Illinois has 243,245 CCW license holders – that’s about 2.5% of its population, which means it has one of the lowest per capita CCW rates in the U.S. We can talk all day about whether the prevalence of concealed carry is a crime deterrent, but the fact remains that some Chicago criminals feel comfortable enough to threaten their largely disarmed population with realistic fake guns.
A 63-year-old man was walking with another person in South Chicago one evening last week with at least an hour of broad daylight left, when the two were approached by four young men – a 16-year-old and three accomplices. Here (and in screenshot above) is the Google Street View of the block where this incident occurred.
After the instigators demanded the victims’ property with what looked like a real gun, the concealed carrier shot the 16-year-old in the knee. His “friends” fled, of course, leaving their pal in a world of hurt waiting to be rushed to the hospital, where he is currently listed in serious condition.
The gun the muggers were using wasn’t real, not that the concealed carrier could make that distinction in the heat of the moment. Maybe the wayward youth has learned a painful lesson. And maybe, will the number of licensed carriers increasing in the Windy City, other would-be stick up men may think twice.