Two women were shot in the head in the 2300 block of North Harding Street in the Logan Square neighborhood at about 4:40 a.m. . . . [Louis] Cotto was standing on a corner when shots were fire in a possible drive-by shooting at about 1:20 a.m, police said. He was shot in his chest and back and was pronounced dead at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
And so on. Keeping in mind that the Census Bureau pegged the 2010 population of Chicago (proper) at 2,695,598, what should be done about the shootings?
As TTAG commentator Phil Mc pointed out in an email, one thing’s fer sure: avoid bopping around Chi town in the wee hours of the morning, when ALL of these ballistic events occurred. As far for the anti-shooting options available to politicians/government/police, well, check the chart at the top of this post.
John “Death by Stats” Lott reckons Chicago’s safer since the Supreme Court pulled the plug on the City’s handgun ban. Given the fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population who’ve jumped the hurdles and bought a legal defensive gun—that they still can’t take out of the house—I reckon that’s a Lott of nonsense.
Other factors are in play. But the question remains: who’s shootings are these anyway? Should the Chicago police change tactics? Does the City need new laws? Less laws? Enforce the old laws? Or should Chicago just live with the gunplay as the price of living in a free society?