Essay On Gun Violence In Chicago

Over one hundred thousand people die each year in America from an act committed using a gun. A large majority of these crimes are being committed in Chicago and the areas surrounding Chicago. Our nation's current gun laws greatly affect the people in the Chicagoland area since there is such a high number of crime, but people who need guns are not willing to go through the process to obtain one. Not only does this affect our local area, but it could also affect the rest of the United States. Imagine what could have happened if the pilots onboard the plane during 911 had a gun, or if the principle of sandy hook, who died trying to stop the shooter unarmed, had a weapon, hundreds of lives would have been saved. It is not too late for America to

Everyday 93 Americans are killed by guns. Whether it is due to homicide or suicide, it does not matter. At the end of the day gun violence is increasing exponentially. In numerous states, gun laws have been placed in the hopes of reducing gun violence. But now many people believe that gun violence should be treated as a public health problem. I for one feel that gun violence should be put in the category of public health. Every year more than 30,000 people are victims to gun related incidents. It has become such an issue that gun violence is causing more deaths than some life threatening diseases.

Chicago has the highest gang population in the United States (www.huffingtonpost.com) and the highest amount of gun related murders to boot. As an effect of these crimes, many of the targets are not the rich and the powerful but instead are the weak and the poor. Those that cannot defend themselves to a great extent, they are seen as easy targets that will soon give up if it has taken too long to find the culprits. Since the underclass is the primary target for crime from the underclass it is like they are just undermining themselves in order to gain some type or upper hand on the next man that holds no real bearing. Even when taking “good moral” individuals some have turned to crime because they see no other way to make means for themselves or their loved ones. Some of these people have been laid off and have no other source of income, their back is against a wall and they want out. They want so badly to have money again so that they survive and not live on the streets like they see others, so they commit crimes for others that will pay. It is because of this desperation that violent crimes still thrive and until people realize this then violent crime will still keep the underclass suppressed. (www.clombia.edu)

Year to date, there have already been 839 shootings in the city (Chicago Tribune, 2017). Out of the 4,368 shootings that occurred in 2016, 41 of them happened in Uptown; and of the 839 shootings that have taken place this year, 7 of the shootings have occurred here (Chicago Tribune, 2017). Garry McCarthy, Chicago Police Superintendent says, "Most of our violence is gang related, much of it is narcotics gang related. They argue over turf and get into violent disputes with each other, and that's how people get hurt" (Ramos, 2016). In the community area of Uptown, there are currently five documented gangs: Conservative Vice Lords; Black P Stone; Latin Kings; Gangster Disciples; and Spanish Gangster Disciples (Ramos, 2016). According the gang map Elliot Ramos provides, the Conservative Vice Lords and Black P Stone occupy the most amount of turf in the area

Chicago murder rate continue to increase even with the gun laws implemented throughout the city. One interesting fact is that there is not one single gun shop located within the city of Chicago. How can a city who basically has a ban on guns still have one of the highest gun rates? I grew up in the Englewood neighborhood located in Chicago, and the gun violence was at an all-time high during my younger years. In 2010, Chicago uplifted the banned of handguns in Chicago and this policy increased the homicide rate by 18 percent (Soaring Chicago Gun Violence Amid, 2017). I have lost my best friend to gun violence as well as numerous family member and close friends. Gun control laws and finding ways to decrease the gun violence has been my ultimate goal ever since the day I step on a college campus back in

On a broader spectrum, America has become well acquainted with this major issue due to many murders and mass shootings resulting in deaths. In Miami-Dade County, there have been so many accidents involving gun violence that has claimed the life of so many children and teens that are has made the community immune to the truth and that is that we are constantly losing our children every day to this senseless violence.

Chicago has the biggest gang problem in the country (Thomas & Bass, 2009). “There are more gang members per citizen in Chicago than anywhere else in the country” (Thomas, 2009, para 4). The average Chicago gang leader is 43, convicted of murder and lives in the suburbs. That leader on many occasions directs his gang from jail (Main, 2006) and 95 percent of inmates in the Cook County Jail are gang members (Thomas, 2009). Gangs are everywhere today just like they use to be. The high number of gangs causes violence and deaths to rise in Chicago.

According to David Peterson, “Chicago murder cases committed by use of handgun were between 40 % and 55% before the blockade. The number rose to 70% during the prohibition.” (qtd in Agretsi and Smith 5), noted that, in 2005, 96% of the firearm murder victims were killed using a handgun. The law was later overturned in 2010. During the ban, it was hard to buy guns, but that did not protect people in any way, and it did not stop people from been killed.

With over 2.7 million residents, Chicago it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States. Also known as “The Windy City,” Chicago is home of the Cubs baseball team, the famous Chicago deep-style pizza, the Chicago dog, great architecture, jazz, and the Wills Tower; which is the tallest building in Chicago, having 102 floors. But now, Chicago is being known as the city that has a major gun violence crisis. Since the beginning of the year, Chicago has seen as many as 650 or 700 murders; that is more than the murders of New York and Los Angeles combined. As violence is rising, an increasing number of shootings and murders are going unsolved (Beckett L.).

Over the Fourth of July weekend, there were multiplying shootings that took place in Chicago. Injuring over eighty-two people and out of this eighty-to people fourteen of them were killed. All of those shooting didn’t take place at the same time they all happen days and hours after each other. I don’t know the cause of all of those deaths, but I do know the police were involved in them. All of the victims ranged from age 14-66. A little boy was shot while watching fireworks with his dad. The dad thought it was just fireworks going off but it was actually gun shots. He looked over looking for the little boy calling his name and he found the little boy unresponsive. Another young boy was shot also, neither one of the boys was the intended target.

Reason being is because the rate in the city has had a dramatic increase in the last fourth months, FBI says 19 percent increase for violent crimes and 5 percent for property crimes. There has been more violent crimes than property crimes but I believe everyone should have the right to protect themselves and only in the sense of protection. In 1939 the court adopted a collective rights approach, determining that congress could regulate a sawed-off shot gun that had moved in interstate commerce under the national firearms act of 1934 because the evidence did not suggest that the shot gun “has some reasonable relationship to the preservation of efficiency of a well-regulated militia. It may have taken a couple of tries to pass this law, but there were regulations which ban weapons on government property, regulations which ban the illegal possession of a hand gun as a

According to the New York Times the biggest gang in Chicago is known as the gangster disciples, and the black disciples. According to the New York times “739 murders as of Wednesday, 2016 has been Chicago’s deadliest year since 1997. Six fatalities came during Memorial day weekend. The New York Times tracked 49 shootings involving 64 victims over three days. One of the shooting survivors from that weekend was a Gangster Disciple known as Mexico, shot in his right leg on May 29th when tensions flared between the same factions that were about to square off in front of the store, New Food Inc.” (New York Times,2016). I think if you will arrest the gang leaders maybe it wouldn’t be as bad but if you keep them on the streets it can only get even

Furthermore, Chicago has had a problem for a long time. The city has had rising crime rates since the 1960s, correlating to the rise in gangs (“Gangs”). The 1980s and 1990s saw the introduction of

In Chicago the gun laws are the strictest and it is the hardest state for a citizen to acquire a weapon, but Chicago has the highest murder rate of any city in the united states. It is estimated that a person is killed every 11 hours (jackass).Gun control has been debated for decades. People arguing that guns should be available for the masses and people thinking that no one should be allowed to own a gun. Some states have implemented gun laws that they believe are necessary to protect the citizens. In states like Texas where citizens conceal carry and own weapons responsibly there is a significant difference in gun violence. Their is a fine line between a privilege and right when it comes to guns. Some people abuse the right and it should be taken away, but as Bernie Sanders once said “Folks who do not like guns [are] fine. But we have millions of people who are gun owners in this country — 99.9 percent of those people obey the law. I want to see real, serious debate and action on guns, but it is not going to take place if we simply have extreme positions on both sides. I think I can bring us to the middle.” Bernie's ideas on gun control will make it fair and safe for the citizens. With Bernie Sanders wanting to meet in the middle about gun control it will help progress to the end of this long fight for gun rights. To

It has been said numerous times that Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. If guns are illegal in the state of Illinois, then why does Chicago have so much gun violence? The answer would probably be that many guns are transported from other states such as; Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and often times, these guns end up in the hands of criminals who commit such violent crimes. Another reason why Chicago have so much gun violence is because of lack of job opportunities. When there are so few job opportunities, some people often resort to committing crimes, such as selling drugs, stealing and even resorting to gun violence. Much of the gun violence is caused by drug or gang wars, and in many cases, gun violence occurs in areas that doesn’t have a lot of job opportunities, and many residents live below the poverty line. I also can say that another big factor that’s causing in increase in