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“A lot of the shootings occur by repeat gun offenders, which are with the gangs. So when those guys get picked up, for whatever reason, who do you think the gangs are going to bail out first? They bail out the shooters because they are the most valuable pieces to that gang organization. Because they aren’t afraid to use violence to get their message across. So what we see is just an unbelievable cycle of CPD arresting these guys, and then for whatever reason, the judicial system spits them right back out, only to be dealt with … again.” – Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson in Cook County courts raise bonds for gun crimes — but suspects getting out faster [via chicagotribune.com]

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55 COMMENTS

  1. Golly, it’s like a problem with no imaginable solution! Except, of course, to confiscate my gun. Sorry, I meant reasonable, common sense gun control laws ultimately resulting in my gun being subject to a mandatory buyback.

    Thus is the logic of the anarcho-tyrant state.

    • Exactly if they take away your gun then the criminals won’t be able to get them from anywhere else. Just look at Mexico… no gun violence at all. Thank you oh wise and benevolent government.

    • The current chief, Eddie Johnson, gets it and he knows that gun owners are not the issue. He seems to either take shots at Rahm or at least say things he knows go against Rahm’s political agenda.

      The problem in Chicago isn’t the cops and certainly not Eddie Johnson, it’s the politicians, the judges and the prosecutors. Those are the ones who give the gang members slaps on the wrist and allow the cycle to continue.

      • Simple Trump solution. Felon in possession is a FEDERAL case, which means the FBI swoops in and a FEDERAL court can be persuaded to deny bail.

        • Hell no. We don’t need more laws, especially in Chicago with their inept government and most especially no more federal gun laws. Enforce what are already on the books, streamline the ones on the books, and stop pressuring prosecutors to get the “quick win”.

        • Oh, Internet tough guy I see. Bail can’t be denied just because you want it. Stop acting like the antis do with childish ad hominem attacks and ridiculous ideas for draconian law enforcement.

        • Dev, you are the one that said ‘hell no, we don’t need new laws, enforce what’s on the book’ So you were the one not making sense. Also, these repeat gun arrests are almost always gang members. The judges and the prosecutors in chicago keep giving them a pass, maybe 3 or 6 months in jail, then back on the streets.

          http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2017/01/robert-farago/chicago-killers-arrest-records-revealed/

          These are hardcore gangbangers who should be kept in jail, no bail because they are a threat to commit violent crime.

        • It’s late in the day and I don’t know how many people will read this post/string at this point, but OMG, “Here we go again!”

          The solution to the problem was penned over 200 years ago when the Bill of Rights was written and ratified. The solution is most definitely NOT to give the federal government yet another opportunity to infringe “just a little bit” on our natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms as opposed to the City of Chicago infringing a whole lot!

          The solution is in the text of the Second Amendment: the people have the right to keep and bear arms, which shall not be infringed. Gangs in Chicago and elsewhere keep their power because they are the ones who are not afraid to exercise their 2A rights under any and all conditions. They are not afraid of the system or of spending time in prison (rarely) for a “gun crime”. Unlike your average citizen who has a life and job and family and better things to do than go through the legal system and maybe spend a few years in lock-up, gang bangers see it as just a normal cost of business.

          Only when the average citizen understands their right to self-protection and are protected from over-zealous prosecutors when they exercise that right will the cycle of criminal gang violence and random petty crimes, muggings, armed robberies cease. The laws and system needs to recognize that it is the act that is the crime, not the tool used by the criminal. And they need to recognize and support those citizens who refuse to be victims and who fight back, especially if they succeed, not subject them to the court system as though they were the criminals.

          The point of the Second Amendment is to allow every citizen the opportunity and means with which to defend themselves, their family and their community, whether it be from criminals, gangs, or tyrannical politicians (sometimes hard to tell apart). This cannot be accomplished by simply shuffling around which of the levels or branches of government is allowed to infringe on your RKBA.

        • Yeah, Buddy, I’ll bet ya a dollar to a doughnut that “The Donald” already has that in his crosshairs at the least.

    • “Golly, it’s like a problem with no imaginable solution!”

      Spot on. More importantly, I just realized an incredible opportunity: use Chicago to dispel the Progressive mindset that government can fix everything.

      Of course Progressives will defend their position and claim that government has failed to solve the crime problem in Chicago for various external reasons … which is not the fault of their mindset nor Chicago government. And that is where we need to HAMMER them. We need to point out that, quite simply, government hasn’t done it. Supposed explanations are irrelevant.

      Yes, we need to point out to Progressives that up is not down … that government failing to stop the violent crime problem in Chicago is not government succeeding in stopping the violent crime problem in Chicago. In other words a solution that does not work is, by definition, NOT a solution.

      If we can get Progressives to finally admit that their “solution” is a failure, maybe we can get them to ask about alternative possible solutions. Oh, who am I kidding … ?!?!?!?

  2. Finally, someone found the problem! Also, lets not forget the horrendous recidivism issue we have in our criminal justice system. It’s…its…almost as if the gun control side knows these are difficult issues to solve…and they’re…just focusing on a politically safer “solution” to shove down all our throats because dealing with and reforming these offenders is a herculean task.

    Of course I already knew that, and I suspect that most readers of this blog did as well. And that’s what gun control is for the left: a political tactic they use to address crime in the public space. I think deep down they know that such efforts are useless but the GOP became the “law and order” party in the late 1960’s and the contemporary democratic party is far too limp wristed and weak kneed to address these issues honestly.

  3. The steps that need to be taken probably won’t be taken.

    Free up expensive prison cells by focusing on incarcerating the violent instead of long sentences for lower-level drug crimes…

  4. So Obama’s Administration didn’t use existing Federal Laws to keep the extreme gun offenders locked up ???
    Too busy working on their March Madness spreadsheets or playing golf, I guess.

  5. Though the story is a bit old, I found this article to be a bit telling in regards to gun violence in the windy city.

    “From January 2006 through August 2013, thousands of cases involving a weapons violation were thrown out in Cook County’s criminal courts, The Chicago Reporter found. More than 13,000 cases that included a gun violation have been dismissed during that period, shows the Reporter’s analysis of records maintained by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In fact, more felony cases involving a gun–from illegal possession to unlawful sale to a felon–have been thrown out than cases with any other type of charge.”

    “Fabio Valentini, the chief of the state’s attorney’s office’s criminal prosecutions bureau, said an “overwhelming” number of the dismissed cases were based on a judge’s decision to suppress evidence because a gun was intercepted in a way that violates the Fourth Amendment.”

    http://chicagoreporter.com/thousands-felony-gun-cases-are-being-dismissed-cook-county-criminal-courts/

    • Cure *that* with training the beat cops to make a proper arrest, then.

      Unless actual convictions were never the point of the exercise. *cough*…

      • I personally believe that its a function of the Chicago political machine. In the article, a reporter asks to see details about the felony charging process and is refused.

    • Mark- “Fabio Valentini, the chief of the state’s attorney’s office’s criminal prosecutions bureau, said an “overwhelming” number of the dismissed cases were based on a judge’s decision to suppress evidence because a gun was intercepted in a way that violates the Fourth Amendment.”

      It looks like the searches performed by Chicago police are done illegally or without probable cause. There is a scoreboard up at police stations, and every gun seized gets the arresting cop a brownie point. The purpose of gun seizure is not to make good prosecutions and get dangerous offenders off the street, it’s to rack up gun seizure statistics which C.P.D. uses to justify their budget.

      The Chicago Defender is a black-owned south side newspaper. I wonder if they have figured out how NRA, Inc., uses blacks like Otis McDonald for lawsuits, then flushes them down the toilet afterwards, like NRA state lobbyist Todd Vandermyde did by placing Duty to Inform w/ criminal penalties in Illinois’ 2013 concealed carry bill? We all know that DTI in Chicago is really Stop-and-Frisk for black people.

      How many licensed citizens have been searched and arrested by Chicago police? Oh I forgot, the Todd Vandermyde cheering section who vote for Brandon Phelps in Harrisburg, IL, don’t really care about blacks. The Klansmen drive everywhere, and the police are their friends. Thanks Todd!

    • An interesting question is how many gun charges aren’t dismissed but plea bargained away. In Delaware, 71% of 11,700 gun charges were plea bargained away
      http://www.dailywire.com/news/2914/report-71-percent-gun-charges-dropped-delaware-aaron-bandler

      Checking, Chicago numbers:
      “Among the findings:

      • The median prison sentence given for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon was one year.

      • The median sentence for the more serious charge of aggravated UUW by a felon was four years in prison.

      • Those charged with simple gun possession had an average of four prior arrests.

      • Those charged with gun possession by a felon had an average of 10 prior arrests.

      • About a third of those charged with simple gun possession and about half charged with being a felon in possession of a gun in 2012 were rearrested for another crime by the end of 2013.”
      http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/gun-shy-lighter-sentences-in-cook-county-fuel-lock-em-up-debate/

      What officials shy away from is the realization that longer sentences means more Black males in jail. Then there is overcrowding, early release, court ordered release due to overcrowding etc.

      Prosecutors rationalize the dropping charges to ge a plea bargin by saying the criminal pleads guilty to a crime that results in a similar sentence. Also, they keep their conviction rate up.

  6. There is one thing President Trump can do right now that even the most ant-Trump Chicagoan can cheer — bring federal gun charges against the gangbangers to get them out of a corrupt local judicial system.

    • No No and No. That’s what the city wants. Cycle gang members for cash flow then dump them into the federal system.

      The bogey is what does it cost? No one is reporting the money flow.

      • If the Feds pull these perps out of Chicago, the local yocal’s cash cows will slowly disappear.

        After about 100,000 incarcerations, there will be no cows left.

        I think we should incorporate a new Federal prison into the border wall project. Let’s have the convicts build a wall of jail cells where the only way out is through a tunnel into Mexico?

      • I guess you don’t understand how this works. The Feds show up at the precinct with a warrant and take the bad guy with a gun into custody. The city no longer has any jurisdiction or input.

    • hahaha you want to give the federal government more power over ‘gun crime’ and think that’ll end well

      seriously. hahahaha….

  7. Chicago judges cutting Chicago gangsters loose is a long-standing tradition in the Windy City. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

  8. Federal action is needed in Chicago. It would be good if the Chicago PD turned anyone arrested and found in unlawful possession of a firearm in violation of Federal law over to the Feds for prosecution (preferably in another city).

    Send in the Feds (i.e. – Jefferson Beauregard Sessions).

  9. Note how 2ASux is always silent on posts that highlight the real issue.

    It’s a gang problem, not a gun problem. America has a much more diverse population than Europe, as well as Democrat planned inner city ghettos designed to keep people on the public dole.

    I don’t want to make this partisan, because I don’t like the Republicans much more than the Democrats; however it does need to be pointed out again and again that the Lyndon B. “our party will exist if we keep the N******” Johnson administration put the policies in place that led to the modern ghettos and modern gang culture, which is a result of the social and economic oppression therein.

    That is why we have gangs, and that is why we have gun crime.

    • And let’s not forget the prohibition of drugs. Everything you mentioned creates a ripe climate for illegally making money, and the sale of drugs creates a VERY easy (and very violent) source of income.

  10. Yeah the chief of po-leece gets it. He also collapsed yesterday and needs a kidney transplant. Federalize it all. Oh and use RICO BS on these criminal enterprisers. Or resurrect Elliott Ness…

  11. Why do “guns” get isolated in these discussions of real crime. (No victim, no crime) The people of the gun just have to stop using the terms “gun violence” and “gun crimes.” ALL aggression that harms or seriously threatens to harm another person is a crime. The tool used is not relevant. Crime – murder – is easily committed with bare hands.

    Yes… those honestly convicted of a real crime should face significant jail time, perhaps. A much better approach would be for each individual to be ready and armed to defend themselves and their family/community. The “gangbangers” who kill each other wouldn’t be any trouble if they never hit innocent bystanders. But maybe that wouldn’t go on too long if the ordinary people were ready and able to deal with the predators. I suspect the number of criminals in the wild would decrease sharply, even in Chicago.

    The real solution is to get rid of the criminals in the halls of government.

  12. I’m appalled at all the posts calling for MORE GOVERNMENT to fix a problem indirectly caused by MORE GOVERNMENT. The solution is less government: get law enforcement out of the way, and let the good people of Chicago arm themselves and put an end to this war.

    • If Illinois had a true “shall-issue” concealed carry bill, then arming the legit black folks in Chicago might work, but Illinois’ carry bill was written by police unions and good old boys to disarm blacks.

      Right now there are over 2,000 citizens waiting over a year for review from the unelected Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board, which consists of a retired Federal judge, two Federal agents (cops), three lawyers, and a shrink!
      I am not making this up.

      Any cop from any jurisdiction where you ever lived can file a bullshit objection to your application (for free by pushing a button) smear you with anonymous accusations which you never get to see in court, then you have to hire a lawyer with your own dime and fight it out in “administrative law” proceedings, where the “standard of evidence” is “preponderance of the evidence” the same as a red light camera! No financial help from NRA, but I’m sure their legal department is “looking into it.”

      Meanwhile NRA state lobbyist for Illinois Todd Vandermyde is “working hard” trying to legalize suppressors. This is what happens when Chris Cox & Chuck Cunningham at NRA/ILA fail to supervise the traitor who sold out Otis McDonald. Or maybe NRA lawyers can make money billing out hours for the next twenty years to “fix” the shit bills their lobbyist puts up with the police unions? Go team NRA!

      • The NRA has to work with limited resources, and like or not, places like CA or IL are doomed, at least at the state level. This is why the NRA dumped so many resources into Trump’s campaign, because at this point, the only hope for places like that is federal intervention via the Supreme Court. You may not like it, but blaming the NRA is a myopic way to look at it.

      • Mk- NRA didn’t put a dime into Illinois for about forty years except for giving a few grand to state Reps. Grassroots people recruited Chicago black man Otis McDonald for Alan Gura’s lawsuit against Chicago, not NRA, which initially opposed the McDonald suit.

        When the U.S. Federal Appeals court in Chicago totally overturned Illinois’ weapons law in Dec. 2012 w/ Moore v. Madigan, based on the McDonald decision, Illinois residents had the best opportunity in FIFTY years to pass a decent carry bill.

        Unfortunately Chris Cox & Chuck Cunningham at NRA/ILA were paying Todd Vandermyde by 1099, he’s a contract lobbyist. Vandermyde immediately sucked the ass of every police union in the state, got their wish list for concealed carry, and placed it in the “NRA backed” bill, so he could slap “NRA” on “our” bill and tell Cox & Cunningham that he “got a bill passed.”

        As of spring 2013, NRA State & Local Affairs director Chuck Cunningham had no idea whatsoever that Vandermyde put Duty to Inform in the NRA bill.

        There is no Master Plan at NRA HQ. They have no idea what freelance lobbyists like Vandermyde are even doing, much less care. The worse the bill, the more job security dishonest lobbyists like Vandermyde have to “fix” it later.

        If NRA bothered to investigate the criminal associations of Donald Todd Vandermyde, he would be fired immediately, not to mention his double-dealing and lack of performance. NRA is a whorehouse stuffed full of traitors and rats.

  13. Aside from the LONG tradition of corruption in Chicago, there’s another reason: If they do choose to vote and they are able to, pretty much all of these folks are going to vote D. So of COURSE the Dems don’t want these thugs to lose their voting rights!

  14. Much of the problem here is that the prosecuters want a win, so they deal. Too many loses and they are looked at as bad prosecuters. Also the courts don’t want jury trials because of the cost. These gangbangers need to be put to work(after 3 months with a drill instructor) on roads and what not. Give them goodtime if they do the work and then they learn something they most likely will give up gang life and join society.
    Sending an 18 or 19 year old to prison is like sending a kid to college and you can bet he will learn from the others. Save that for him if he gets convicted a second time.

  15. Naturally the abominable behavior of the CPD resulting in wholesale distrust of law enforcement in the city is not to blame for any of this.

    • Don’t you know that police are your friends? If you’re a white good old boy like Illinois state Rep. Brandon Phelps in Harrisburg 350 miles south of Chicago, the crime rate in Chicago doesn’t matter. The point is to use blacks like Otis McDonald as fronts for lawsuits, then sell them out later.

      That’s why NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde placed Duty to Inform AND a public transit ban with criminal penalties in Phelps concealed carry bill- it’s a two-fer! NRA has a profitable race hustle going on in Illinois:

      Set up blacks in Chicago like Otis McDonald and Rhonda Ezell to be killed by police, victimized by the criminal element and use them for lawsuits, plus create job security for lobbyists like Vandermyde to “fix” the shit bills they put up in the first place. Where do I sign up for NRA life membership?

  16. Chicago is getting what the electorate has voted for; not necessarily what they WANT, but you can’t have everything.

    Leave them to it.

  17. In socialist states and city states, criminal rights come first. Society created the monsters, so it is society’s fault. There is no personal responsibility, the fact is, society enabled good people to go bad. No one would be a thief, killer, terrorist, child molester, etc, if only they had been shown more love as children. The solution is love, tolerance, understanding. Turn your life around, show them the light. Lead by example, die on your knees.

  18. I fail to see why this needs a federal solution. This is a local problem that only effects Chicagoans and people dumb enough to go there. The residents of Chicago are getting what they voted for. They have created an entire system that caters to the criminal class. If you’re curious, cwbchicago.com does a great job documenting just how insane the Chicago/Illinois legal system is.

    Let the hood rats kill each other. It seems to be the only effective way to remove criminals from the streets of Chicago. My only concern is that the place will entirely collapse and the vermin fleeing the wreckage will come my way.

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