Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Buckle Up, Chicago: There’s a More Just and Vibrant City Ahead

Monday, July 17, 2023

Buckle Up, Chicago: There’s a More Just and Vibrant City Ahead

Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot made history this year, becoming the first mayor in that city to lose a re-election bid in 40 years. Lightfoot, a progressive who swept into office in 2019 on a landslide vote, was ousted in an election where public safety – specifically, runaway crime – was the dominant issue.

“There is no question it was the first, second and third issue in the race,” said a Chicago-based Democratic Party strategist. “It was crime, crime and crime.” Chicago Police Department (CPD) statistics for early July confirm that almost every category of crime is up compared to 2022. Crime overall has increased by 39% since last year, and by a much more appalling 85% if the comparison year is 2021.

It is early days yet for new mayor Brandon Johnson – another political progressive – but indications of how he intends to address the crime epidemic are found in a “transition team report” authored by Chicago for the People, a “diverse group of nearly 400 Chicagoans” appointed by Johnson to offer recommendations on the pressing issues facing the Windy City. The result is a 223-page report titled, A Blueprint for Creating a More Just and Vibrant City for All

Besides some all-but-incomprehensible progressive verbiage (e.g., “Reimagine the role of the police supervisor from that of a manager to a culture keeper”), the section on Public Safety begins with a focus on what underlies the current safety crisis: “Acknowledging that the Government played a role and is directly responsible for the state of violence in our city is the first step.” The “City of Chicago should acknowledge and repair the historical harms from traditional policing, reimagine what policing is and how policing is done to ensure the development of community led approaches to co-creating public safety, which will result in the needs of people in communities being met.”

The specific recommendations include erasing the CPD gang database, ending the use of ShotSpotter, and adopting an “alternative response model” – a “holistic approach to public safety that does not rely on the police” and instead uses non-CPD civilian staff (social workers, mental health clinicians, community activists, and “system survivors”) to respond to “non-violent” calls.

Anyone reviewing the report will look in vain for anything that recognizes criminals themselves are “directly responsible” as a root cause of crime, or for recommendations on how the criminal justice system may be better used to end “the cycle of violence” and protect residents and businesses. While the report mentions that “‘addressing roots [sic] causes and investing in communities’ should be its own goal for the Johnson Administration in creating a concrete public safety plan,” the bulk of the public safety section covers things like police accountability and “a lack of trust between communities and law enforcement,” creating “incentives for officers who address community concerns without stops, arrests, or force,” increasing “access to restorative justice programs and community-led peace circles,” and ensuring “reparations for survivors of police violence, torture, and false confessions.” Crime victims are entitled to after-the-fact “recognition” and support: “All survivors of violence in Chicago will receive equal recognition and comprehensive support regardless of their identity, citizenship status, systems involvement, insurance coverage, and income status.”

The report touches on firearms in a few places, but without examining the benefits of lifting gun prohibitions and expanding the concealed carry law for law-abiding citizens. Generally (and consistent with its shift in focus away from the actual malefactors), the report appears to conflate “gun proliferation” with increased violent crime, identifying “gun proliferation exacerbated by the gun industry” as a factor driving “the need to chart a new path to public safety.” Under “bridges left to build,” the report recommends that, “Trace data can be used to identify gun dealers who sell a disproportionate number of crime guns, allowing law enforcement to focus heightened scrutiny towards them.” Elsewhere, “additional ideas/recommendations” include “enforce the National Firearms Act to ensure updated firearm technology and accessories like ‘switches’ and extended magazines are regulated effectively.”

Neither the “gun industry” nor federally licensed gun dealers, both of which are already tightly regulated under law, can be blamed for the multiple cases where Chicago’s felons and others commit violent crimes. A 2021 study examining the impact of the nationwide surge in firearm purchasing following the onset of the pandemic found the increase in purchasing was not associated with an increase in firearm violence, with the results suggesting “much of the rise in firearm violence during [the] study period was attributable to other factors.”

CWB Chicago, a local news source, keeps a running tally of “individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others while on bond for a pending felony case.” The most recent entry features an incident where a Cook County prosecutor narrowly escaped injury in a drive-by shooting in which she was not the intended target. The accused gunman is a convicted felon who, at the time, was out on bail on a pending charge of unlawful possession of a machine gun. (The article notes that the accused “participates in a non-violence program.”) Convicted felons are prohibited under federal law from possessing any firearm, and possession of machine guns is separately and specifically restricted under the National Firearms Act. CWB Chicago posted another report the same day about an accused armed with a gun who threatened to kill a woman in a carjacking. At the time, he “was on bail for another armed carjacking case and on probation for a felony gun case,” with active warrants for both because he failed to appear for his court dates. How can anyone possibly “reimagine” such incidents as the responsibility of the gun industry or licensed gun dealers? 

With respect to trace data, firearm traces are conducted by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) using original dealer records to track later sales of a firearm. One of the metrics is “time-to-crime,” or the time from the last known retail sale to when the gun is recovered in a crime, with shorter time-to-crime periods being indicators of illegal gun trafficking. The ATF’s most recent trace data (2021) for Illinois shows that the average “time-to-crime” for crime guns recovered in Illinois is 5.63 years.   

The reference to the federal National Firearms Act and regulating magazines and “switches” is somewhat wide of the mark. Federal law doesn’t regulate firearm magazines, although a new Illinois law does. “Switches” are parts used to convert (legal) semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns. These modified “machine guns” are already illegal under both the NFA and state law (which punishes violations as a mandatory-minimum-sentence felony).

For all the ink the report expends on community harm, public and police accountability, and the critical theme of a “more just” city for all, surely an honest conversation about public safety requires acknowledging, if not also requiring accountability from, the perpetrators of violent crime. “Reimagining” public safety shouldn’t mean ignoring reality.

IN THIS ARTICLE
Illinois crime Chicago
TRENDING NOW
California: Governor Newsom Signs Gun Control Bills Into Law

Monday, October 13, 2025

California: Governor Newsom Signs Gun Control Bills Into Law

For someone who has claimed to be"...deeply mindful and respectful of the Second Amendment and people’s Constitutional rights,” Governor Gavin Newsom has once again proven that actions speak louder than words.

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

California officials’ egregious foot-dragging over the issuance of carry permits has finally attracted the ire of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Firearm Prohibition Advocates Mute on Jay Jones “Two Bullets to the Head” Scandal

News  

Monday, October 13, 2025

Firearm Prohibition Advocates Mute on Jay Jones “Two Bullets to the Head” Scandal

Democrat Jay Jones, candidate for Virginia attorney general, still has not suspended his campaign, even as pressure mounts over disclosures that should disqualify, to put it mildly, any individual from serving as the chief law ...

FBI Persists in Underreporting Armed Citizen Defensive Gun Use

News  

Monday, October 13, 2025

FBI Persists in Underreporting Armed Citizen Defensive Gun Use

Three years ago, Dr. John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), writing for RealClearInvestigations, described how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was vastly undercounting, “by an order of more than three the number of instances in ...

NRA Files Another Lawsuit Challenging the National Firearms Act

Thursday, October 9, 2025

NRA Files Another Lawsuit Challenging the National Firearms Act

Today, the National Rifle Association—along with the American Suppressor Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and Second Amendment Foundation—announced the filing of another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging California’s Glock Ban

Monday, October 13, 2025

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging California’s Glock Ban

Today, the National Rifle Association—along with Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Poway Weapons & Gear, and two NRA members—filed a lawsuit challenging California’s Glock ban.

Rehearing En Banc Sought in NRA-Supported Challenge to New Jersey’s Carry Restrictions

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Rehearing En Banc Sought in NRA-Supported Challenge to New Jersey’s Carry Restrictions

Today, the National Rifle Association announced the filing of a petition for rehearing en banc in Siegel v. Platkin, a challenge to New Jersey’s carry restrictions.

US Virgin Islands: Sweeping Gun Control Measures Advance

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

US Virgin Islands: Sweeping Gun Control Measures Advance

The 36th Legislature of the US Virgin Islands is continuing to advance sweeping gun control measures through the legislative process.

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Ban on Firearms Possession by Nonviolent Felons

Thursday, October 9, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Ban on Firearms Possession by Nonviolent Felons

Today, the National Rifle Association, along with the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, and FPC Action Foundation, filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the federal lifetime prohibition on ...

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.