APRIL was a cruel and bloody month in Chicago. “We want futures, not funerals!” students shouted at a rally on April 1st. But more funerals followed. The most violent weekend, April 18th-20th, saw no few than 36 shootings””15 of them gang-related””and nine deaths. As Chicago prepares for the summer, when violence usually tends to rise, two questions linger: what has caused this outburst, and what can be done about it?
Some believe the shootings were sparked by warmer weather; others blame mounting economic hardship. But searching for a precise reason is pointless. In many neighbourhoods across America, the threat of violence hangs in the air like humidity, sometimes bursting into a deluge. Overall crime rates are far lower than in the early 1990s. But America had 37% more gang-related murders in 2006 than in 2000, according to FBI reports. Half of Chicago’s murders in 2006 were linked to gangs.
The more important question is whether cities have learned how to prevent further outbursts….
What? This can’t possibly be true. Chicago’s gun ban, passed in 1982. They have been a “gun free zone” by law since then. Why, don’t gang members realize that they are BREAKING THE LAW by just having a gun? Don’t they know that the gun is more likely to be turned on them than they are to use it effectively? Everybody knows that!
Maybe they need to pass an even tougher gun control law. They could put all the gang members and hoodlums on double secret probation if they violate the gun control law just one more time.
That aught to do it.
Even tougher gun control laws are exactly what they are demanding, and it’s not that funny when you live here. While I personally hate firearms and believe them to be a coward’s weapon, at the same time I also don’t want Chicago PD to be the only people in town legally packing heat. Cops are horrible as deterrents to crime, and really only useful after the crime has already happened.
What is ironic is how closely this sad situation parallels Iraq. Over and over I hear vets describing the situation in Iraq as gang war, with multiple gangs, differing objectives, but commonly characterized by a drive for money and very localized power. While slogans may reflect the national or even international situation, the reality is that we are seeing variants of longstanding rivalries in an historically tribal region. Hence the violence often crosses ethnic and religious lines, and much of the kidnapping is done strictly for ransom and financial gain with no political motivation.