l****z 发帖数: 29846 | 1 by Jammie
These grim statistics obviously call for even more meaningless gun laws.
Hey folks, how about some gang control?
A bloody weekend in which eight people were killed and six wounded has
put an abrupt end — at least for now — to hopes that Chicago was at least
putting a lid on his frightening homicide rate.
With a few days left in the month, the nation’s third-largest city now
finds itself on the cusp of its deadliest January in more than a decade. The
news comes just after Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy had announced
that after several violent months, Chicago had seen a drop in homicides at
the end of 2012 and for the first few weeks of 2013.
Police say the homicide rate is a reflection of the city’s gang problem
and a proliferation of guns. Chicago has for years tried to cut off the
flow of guns. It has what city officials have called the strictest handgun
ordinance in the U.S. But police officials say more needs to be done and
that penalties for violating gun laws should be stiffer.
Among those killed over the weekend was 34-year-old Ronnie Chambers, who
was shot in the head with what police believe was an assault weapon. Such
guns are banned in Chicago but can be purchased legally in the suburbs or
nearby states. Chambers is the fourth child of Shirley Chambers to fall
victim to gun violence.
“I’d pray for God to protect Ronnie and keep him safe day and night,”
Shirley Chambers told the Chicago Sun-Times.
With the weekend shootings, Chicago now has 40 homicides — the exact
same number as last January. With a few days left in the year, the city
could reach its deadliest January since 2002, when it had 45 homicides in
the first month.
Chicago’s homicide count eclipsed 500 last year for the first time
since 2008, but last week, McCarthy announced recent figures showing
homicides had dropped. The city saw a 16 percent decline in the fourth
quarter of 2012 and a 22 percent drop in the first weeks of January.
McCarthy wants lawmakers to increase jail time for those who are caught
with illegal weapons, including for felons who aren’t allowed to have them
and for so-called straw purchases, in which people buy guns for others who
aren’t supposed to have them.
Former community organizer and renowned skeet shooter Barack Obama was
unavailable for comment. Meanwhile, in a rush to break some records for the
month, eight more people were shot Monday night. |
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