Chicago ‘Gun Violence’ Down Double-Digits For Second Straight Year

By Tom Knighton

One sin we often commit in the gun community is believing that Chicago is a gun desert like New York City. It used to be, of course, but following the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision, the city opened up to the world of armed citizens.

Don’t get me wrong. The city didn’t become gun friendly overnight. Illinois state law still provides a number of limits on gun purchasing, including requiring a special ID to purchase a firearm.

But there are firearms in the city, and there have been for a little while now. Not only that, but the state isn’t a “duty to retreat” state, which is pretty close to Stand Your Ground in my book.

What are the results of all that? Despite the rampant violence in the city, it’s actually getting better.

For the second year in a row, the number of homicides and shootings in Chicago dropped by double-digit percentages in 2018, though some neighborhoods on the West and South sides continue to bear the brunt of gun violence as they have for decades.

Homicides dropped by 15 percent, shootings by 18 percent, according to data kept by the Tribune. That continues a trend from 2016, when violence reached levels …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms