Chicago has many of the gun controls that Democrats insist are the solution to gun violence — and it also has 169 homicides year-to-date.
These 169 homicides are the exclamation point on a previous report that the city witnessed 862 shooting victims between January 1 and April 14 of this year.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Chicago’s total homicide rate for 2015 was 488. With 169 dead in mid-April 2016, the city is on track to either hit 488 or to surpass it by year’s end.
Chicago has an “assault weapons” ban and a “violence tax.” Neither of these laws affect criminals, who readily acquire “assault weapons” and any other gun they want tax-free via personal connections.
But the “assault weapons” ban does serve to deprive law-abiding citizens of an entire category of guns they could be using for self-defense, and the “violence tax” drives up the price law-abiding citizens have to pay for the guns and ammunition they purchase legally.
In addition to these controls, Chicago also has heavy restrictions on the number of gun stores allowed and the locations of those stores. Again, these restrictions do not affect criminals because criminals avoid gun stores and other places that might expose them to law enforcement. These restrictions only succeed in guaranteeing that law-abiding citizens will have to take a circuitous route to acquire a gun for self-defense.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.