before i became passionate about guns, still hate it after. If i never had to drive into the city again i wouldn’t be bothered.

    Build a wall around it with armed guards who inspect like border agents see how the numbers roll then. Nobody in or out without a proper reason.

  12. FIX IT TIL IT’S BROKE!!!

    Why is it, that the racist, sexist, homophobe, evil, worthless liberal gun-grabbers want so many people to suffer a wrongful death?

    This is a sampling of what they hope for us all. They can SAY that they’re not disarming us for the next Civil War, or War with China, but what would they say if they were.

  13. The state of Idaho has about 1.5 million residents. Idaho has “incredibly lax gun control laws” according to the Brady Bunch – we rate an “F” on their “scorecard” – the only state with a lower numerical rating than Idaho is Utah (we are working on it). We have no restrictions on private-party sales, we issue a carry permit that is valid on public university campuses, we have lots of shooting ranges and places to shoot on public land, we have no “unloaded and locked” storage laws, we have no restrictions on magazine capacity or “bad” guns – heck, machine guns are legal (following Fed laws).

    With all of this laxity, the state is “awash in guns”. What is the result? TOTAL murders for the entire state of Idaho average around 25-30 per year. What is that, about one weekend in Chicago? Oh yeah, our home invasion robbery rate is close to zero. Successful home invasions are statistically non-existent in the rural parts of Idaho, and the potential crooks here are cunning enough to realize that the odds of them walking out of a home invasion robbery are nearly 1000-1 against.

    The leftists here in Idaho have pretty well given up on “reasonable” gun control, although they do need to be swatted down every few years.

  15. NYC is stacked on top of itself. The battle ground is in the streets, too many witnesses and cops in a densely occupied area.
    LA is spread out. Drive by’s with incursions into other gang turf for cycling of revenge shooting. Maybe the turf is better defined and defendable But you car is identifiable you can’t be too local.
    Chicago has the “Projects” that are difficult to police and yet the combatants have shoot and run into a residential block to escape.
    It could be that the physical arrangement of the battle fields in Chicago is a large contributing factor to how the gang battles create a larger number of casualties.

    • That’s an astute observation. Having been a reluctant NYC resident for a few years, I concur.

    • The major projects have been demolished (Cabrini Green, Robert Taylor) and the former residents dispersed, often using Section 8 housing. Much of what’s going on can be attributed to turf wars between gangs who have been forced into the neighborhoods previously controlled by other gangs.

      Of course, the Mayor, Je$$e Jackson, and a few others will tell you it’s all because of guns.

  17. Miami had a similar amount of shootings during most of the 1980s. At no time did the local and state authorities consider gun bans, restrictions, and so forth.

    Yeah I’m aware Hughes passed in 1986 but despite popular culture, we weren’t using machine guns on each other down here.

    Heck, in the late 80s Florida shifted gears to the first completely “shall-issue” state.

    The solution to the problem was education and more judicious police work.

    Of course in an ideal world, selling drugs wouldn’t be a crime, but one step at a time…

    • Selling drugs isn’t a crime, as long as the government can tax it and the politicians get generous kick backs and sponsored vacations. Drug lords don’t negotiate with terrorists bottom.feeders hence why we have illegal drugs

  18. The vast majority of shootings are concentrated on the south and west sides.THAT’S where the wall should be…and I’ve been in every neighborhood of the city. Oddly one would expect way more deaths but a lot of shooters are young punks with 22’s. THe MURDER rate was MUCH higher from the 70’s through the early 90″s(look it up)…

    • “The vast majority of shootings are concentrated on the south and west sides.THAT’S where the wall should be”

      That is racist and shocking coming from a random internet name who claims to be married to a beautiful black woman. That wall would affect minorities rights worse than stop and frisk, or are you saying it is a warzone consisting of domestic terrorists aided by the community. Don’t black lives matter to you?

      It is a lot easier to blame the bad members of society than to accept the good members are responsible, and who have allowed through tax payer funding for the bad to fester.

      “Evil triumphs when goodmen do nothing”, Mr. Burke never saw how evil triumphs amongst comfortable men.

      • Amazing you pay attention to me- I have NO memory of YOU. I also don’t care what you think-the goofy black folks vote the dumbocrats in year after year and support azzwholes like Jesse J. and Fadder Pflegma. They have poured BILLIONS into these cesspools. THE black churches may be the biggest offenders-a church on every corner and it’s just getting worse-and they just continue to blame white folks,Republicans, the NRA and the PO-leece for every evil.They should be advocating CC and guarding their own-but then it might be their own son,brother or nephew they SHOOT. AND my beautiful brown bunny grew up on the Westside-she said it was a nice place until the 1968 riots-when black lowlifes burned it down and looted. And I used to go all over Chicago-I sold alarms on Douglass Blvd and sold insurance in Altgeld Gardens. I sure as hell wouldn’t do that NOW-without an armed guard slick-take care of that corn…

        • You sold insurance in Altgeld? You must have a big set.

          Ever run into Barack while he was organizing?

        • “They should be advocating CC and guarding their own-but then it might be their own son,brother or nephew they SHOOT.” I take it that you may have some insight into the Black-aversion-to-arms. Could you please elaborate?

          Having no such insight, I imagine that when peaceable Black people realize that the police are not-enough to defend them; and that the police are apt to shrink in the face of activist and political pressure; that eventually they will take-up responsibility for defending themselves. Why does this not happen?

          I could understand a reluctance to shoot one’s on son, brother or nephew. However, I imagine that most Black-on-Black crime is perpetrated by neighbors not kin. Moreover, I imagine that criminals would try to perpetrate their crimes a block or two away from their own homes so as to reduce the risk of being recognized and denounced to the police. Why would a Black victim be any more reluctant to shoot a Black perpetrator not-his-kin to an extent beyond which a White victim would prefer not to shoot a perpetrator regardless of color?

          It seems to me that it would advance the defense of the 2A to enlist peaceable Blacks, Hispanics and Asians into the gun-culture. To do so, we need to better understand their world-views.

        • Avid Reader-THIS was around 1990-they all thought I was a COP-had a Malibu 2 door classic-the brothers wanted to BUY itLOL-Douglas Blvd was scarier-and yeah I was a big strong (and much younger )guy back then-didn’t get into the scary places I’ve been to as an antique dealer. AND it’s MUCH worse now-lots of 14year olds spraying and NOT praying. AND I was completely unarmed then(except my arms were 19″ then)LOL…

        • Maybe I DID meet Barry-I worked at McCormick Hotel in the health club Circa 84-86-Lots of Hyde Park people came through(with funny names)lol…nearly got run over by William Perry(the Fridge)on the day he got famous in 1985(in the gift shop),met Walter Payton,worked out with Secret Service agents who were there for Reagan,knew the Honeybears(before they got kicked out ). Long ago and far away…

        • And MarkPa-I have NO insights a helluva’ lot of other folks don’t have-no excuse in this country-I was just out in my south suburban town south of Chicago-lots of young black kids walking around acting STUPID-and I was on a bike so I didn’t just whiz by-BTW at a Catholic church in suburban Tinley Park(west of Chiraq) fadder Pfleger is doing an anti-“violence” thing and THE Illinois State Rifle Assoc.(Rich Pearson) is meeting the fadder with as many protestors as possible-wish I could get there-BREAKING-cops to be indicted in Tamir Rice shooting(it never ends huh?)

  19. Congrats to Rahm for turning the whole city into Cabrini Green. They said it couldn’t be done, but he done it.

  20. Wait a minute. They might be right people certainly won’t get shot of there are no guns. And by no guns, I mean NO guns. Not gun control that only disarms those who obey the law. And there may be more illegally acquired arms in Chicago than NYC and LA – I haven’t seen data saying one or the other. And if there are more guns acquired illegally, it stands to reason there will be greater usage of said guns.

    BUT

    This is meaningless. Does anybody really think violence would stop because everybody is nofuns? The inevitable result will be improvised weapons. Whether homemade explosives or cutting or bludgeoning implements, I don’t know. The root cause isn’t guns, it’s people.

  21. I’m not trying to piss anyone off, but Chicago is no longer a “gun control” paradise. Yes we have a FOID cards, but there are no ristrictions on handguns, 15 round restrictions on rifles and we are SHALL ISSUE. Yes there is a history of real gun restrictions, but a lot of that is gone.

  23. Each day people get on an airplane, they undergo an unconstitutional strip search without a warrant in the name of public safety. Perhaps it’s time to declare marshal law in the city of Chicago, put it on lockdown and go door to door of every house with the national guard and find all the illegal guns, you know, in the name of public safety!

    • Not a bad idea! Lots of the residents of these precincts are on-probation or parole. As such, their 4A rights are suspended. I.e., there is NO Constitutional impediment for searching their homes.

      Let’s substitute Knock-and-Search for Stop-and-Frisk. Likely illegal gun-keepers shouldn’t be hard to find from probation/parole rap-sheets. Shouldn’t need to resort to SWAT-team no-knock raids. A simple knock-on-the-door; “This is Parole-Officer Friendly; open-the-door!” A few officers and some day laborers do a painstakingly dusting of the place and thank the residents for their courtesy.

      Should have pretty much the same result as Stop-and-Frisk. After initially finding some guns, the yield should drop precipitously. Regular raids should dramatically increase the risk of a parolee/probationer getting caught with a gun – whether it be his own or a 2A-able roommate’s.

      Prohibited-persons in the targeted areas are going to have to find safe-storage options; i.e., in the homes of girlfriends who are not themselves parolees/probationers. Bear in mind the old adage: What is the difference between love and herpes? Herpes is forever! How many criminals will retrieve their guns before getting caught stepping out on their warehousewomen? The Anti’s won’t have to pony up grocery gift cards to initiate gun-turn-ins anymore.

  24. How do the Houston numbers compare with pre-Katrina numbers?
    Or have all the Ray Nagin voters left Houston by now?

  25. We all know that all those OFWGs in gun shops and shows in Indiana are sending a river of iron in trucks and distributing them free to all of the aspiring rappers who are about to turn their lives around in Chiraq.

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