Tag Archives: The Chicago Tribune

A Sad Tale Of A Once Wonderful American City

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On Saturday, Just the News posted the following headline:

Half of all Chicagoans will witness a shooting by age 40, study finds

The article reports:

Researchers found the numbers are even more stark when broken down along racial barriers, with over half of all Black and Latino study participants by that age having already witnessed such an occurrence, compared to one-fourth of all white participants.

“We expected levels of exposure to gun violence to be high, but not this high,” study author Charles Lanfear, an assistant professor at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology, told Fox32Chicago.com. “Our findings are frankly startling and disturbing. A substantial portion of Chicago’s population could be living with trauma as a result of witnessing shootings and homicides, often at a very young age.”

Researchers said the average age for witnessing a shooting was 14 years old, with women only slightly less likely than men to have undergone such a dark experience. Data also shows men were much more likely to be gunshot victims.

In May 2022, The Chicago Tribune reported the following:

In its 2021 annual report on state gun laws, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence gave Illinois an A-, making it eighth in the nation for the strength of its gun laws. California, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey were among states that ranked higher.

While the nonprofit applauded Illinois’ universal background checks, waiting periods and domestic violence gun laws, it calls for the state to ban the manufacture or sale of untraceable DIY ghost guns and impose restrictions on assault weapons, large-capacity magazines and bulk firearm purchases.

In August, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a measure requiring background checks for private gun sales or transfers beginning in 2024.

The state law, introduced in the wake of a February 2019 warehouse shooting in suburban Aurora that left five dead and six wounded, also charges an Illinois State Police task force with taking guns from people who’ve had their FOID cards revoked but haven’t turned over their weapons, and streamlines the process for renewing FOID cards and concealed carry licenses.

The article at The Chicago Tribune notes how successful the State Police program was:

A 2019 Tribune investigation found that as many as 30,000 guns were potentially in the hands of people who’d had their FOID cards revoked in the previous four years. A follow-up review last year found improved compliance but also an increase in the number of firearms that were unaccounted for.

Since criminals are not known for following laws, why do people think more gun laws are the answer? We need a moral revolution in America. We need parents who take the time to raise moral children, and we need morality emphasized as a good thing in our schools. That will solve the murder problem in cities like Chicago.

Will The Democrats Survive Their 2024 Convention?

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This is the summary of the yearly murders in Chicago from The Chicago Tribune:

That is roughly 58 murders a month. That is an improvement from 2021, but it is still a high number. To put this in perspective, in March 2023, New York City had 35 murders according to the New York City Police Department crime statistics. So where am I going with this?

On Tuesday, Breitbart reported that the Democrats will hold their 2024 Convention in Chicago. I guess they have forgotten the mess the 1968 Democrat convention was in Chicago.

The article reports:

Nothing says “look at what Democrats can do!” quite like a city ravaged by crime and run by Lori Lightfoot who was such a successful Democrat leader that her overwhelmingly Democrat constituents fired her unceremoniously and chose an even more radical Democrat.

…Chicago won out over other finalist cities including New York, Atlanta — Guy explained that irony earlier — and Houston. According to the DNC, Chicago was the right choice because it demonstrates “the formidable coalition that will help re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris, and elect Democrats up-and-down the ticket” and the region “will showcase President Biden’s economic agenda that is rebuilding our roads and bridges, unleashing a manufacturing boom, and creating good-paying middle-class jobs.” 

President Joe Biden called Chicago a “great choice” for the 2024 convention at which the Democrat nominee will be finalized, even though Biden still hasn’t announced whether he’s running for reelection. Biden promised that “Democrats will gather to showcase our historic progress including building an economy from the middle out and bottom up,” though it’s unclear how real wage-crushing inflation has accomplished that or kept his 2020 promise to “build back better.”

The article also notes:

To be clear, any positive experience DNC attendees have in Chicago will be due not to the city’s failed leaders, but because the convention experience will take place within a walled-off, patrolled by armed security perimeter to provide security and safety that Windy City residents have been stripped of by Democrat policies.

Walls and photo identification requirements for me, but not for thee.

The First Amendment Only Applies When It Is Convenient

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Red State Observer posted an article yesterday about some recent actions by Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago.

The article quotes the Chicago Tribune:

Lori Lightfoot defended the Chicago Police Department’s ban on protesters being able to demonstrate on the block where she lives, telling reporters Thursday that she and her family at times require heightened security because of threats she receives daily.

Lightfoot refused to elaborate on the specific threats, but said she receives them daily against herself, her wife and her home. Comparisons to how the Police Department has protected previous mayors’ homes, such as Rahm Emanuel’s Ravenswood residence, are unfair because “this is a different time like no other,” Lightfoot told reporters.

“I think that residents of this city, understanding the nature of the threats that we are receiving on a daily basis, on a daily basis, understand I have a right to make sure that my home is secure,” Lightfoot said.

Doesn’t anyone else have the right to make sure that their home is secure? It seems to me that the mayor’s job is to protect all of the citizens–not just herself.