Quincy Libertarian Examiner / Kevin Dunbar
Chicago Public Radio is reporting that "Reps. John Fritchey and La Shawn Ford, both Democrats of Chicago, are calling for National Guard troops to help get guns and criminals off the street." At the same time, "Police Superintendant Jody Weis says he’d rather see tougher laws against guns."
Are these people insane? Their reasoning behind wanting to declare martial law is homicide numbers. There have been over 100 murders this year, an increase of 8 from the same time last year. This is obviously an issue that needs to be addressed, but declaring martial law is a huge step in the wrong direction.
According to wikipedia the Chicago Police Department is the second largest in the nation with close to 14,000 officers. What the hell are they doing??? With a force that large why would it be necessary to declare martial law and bring in the military? Are they too busy writing seat belt tickets and harassing law abiding citizens over trivial minutia? You would think with a force that large they could handle situations of gang violence. If they cannot handle real crime and can only spend their time dealing with trivialities like seat belts and other victimless crimes then what good are they?
I also reject their claim that "tougher gun laws" and "getting guns off the streets" will solve this problem. In fact, it will more than likely have the opposite effect. By disarming citizens it will create a whole new class of victims for the criminals to prey on. Gun laws only hurt law abiding citizens. criminals get guns regardless of the law. Stricter gun laws will only cause people not to be able to defend themselves against the gang members. If IL wants to curb gang violence they should end their prohibition on conceal carry and open carry. Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and yet they have one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. Obviously their logic is flawed. They make criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens with their punitive gun laws. Law abiding citizens should not need permission from a corrupt government to own and carry guns. It is a RIGHT not a privilege, and according to the supreme law of the land, shall not be infringed!
