Reader William Joyner writes:
Having just awakened from a restful slumber here in the beautiful San Antonio suburbs, I made my breakfast and sat down to see what the news had to tell me about the impending Greek economic implosion. Instead, CNN greeted me with the teaser line of “47 people shot by guns in Chicago this Holiday weekend! More after the break!” Was this the terror attack DHS had been warning us all about? Lone wolf actors from ISIS come to spread fear in our great land? Nope . . .
Just a holiday weekend in Chiraq. Thirty-three separate shootings wounding 40 people and killing 7…among them 7-year-old Amari Brown, son of an apparently-notorious local gang member. Chicago PD Superintendent Garry McCarthy was quoted by CNN as saying that the system failed Amari, who caught the bullet presumed to be intended for his father, and that his father should never have been on the streets.
The Superintendent went on to say that 30% more officers on the streets this year had recovered an average of one illegal firearm per hour, from all across the city, since the crime wave shooting sprees holiday began. Superintendent Garry McCarthy and CNN both went on to discuss, at some length, the problem posed by illegally possessed firearms in the Windy City, shootings, and the fact that some of them took place in the presence of police officers, before pointing out that this Independence Day was actually less violent than last year, by almost 40%.
Perhaps, Mr. Superintendent, you should ask yourself if the increase in police presence is the only reason you had less shootings this year. Could the fact that more Illinoians (Illini?) and more Chicagoans are choosing to exercise that natural, civil, and Constitutional right to armed self-defense have anything to do with the decrease? Could that have made the criminal element a bit more apprehensive about opening fire just to steal some shoes?
Perhaps you should also ask yourself if it’s the city you serve. Or it’s policies regarding guns. Maybe as the Superintendent of one of the larger metropolitan police departments, you might be able to have a quiet word with the Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Maybe he could pull some strings with his lame duck buddy to get the ATF and FBI to focus less on holding up the paperwork for my new suppressor, and more on arresting actual criminals.
Or perhaps talk to the city attorney about why a notorious gang member with 45 prior arrests under his belt wasn’t sitting in Joliet moldering away for the rest of his life rather than out on the streets drawing poorly-aimed fire and costing the life of his innocent son.
If you need help, I’ll be here in Texas, making sure that my fellow citizens are armed and trained to take care of these problems themselves instead of waiting for the next stray round to come their way.