April 5, 2011
Richard M. Daley
Mayor
*****
The Honorable Jacqueline Y. Collins
Ilinois State Senator
16th District
M114 Statehouse
Springfield, Illinois 62706
Dear Senator Collins,
As Mayor and Mayor-Elect of the City of Chicago, we are writing to express our strong and unequivocal opposition t concealed carry legislation.
One of the greatest responsibilities of mayor is to keep local residents safe and secure. The most significant challenges that mayors face in meeting this responsibility are the prevalence of guns in our society that end up being used to kill or injure fellow citizens, and the difficulty in keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them, including criminals and the mentally ill.
In Chicago and in cities and towns nationwide, statistics show that the vast majority of violent crime involves guns. Gun violence is responsible for an appalling number of deaths and injuries. Each year in the United States, gun violence kills over 30,000 people and injures three times as many.
The pending concealed carry legislation, which would allow Illinois residents to carry a loaded, hidden handgun in public, will only add to these grave statistics. New research shows that in the past four years alone, nearly 300 people – including 11 law enforcement officers – have been killed in shootings by people who were legally allowed to carry concealed handguns. There is no compelling evidence to show that more guns make people safer, and history shows there is no system that can adequately keep guns out of the hands of those who are legally prohibited from having them in the first place.
Some argue that Illinois should have a concealed carry law because the majority of other states have them, but rates of gun violence in other states are generally the same as in Illinois. Equally important, there is no reason to join a race to the bottom.
In Chicago or anywhere else, any life lost to gun violence is one too many. Together and separately, we have fought hard to enact common-sense gun laws to protect public safety, and we stand firmly against proposals that would undermine that goal. More guns will not make our streets safer.
We strongly urge you not to compromise your leadership and your legacy on gun issues to please those individuals who want you to believe more guns will reduce violence. We ask you to vote against concealed carry legislation in any form.
Sincerely,
Richard M. Daley
Mayor
Rahm Emanuel
Mayor-Elect
Yah lets do our part to keep guns away from law abiding citizens so only the bad guys have them. Pretty much sounds like what he is saying since he always states how criminals have guns.
We all need gun control advise from two of the most unethical commie moron theives in the country, and I’m being as kind as possible.
It makes my blood boil to have these two felons lecturing me on handgun safety.
So Illinois has the same rate of violence as other states, huh. And concealed carry would be a “race to the bottom” eh?
Lets look at a few facts. Chicago and Washington DC are the two cities with the most extreme gun control. In 2010 Chicago had a population adjusted rate of murder nineteen times higher than El Paso, Texas (a city with little gun control and, yes, concealed carry).
Washington DC has a slightly smaller population than El Paso. Both cities have large minority populations but DC had twenty seven times more murders than El Paso in 2010. Wow, 27 times more murders! Good thing these two cities did not have concealed carry. My, my, think how bad the stats would be. OR NOT.
The Brady Campaign Scorecard rates California as the state with the most gun control. It has a murder rate over 400% greater than the state with the LEAST gun control. According to the FBI Crime Report, Utah has a murder rate of 1.3 per 100K while California has a rate of 5.3 per 100K.
As some wise guy said recently, “some people view guns as tools of criminals and some view guns as tools of citizens”. The mayors refuse to see the latter. And I am….. E. Zach Lee-Wright
This made me rage, and made my girlfriend (smart girl, just beginning to learn about gun issues) go…WTF?
If you read what they are saying they are actually arguing for concealed carry and they don’t even know it.
Take their numbers at face value.
30,000 deaths/yr x 4 years = 120,000 deaths
300 deaths from carriers in same period
300/120000 = 0.0025 or
0.25% of carry holders do something illegal…srsly?…there are studies with margins of error 16 times higher than this….
Also, again, using their data, if carry states and non carry states have “generally the same” rates of crime then WHAT THEY HELL ARE THEY ARGUING AGAINST?
We might pass a law that will…do nothing…either way…because the rates are “generally the same”.
~Ryan
Want to rage a little more? The 300 deaths cited include all of the justified defensive shootings! So your quarter of a percent figure for carry permit holders doing something illegal is way too high! The vast majority of these folks were doing exactly what they acquired the carry permit to do – defend themselves.
Same for the 30,000+ deaths/year figure they toss around – it not only includes the justifiable shootings, it also includes suicide by gun.
New research shows that in the past four years alone, nearly 300 people – including 11 law enforcement officers – have been killed in shootings by people who were legally allowed to carry concealed handguns.
Vague. What new research, your personal slanted half-truth research? Citation please.
So were these “killers” (who knows what really went on) LTCF holders or were they merely eligible to become license holders if the chose to? In which case this point is meaningless.
Those 300 carry deaths, are those criminals? It doesn’t say.
They always include criminals & accidents in such studies, yes.
Also keep in mind that for purposes of a gun control study a 17 year old drug dealer shot dead by a rival is a “child killed by a gun”.
“In Chicago and in cities and towns nationwide, statistics show that the vast majority of violent crime involves guns.” This statement by the mayors is positively, demonstrably and provably wrong. But when has truth and accuracy ever stopped these fools?
Bye bye, Illinois. You have the government you deserve.
For more detailed firearm-related death statistics, go to the Center for Disease Control’s mortality website here: http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html
For the year 2007, which is the latest year, there were a TOTAL of 31,224 firearm deaths from ALL causes, including suicide, police officers shooting criminals, legitimate self-defense shootings, etc.
If you change that to just violence-related HOMICIDE, the REAL statistic is 12,632 firearm-related homicides.
This info is readily available for many years up to 2007, yet the anti-gun groups continue to quote the “over 30,000 gun deaths per year” statistic, which is totally misleading and ridiculous. If a police officer kills a criminal who was intent on killing the officer, that is included in this misleading “over 30,000” statistic.
That 12,632 statistic is still way too high, but it is far, far lower than the “over 30,000” statistic thrown about by the anti-gunners.
T.
Maybe Daily should start by getting rid of the hired guns that protect him and his family. I know a couple Chicago Cops who have told me the only politician in the country that has more armed guards then Daily is the President That I can believe
I have a question, inspired by the writings in the letter…
We now have a written admission by two of the biggest “confiscationists” in the country saying; “history shows there is no system that can adequately keep guns out of the hands of those who are legally prohibited from having them in the first place.”
So….does anyone, (hopefully everyone!) besides me see just WTF they REALLY intend when they try to B.S. the American people by saying all they want to do is pass a few “common-sense” gun laws to keep guns out of the hands of criminals?
They just admitted it can’t be done.
Not another inch, folks. Not ONE MORE INCH!
“strong and unequivocal opposition t concealed carry legislation”
Am I the only person who noticed that two guys who ought to be among the best and brightest, who are supported by a LOT of highly paid people, have “strong and unequivocal opposition t concealed carry legislation?”
Should that be “strong and unequivocal opposition TO concealed carry legislation?”
If they and their legions of underlings aren’t even smart enough to write a fairly simple sentence in English, what else are they screwing up?
I’m rather curious to know how many of the 11 law enforcement officers were killed by other law enforcement officers.
Why can’t the politicians ever get their facts straight???? Now I know my home state of Arkansas is not the biggest or most populated state in our great country but recent statistics show a decrease of both violent firearms related home invasions and violent firearms related robberies of 57% and 48% in the past 2 yrs !!!!!
Why??? Because we have good concealed carry laws and requirements for obtaining CHCL permits and because the average honest workin joe and Jane are Not Bloodthirsty Old West Outlaw’s like Rahm and Barack and other less intelligent but highly funded politicos might have the general public believe!!!!
Yes I have a concealed carry permit and carry everyday everywhere I can as law permit’s!!!!! We are not crazy or blood thirsty but we work too hard for what we have and to take care of our families just so some uneducated uninformed out of touch politico can tell us we don’t need to protect ourselves from criminals who do have firearms!!!!!
Just my opinion and beliefs!!!!
US Army Veteran
Light Infantry
1981-1996
911 emergency response time – 8 or more minutes depending on your location!!!!
1911 response time — 2 to 3 seconds
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