I can see why the assault style weapons would be banned but why are those particular hands illegal there? Is there a ban on semi-auto handguns in Chi-town?

I'm Paul Harvey.

Good day.  

GeneP59 wrote:
Interesting image to go with the article. What relevance does that arsenal have to the story? It seems to be a stock photo that Thinkprogress trots out whenever they want to say something about guns.

The gun at the top of the picture is a SAW—a Squad Automatic Weapon. Outside of the military you need a federal license to own one. Good luck finding one for sale, but if you can you'll need Uncle Sam's permission to take it home. That is not a toy for gangbangers.

All of these—every single one of them—are illegal to own in Chicago.

Yes, Chicago has some problems to solve. I keep reading that the horrifying violence that drives its murder rate so high is confined to a few isolated neighborhoods. To simple folk like me that means the problem should be solvable by Chicago's vast army of policemen. They know where the crime is happening; why wasn't there a cop car on that street corner? Why do they pack up and leave after they draw the chalk outlines?

Unless of course the power structure in Chicago is quite satisfied to not solve that problem. As long as the right people are dying it doesn't seem to be a priority.

The things Chicago politicians blame for these problems exist everywhere else in the country—without 19 people being mowed down in gang wars in one day. There really is only one ingredient unique to Chicago there: Chicago politicians.

GeneP59 wrote:
Interesting image to go with the article. What relevance does that arsenal have to the story? It seems to be a stock photo that Thinkprogress trots out whenever they want to say something about guns.

The gun at the top of the picture is a SAW—a Squad Automatic Weapon. Outside of the military you need a federal license to own one. Good luck finding one for sale, but if you can you'll need Uncle Sam's permission to take it home. That is not a toy for gangbangers.

All of these—every single one of them—are illegal to own in Chicago.

Yes, Chicago has some problems to solve. I keep reading that the horrifying violence that drives its murder rate so high is confined to a few isolated neighborhoods. To simple folk like me that means the problem should be solvable by Chicago's vast army of policemen. They know where the crime is happening; why wasn't there a cop car on that street corner? Why do they pack up and leave after they draw the chalk outlines?

Unless of course the power structure in Chicago is quite satisfied to not solve that problem. As long as the right people are dying it doesn't seem to be a priority.

The things Chicago politicians blame for these problems exist everywhere else in the country—without 19 people being mowed down in gang wars in one day. There really is only one ingredient unique to Chicago there: Chicago politicians.