McCarthy (courtesy cnn.com)

“Chicago’s police superintendent lashed out at what he called lax state and federal gun laws after a violent Fourth of July weekend that saw 11 deaths in dozens of shooting incidents in a city already known for frequent shootings,” cnn.com reports. “‘There’s a greater sanction for the gang members to lose that firearm from their gang than there is to go to jail’ for illegal gun possession, Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said.” Wait, what? What do gang leaders to a member who loses a gun? Castrate them? (If only.) And the cops catch a gang banger with an illegal firearm, doesn’t that count as losing it? Anyway, CNN’s got the death toll for this weekend’s shootings wrong . . .

Fourth of July holiday weekend tally: 82 shot in Chicago, 14 of them fatally, chicagotribune.com‘s headline proclaims.

For 10 minutes, it seemed like the shooting was everywhere in the South Chicago neighborhood.

It started when someone shot and wounded a couple, then two people fired at the shooter, then there was a chase and shots exchanged and a man sitting on a porch was hit. Responding officers kept cutting each other off on their radios as they reported other gunfire in the area late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Then the heavy equipment rolled in: A helicopter and SUVs packed with lockers of rifles. SWAT teams in green coveralls patrolled the streets with uniformed officers.

Now that’s not something we’ve heard before: Chicago turning into Chiraq, complete with armored patrols. And all because of lax gun laws. Who knew?

But we do know that an armed Chicago resident stopped a burglary in the Windy City over the weekend. Strange that the superintendent didn’t mention that little victory. Maybe it’s because the news would give ammunition to all 800 citizens who’ve filed suit against the City for denying their concealed carry permit application. For reasons they refuse to specify. Again, the Tribune . . .

The state police review every application and can automatically deny any applicant who does not follow application rules, pay appropriate fees or meet standard background requirements. A provision in the law also allows local police and other officials to object to a person’s application after the applicant has passed a fingerprint background check and met the other requirements for a license.

The Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board, a panel with law enforcement backgrounds, considers the objections in private and is not required to explain the reasons behind its decisions except under order from a court, according to the state police’s interpretation of the statute.

A police superintendent that blames lax gun laws for gang violence in a city that denies its citizens their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms without explanation or due process. Connect those dots.

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86 COMMENTS

  1. I have nothing positive to say about Mr McCarthy. You just can’t make this garbage up…

    • How many times, and in how many ways does your police force, or your state/local/federal government have to tell you that they cannot protect you on an individual level.
      Police are there in minutes when seconds count. If you call them after the fact they are only there for clean-up and paperwork.

  2. The people of Chicago cannot possibly be so stupid as to actually believe the garbage their politicians spew out, can they?

      • Not just elect, but elect in overwhelming landslide fashion. A Republican doesn’t stand a chance in that town.

      • It’s worse than you think. Part of the overarching problem in Chicago is that a lot of the smarter, better educated, higher income earning citizens have left Chicago for multitudes of reasons and moved to the suburbs. The end result is that the average intelligence and income of Chicagoans has dropped, and the municipal debt keeps rising. To save their assess they keep mortgaging off assets and increasing the debt to placate the citizenry who doesn’t understand the ramifications.

        Chicago will be Detroit in 10 years or so.

    • Sure they can be. And they are.

      Walk down the street of any large US city and ask questions about just about any technical topic, or detailed question of laws/regulations. Most people in cities are woefully ignorant – and their voting patterns and political biases reflect that.

      Let’s put it this way: Those walk-about segments on late night TV shows? They’re not doing much (if any) cherry picking to show you how stupid people are. Just walk around LA/Santa Monica/Burbank any given afternoon during working and your chances of running into someone intelligent are slim and none.

    • Chicago is a microcosm of America. Mr McCarthy learned from the master of obfuscation, and another Chicago resident: Obummer. If Obummer says something, it is truly believed by Libs/Dems/Socialists. McCarthy knows that if he lies, nothing will come of it, just like Obummer. How many times has the Liar in Chief apologized for his lies? McCarthy blaming lax gun laws on Chicago’s violence is the same as Obummer blaming Benghazi on a little known internet video.

      • Wrong. It’s a comparatively tiny subculture of active gang members, some of whom happen to be minorities. Here’s your reality check:

        http://www.timwise.org/2013/08/race-crime-and-statistical-malpractice-how-the-right-manipulates-white-fear-with-bogus-data/

        “Despite claims by right-wingers (both mainstream and overtly white supremacist) that violent crime by African-Americans is out of control — and that blacks are criminally victimizing whites at massive and disproportionate rates — the facts say otherwise. As I show in the below analysis:

        * Only about 1 percent of African Americans — and no more than 2 percent of black males — will commit a violent crime in a given year;

        * Even though there are more black-on-white interracial crimes than white-on-black interracial crimes, this fact is not evidence of anti-white racial targeting by black offenders. Rather, it is completely explained by two factors having nothing to do with anti-white bias: namely, the general differences in rates of criminal offending, and the rates at which whites and blacks encounter one another (and thus, have the opportunity to victimize one another). Once these two factors are “controlled for” in social science terms, the actual rates of black-on-white crime are lower than random chance would predict;

        * No more than 0.7 percent (seven-tenths of one percent) of African Americans will commit a violent crime against a white person in a given year, and fewer than 0.3 (three-tenths of one percent) of whites will be victimized by a black person in a given year;

        * Whites are 6 times as likely to be murdered by another white person as by a black person; and overall, the percentage of white Americans who will be murdered by a black offender in a given year is only 2/10,000ths of 1 percent (0.0002). This means that only 1 in every 500,000 white people will be murdered by a black person in a given year. Although the numbers of black-on-white homicides are higher than the reverse (447 to 218 in 2010), the 218 black victims of white murderers is actually a higher percentage of the black population interracially killed than the 447 white victims of black murderers as a percentage of the white population. In fact, any given black person is 2.75 times as likely to be murdered by a white person as any given white person is to be murdered by an African American.”

        “As for offenders, although white supremacists have long argued that Hispanics commit violent crime at a disproportionate rate — somewhere between whites and blacks — the most comprehensive analyses of Hispanic crime suggest this claim is utterly false. Recent analyses done by a prominent far-right conservative and even, in one case, a source long revered by white nationalists, suggest that Hispanic violent crime rates are essentially no different from those of non-Hispanic whites. As such, the 1.2 percent rate, per capita, of criminal offending for whites (including Hispanics), would apply to both Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic whites. This means that with Hispanics representing 34.5 million persons age 12 and over in 2008, and 92 percent of these being classified as white, racially, there would have been 31.7 million Hispanic whites that year. If they offend at a rate comparable to non-Hispanic whites (12 per 1000 persons, or 1.2 percent), this would translate to 380,954 violent crimes by Hispanic whites in 2008, most of which would come from the existing white totals, but many of which would also have been located in the “don’t know/not available” category, as with certain white and black crimes (noted above).”

    • I would be curious to see if there is any pattern to how corrupt the local government is as well. When you have a city, where politicians actually solicit endorsements from local gang leaders, that’s got to tell you something about.

  4. They shot people because of lax gun laws . okay . NO they shot at each other and innocents because they fk’n wanted to and they don’t give a crap about gun laws . Bad guys are going to kill regardless. it doesn’t matter how tough the gun laws are .

    • Perhaps a PR campaign is in order? They could hand out fliers reminding everyone that shooting other people is frowned upon by the law. A little public education would go a long way, I’m sure. Perhaps sponsoring a gang intramural dodge-ball league to help settle turf differences in a more amiable way. These could strategically coincide with a gun buyback admission charge. Problem solved!

  5. Yep, that’s it. It’s always blame the gun with Garry and never the person. The CPD lost control not only yesterday but on Friday evening with the fireworks downtown as well. Only on Friday it wasn’t guns but roving packs of “youths” terrorizing River North and Streeterville that you’ll never hear about.

    Illustrating Chicago Crime, Murder and Mayhem at http://www.heyjackass.com.

    • They don’t always blame “the GUN”, sometimes it’s “the SUV”, or “the CATHOLIC CHURCH”, or “the TEA PARTY”. . .

    • probably not. Your story would show them what does work and this is a city that banned gun possession for law abiding citizens until the federal court stepped in. Thanks for posting the link.

  7. Massachusetts always blames ME, NH and VT for all their gun related crime. Odd, though that the criminals always seems to go back to Mass to commit their crimes. Wonder why that is……..

    • We in New Hampshire are tired of Drug Dealers coming up from MA, NY and points south and wreaking havoc in our state. Trading guns for drugs increases the purchasing power of the dollar and we all like a better deal. Organized gangs have taken over the drug trade, so legally purchased guns in NH are worth far more in states that restrict gun ownership. Has anyone heard of the law of supply and demand?

  8. at some point, Rahm will dump the good Commissioner to try to save his a$$ for re-election.. . . . unless McCarthy does have those farm animal photos he threatened the tiny dancer with . . .

    • Who runs Chicago will not matter. In July of 2015 we will have a similar post on TTAG.

      Unless you solve the poverty, drug traffic on the south side and gangs — you will not solve this problem. Right now for many in that part of the city, drug dealers offer you more economic success than a real minimum wage job. The politicians job is two fold. Contain the violence to the area that they are in now, and two make believe you are appalled at what just happened on camera and find someone other than yourself to blame. They have no real solution.

      • You make an ideal candidate for gang membership if you believe the average gangbanger is getting rich. They probably make could make the same amount of money flipping burgers. The gang leaders get rich. The gang followers generally take the risks hoping for that big score. Most die or end up in prison before that happens. By the gangs are making as much money smuggling untaxed cigarettes into the city as they do from drugs.

  10. Oh that makes perfect sense, if the gun laws a super strict the gang bangers committing these murders won’t want to go down for a gun charge. I mean come on we all know catching an attempted murder charge is all peas and carrots. Smh

  11. I see his firing happening in 3….2…..1 mayor dim wit has to save his a$$ for reelection…you know …to keep up the obama way of doing things don’t blade me…i was not aware of this till the press pointed it out… this is what happens when you vote democrat people!

  12. Chicago = Detroit ~ 1992 they just don’t have the manufacturing capability/productivity to dry-up.

    Grab your popcorn.

  13. Lax gun laws? I think that having a d1ckless Police Chief and totally corrupt governance might have just a bit more to do with Chiraq’s culture of uncontrolled gang violence.

    • God forbid he and Tiny Dancer look in a mirror. Then again, Rahmbo’s reflection probably doesn’t appear in a mirror. . .

  14. Criminals breaking the law? Who would have thought it?

    Now he’s the million $ question; how many of the firearms held by the criminals were legally obtained? I’ll wait for the answer.

  15. This guy (McCarthy) is a total piece of work. When he was part of the NYC cop shop he got falling-down drunk & tried to shoot out street lights. Various other POTG sites have called him out for lying to the press, and this Chicago area blogger takes him to task for many things, including just being stupid: http://wizbangblog.com/2013/02/25/chicago-police-chief-mccarthys-shocking-ignorance-of-history-the-law-and-the-u-s-constitution/

    I live fairly close to Chicago, work there sometimes, and would really like to see reform of the gun laws, because they obviously only hurt the good guys as they stand now. Chicago politics (h=ll, Illinois politics!) being what they are, I’m not sure it will ever happen. But if anyone would like to let the CPD know how you feel, this is the only email address I could find for them on short notice:

    [email protected]

    Let’s tell them how we feel!

  16. I wonder why the places with the most gun laws have the highest crime rates… If they would actually do something instead of bitching about people not wanting their constitutional rights taken away, maybe the crime would go down.
    Sitting at a desk and promising that making it harder for a law abiding citizen to own a firearm in Chicago will somehow reduce gang related violence is ridiculous.

    • The correlation is not gun laws to crime. It is poverty to crime. The gun laws are make believe feel good answer to politicians who have no real idea how to make the situation better.

      • Crime cause poverty not the other way around. There are a lot of poor communities where the inhabitants don’t shoot up the place.

        • This. Poverty does not cause crime, guns do not cause crime, CRIMINALS cause crime.

      • Actually, gun laws are part of the equation. Those gun laws disarm the populace and make for easier victims. Without those laws, the criminals don’t have as good of odds. More criminals means more government. That means more taxes and more control. The folks who want more laws really want more crime for the job security.

  18. In related news…
    Rosie O’donnel blames forks for making her fat,
    Fish blame water for making them too wet,
    And Gingers blame the sun for being too bright.

  19. Five of those shot and two killed by Chicago PD, including an allegedly armed 14 year old. Since the 14 year old was 7 years short of being able yo legally purchase a handgun, it would appear he circumvented the laws regulating firearm purchases.

  20. Maybe Chiraq needs better educated gansta’s that obey Garry and Rahm’s rules!

  21. At least he didn’t blame everything on global warming, George Bush or raaaaacism. Or maybe he didn’t get the memo.

  22. Chicago blaming it’s murder rate on surrounding state’s “lax” gun laws is like a drunk blaming their alcoholism on the liquor store across town.

    • That would be like blaming Big Gulps for fat kids…oh wait didn’t someone do that already…

  23. Political appointee saying what his boss wants him to . Every time I see this supposed cop I get the impression that his face should be next to the definition in the dictionary for “idiot” , all the booze he has drank over time has rotted his brain , if he ever had one anyway . Strict gun laws do not work , this is an example , all the guns used in this crime are probably stolen or bought under the radar , and oh I’ll bet that no legal gun owner was out committing these crimes , anybody up for that ? Be prepared and ready . Keep your powder dry .

  24. Headline from 2013
    Chicago erupts in gun violence: 74 people shot, 12 killed over July 4 weekend
    http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0708/Chicago-erupts-in-gun-violence-74-people-shot-12-killed-over-July-4-weekend

    Headline from 2012
    5 Dead, 21 Wounded On 4th Of July, Morning Afterward
    http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/07/05/4-dead-20-wounded-on-4th-of-july-morning-afterward/

    Headline from 2011
    At Least 6 Dead, Dozens Wounded In Holiday Weekend Violence
    http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/07/04/5-dead-23-wounded-in-holiday-weekend-violence/

    And I could go on and on….this is an annual event in Chicago just like the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks are in NYC.

    Lax gun laws my a$$ — same as it always was and same as it always will be because those who run Chicago have no clue what to do.

    • Dont forget the now annual wilding that takes place on Michigan Ave. the first day that it finally warms up. Noticed it barely made the news this year but it did happen again. 3rd year running. I purposefully hold any planned summer trips until that happens.

      • Saw that mentioned in SCC this morning. But it happens more often than once a year. More like once a month when the weather gets nice.

  25. There are plenty of gun laws–but according to McCarthy they are not being enforced severely enough, allowing these thugs to get back on the street too soon. And he may have a point, if there is any study comparing charges versus actual convictions (whether by trial or plea) and actual sentence imposed. I suspect a bunch of these teens are back on the streets after a couple of years in juvey; 21 and ready to rumble. I read an article from the Trib Saturday listing the then current shootings, and most involved gang shootouts, drivebys, and drunken brawling (and shooting). Almost all were after midnight. None were property related crimes (robbery, burglary, etc.) A number of the so-called victims were in their 30’s, surprisingly enough.

  26. It’s not the LAX gun law, it’s the LAX murder law in Chicago they are ignoring. I am sure that if the criminals ignore the murder law, they sure as hell is not going to follow a gun ban or any gun law. He forgot to mention that little piece of it !!!!

  27. I noticed the CCTV (Central China TV) mic over to the side. And the cop is a dead ringer for the newly-armed Beijing police. Have the Chinese bought Chicago over the weekend? Hmmm…

  28. Yes Gary it must be the guns. That’s why this weekend in Northern Virginia was so violent. If our gun laws were tough like Chicago’s the carnage wouldn’t have happened.

  29. Look here copper, the people shootin up your town are the “PRODUCT OF THEIR ENVIROMENT”!
    I could go on and on…….but that’s it in a nutshell.

  30. I’ve been in EVERY neighborhood in Chicago. The murder rate was MUCH higher in the 70’s and 80’s ( & a spike in early 90’s). You just didn’t hear about continuously. Richard J. & Richie Daley could also manage the media to STFU ( 1968 police riot notwithstanding). There is no fear of death with these gang lowlifes. And NO death penalty either. I got NO solution-except steer clear clear of these s##t areas. Sigh…

  31. It’s called lax police work. It is also called cowardice, lax Chicago residents. It is also called lax support for the Chicago resident to defend themselves.

    Anyways, probably most of those shooters and those being shot were on city payroll (Gangbangers).

  33. His complaining about lax or weak gun laws reminds me so much of Baghdad Bob, “There are no American infidels in Baghdad. Never!”

  34. Maybe gangs, drugs, and a revolving door justice system has to something to with it!!……………nah it has to be the lax gun laws…….morons are in charge of the nut house!!!

  35. So caught up in the talking points that facts become irrelevant here. It would take a lot of busloads to run the stupid out of Chicago…..This guy is a politician not a real LEO.

  37. Well, it was a THREE day weekend so it was like it had two Saturday nights so it’s not fare to compare with a regular 1 Saturday night weekend

  38. Wait, wait wait… all this talk of gang members with guns… are you all referring to the Chicago PD, or some other gang(s) that are heavily involved in criminal behavior?

  39. I think I can speak for everyone else in the state when I say chicago should be cut off and allowed to float north.

  40. Just think if we still had the death penalty everywhere, along with modern day tech to solve the crimes the crime rate would really drop. Nope, it’s not humane, but i guess some gang member TRYING to shoot someone and hitting others is…

  41. Does he really believe the garbage he is spewing? This tells me he is not in touch with reality and probably should not be “Top Cop” of anything American.

  42. Yes, we all know its those terrorists in Indiana; it really is all those gun bullies at the gun shows buying guns at high prices and selling or giving them away by the semi-truck load directly to poor innocent feral children at bargain low prices. Yeah, Universal Background checks will stop the gun show loop hole and stop all those terrorist gun owners in Indiana from giving over capacity ghost guns with 30 caliber clips which can be emptied in half a second to sweet innocent children in Chiraq. Oh yeah, those guns are all equipped with the shoulder thingie that goes up.

    • Oh darn, I forgo about all those .9mm fully automatic assault pistols that Indiana NRA terrorist gun bullies give away free to the wonderful children in Chiraq.

  44. The state of New Hampshire have probably more guns and gun ownership than all the med western states and more than down south and MY id considered the safest state in the nation, why is it that the Chicago moonbats don’t want to learn from this state? I live in mass and its just like Chicago and with probably more illegal invaders than Illinois, it feels good to escape mass and head to a real state (New Hampshire)!!!!!

    • Bobby… I think it is the difference between having wide open spaces and being able to breath clean air and see stars at night compared with packed-in, project housing and neon washed-out skies. I’ll bet there’s probably a generation or two that doesn’t realize stars are visible without a telescope. It’s the same for Chiraq (I like that), New York, Boston, Los Angeles and all the mega centers of massed humanity. These mega centers often control the rest of the state because, after all, they will eventually expand to consume the whole state.

      New Hampshire (LIVE FREE OR DIE!) and other freedom loving states will probably never understand life in the megalopolis. Consider yourself very lucky to live in such a beautiful and free state and resist every attempt from nearby states to inflict their politics on you and yours.

  45. Yeah Garry, There are over 22,000 gun laws in Illinois and the “bangers” ignore all of them. Why don’t you come up with another 22,000 laws that are NOT lax so the bangers will sit up, take notice, and turn all of their weapons in to you stations. You’re a genius, you can at least do that………

  47. Chirag has some of the most restrictive guns laws in the nation. The problem is gangs, drugs and turf not lax gun laws as the chief of police states.

  48. Damn that constitutional carry and those non existent gun laws in Chicago they are costing lives!!!!!!1!111!!
    Sarc/ off

  49. Hey Chicago, don’t you know you have been redistricted into the state of Mexico by the Gangs, Drug cartel and the Democratic Party!

  50. I wonder if this man ever studied the science of statistics. If he did he’d be familiar with a phenomenon known as “The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy” (pure coincidence it has to do with shooting). This error derives from a joke: A man shoots at the side of a barn. He then draws a target around the largest cluster of bullet holes in the side of the barn and proclaims to be a sharpshooter. It signifies how researchers can draw invalid conclusions by only seeing what they want to see. Anyone studying a problem like they have in Chicago should be careful not to be deceived by this phenonmenon……..he has not paid close enough attention to the data (for whatever reason) and has been led to an incorrect conclusion.

  51. The people in the city are starting to understand that the people they put in office are the problem. Al Sharpton’s town hall meeting to address gun violence in Chicago turned out very ugly for him. The people turned and kept it real. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/12/21/Al-Sharpton-s-Chicago-Town-Hall-Erupts-into-Revolt-against-Machine-Politics

    There were a few news sources that did report on this, just google for more and you will find a lot of great comments from the crowd.

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