How Chicago Celebrates Independence Day: Shootings by the Hour

 

According to a couple of local news articles, Chicago police are, this morning, touting the “low” number of shootings in the city over the Independence Day weekend. They credit the “small numbers” of gun violence to arresting known gang members prior to the holiday. They also say that an increase of patrol officers on the streets was a huge help in keeping the weekend safe for local residents (as many as 5,000 officers were on patrol as opposed to the normal 3,000 – 4,000 on any given day).

Before moving forward with a review of the weekend festivities, keep in mind, please, that Chicago is pretty darn strict when it comes to owning, purchasing, and possessing firearms. For example, Chicago/Illinois law requires:

• Any Illinois resident who acquires or possesses firearm or firearm ammunition within the State must have in their possession a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card issued in his or her name.
• The FOID card was created in 1968 (that’s 1968, nearly 50 years ago), by the FOID Act, as a way to identify those persons eligible to possess and acquire firearms and firearm ammunition as part of a public safety initiative in the State of Illinois.
• A buyer is required to show his Firearms Owner’s Identification Card (FOID) when purchasing any firearms or ammunition.
• Any seller is required to withhold delivery of any handgun for 72 hours, and of any rifle or shotgun for 24 hours, after the buyer and seller reach an agreement to purchase a firearm.
• It is unlawful to sell, manufacture, purchase, possess or carry any weapon from which more than one shot may be discharged by a single function of the trigger, including the frame or receiver of any such weapon (in other words, machine guns are illegal).
• It is unlawful to possess a silencer.
• It is illegal to possess a firearm on government property (without appropriate permission).
• You must be 21 years of age to purchase a handgun in Chicago.
• It is unlawful to carry or possess any firearm in any vehicle or concealed on or about the person, except on one’s land or in one’s abode or fixed place of business, without a license.

In addition to the Illinois and Chicago laws, there are thousands upon thousands of federal firearms laws on the books, including:

The following classes of people are ineligible to possess, receive, ship, or transport firearms or ammunition:

• Those convicted of crimes punishable by imprisonment for over one year, except state misdemeanors punishable by two years or less.
• Fugitives from justice.
• Unlawful users of certain depressant, narcotic, or stimulant drugs.
• Those adjudicated as mental defectives or incompetents or those committed to any mental institution.
• Illegal aliens.
• Citizens who have renounced their citizenship.
• Those persons dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces.
• Persons less than 18 years of age for the purchase of a shotgun or rifle.
• Persons less than 21 years of age for the purchase of a firearm that is other than a shotgun or rifle.
• Persons subject to a court order that restrains such persons from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner.
• Persons convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Persons under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year are ineligible to receive, transport, or ship any firearm or ammunition. Under limited conditions, relief from disability may be obtained from the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, or through a pardon, expungement, restoration of rights, or setting aside of a conviction.

So, with all of these tough as old shoe leather and rusty nails laws on the books, gun violence should be well on the way out the door, right? I mean, not a single Chicago bad guy, if they follow the rules, should never, not ever, have a gun in their hands, right? After all, we know that bad guys always obey the law. And, if we were add more gun laws to the ones already in place, well, the robbers and murderers will automatically stop shooting, right?

Well, someone is shot every two hours in Chicago, and someone is murdered every ten-thirteen hours. Over 330 people have been murdered in Chicago so far this year.

Officer stop-and-frisks (pat-downs for weapons) are down 90% in Chicago. The FOP there says officers basically stopped the practice because of racism allegations, lawsuits, and internet videos that do not show the entire situation.

Stop-and-frisk is fantastic tool that does indeed prevent gun violence, but …

Anyway, thanks to Chicago’s tough gun laws, rounding up known gang members, and a huge police presence over the holiday weekend, these are the people who might not agree with the notion that adding more gun laws will stop bad guys from pulling the trigger, because crooks don’t obey the laws we already have!

 Chicago Shootings Since Friday, and this is considered an improvement:

Friday, 5:25 p.m. — Man shot in West Englewood
Friday, 8:45 p.m. — 16-year-old boy shot in Woodlawn
Friday, 10:35 p.m. — 17-year-old girl shot in Austin
Friday, 10:40 p.m. — Man wounded in South Shore drive-by shooting
Friday, 11:30 p.m. — Man shot in Lawndale
Saturday, 12:50 a.m. — Man wounded in Austin shooting
Saturday, 1:30 a.m. — Man wounded in Englewood shooting
Saturday, 3:30 a.m. — Police: 1 dead, 1 wounded in West Side shooting
Saturday, 3:40 a.m. — Man shot in Heart of Chicago
Saturday, 2 p.m. — 1 shot in West Englewood
Saturday, 3 p.m. — Man shot in Marquette Park
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. — Woman hit by stray bullet in Woodlawn
Saturday, 4:11 p.m. — Man shot in Canaryville
Saturday, 7:37 p.m. — 1 in custody for Morgan Park shooting
Sunday, 2:20 a.m. — Man shot in Little Village
Sunday, 3 a.m. — Man shot in Humboldt Park
Sunday, 3:52 a.m. — Woman grazed by bullet in Longwood Manor
Sunday, 4:52 a.m. — One wounded in Far South Side shooting
Sunday, 6:10 a.m. — 16-year-old boy shot in Lawndale
Sunday, 1:56 p.m. — Man, 18, wounded in Brainerd shooting
Sunday, 10 p.m. — 2 teens shot in Englewood
Sunday, 10:47 p.m. — 15-year-old boy wounded in South Loop shooting
Sunday, 10:50 p.m.  — Woman shot in North Lawndale
Sunday, 10:50 p.m. — Man shot to death in Little Village
Sunday, 11:12 p.m. — Man shot in Park Manor
Sunday, 11:30 p.m. — Man shot in West Garfield Park
Sunday, 11:46 p.m. — Man critically wounded in Gresham drive-by shooting
Monday, 12:47 a.m. — Man critically wounded in shooting, crash Little Village
Monday, 1:24 a.m. — Man critical after Roseland shooting
Monday, 4:10 a.m. — Man shot in Austin
Monday, 8:50 a.m. — Man shot in buttocks in Roseland
Monday, 1:09 p.m. — Person shot in Pullman
Monday, 1:15 p.m. — Man shot in Princeton Park
Monday, 1:30 p.m. — Teen shot on South Side
Monday, 7:16 p.m. — Man wounded in Humboldt Park shooting
Monday, 8:15 p.m. — One wounded in Chicago Lawn shooting
Monday, 8:45 p.m. — Man critically wounded in West Town shooting
Monday, 9:20 p.m. — Police: Man fatally shot in South Shore
Monday, 9:20 p.m. — 2 shot in Englewood
Monday, 9:30 p.m. — 11-year-old boy shot on Lower West Side
Monday, 11 p.m. — 2 children among 4 shot in West Englewood
Monday, 11:35 p.m. — 2 shot in Trumbull Park
Tuesday, 12 a.m. — Boy, 15, critically wounded in Chatham shooting
Tuesday, 12:20 a.m. — Man critically hurt in Woodlawn shooting
Tuesday, 12:40 a.m. — Man shot in Brighton Park
Tuesday, 1 a.m. — Woman grazed by bullet in Loop
Tuesday, 1:35 a.m. — Police: 1 dead, 2 wounded in Humboldt Park shooting
Tuesday, 1:35 a.m. — Woman wounded in West Pullman shooting
Tuesday, 2:15 a.m. — Man shot in West Garfield Park
Tuesday, 2:31 a.m. — Woman shot, seriously wounded in Marquette Park
Tuesday, 2:31 a.m. — 3 shot in East Garfield Park
Tuesday, 2:45 a.m. — Man shot in Avalon Park
Tuesday, 2:55 a.m. — Man shot in Austin
Tuesday, 3:05 a.m. — 2 shot while sitting in vehicle in Austin

*This article is not an invitation to argue for or against gun control, politics, political candidates, religion, police, etc. Please save those arguments for your pages. This is also not the place for inappropriate language. I’ve heard enough “F” words to last a lifetime.

*Sources – Illinois CCW and Firearms Training, Chicago Sun Times, and NRA-ILA Institute for Legislative Action.