Chicago, no gun, how about a knife?

http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/ordinances/chicago.pdf

Page 21 of the above .pdf file. In a nutshell, nothing with a blade over 2 1/2 inches, 2 inches if you are under 18. If you've got a few minutes to kill I encourage you to read the entire city codes pertaining to firearms and "other weapons". About the only thing that isn't regulated or outlawed is a dirty look.

Pepper spray is generally okay, too. However, if you're flying in to Chicago be aware of the restrictions that apply to transporting the stuff on an aircraft.

I don't like being in a big city I don't know unprotected.

Click to expand...

I grew up in Chicago and know it VERY well. I still don't like it.

Pretty much anything of any use for self-defense is forbidden, except something like a cane. Even the laws on pepper spray are fraught with danger for NON-criminals.

A cane with a brass head on it would be better than nothing.

Stay out of some parts of Chicago and you should be fine.

Deanimator can you please post some links to the laws on pepper sprays and knives from either the state laws or Chicago municipal laws and codes?

Thanks.

Stay out of some parts of Chicago and you should be fine.

Click to expand...

Which ones? Got a map?

I suspect "some parts" includes just about EVERYWHERE I go when I have to go there.

Deanimator can you please post some links to the laws on pepper sprays and knives from either the state laws or Chicago municipal laws and codes?

Click to expand...

Use search. Other people have posted regarding pepper spray, and they're to say the least, "confusing".

Avoid the place if you can. Keep to well trafficked areas if you can't.

If you stay downtown or anywhere near rush st you should be ok. Pretty much anything north of downtown is ok. Don't go west or south at all unless you take a cab. Most all downtown areas and north, near north are patrolled pretty heavilly. Most of those areas are pretty good. TONS of people around even late at night.

If you stay downtown or anywhere near rush st you should be ok.

Click to expand...

There are NO "safe" places in Chicago, except maybe Daley's office.

Last year it seemed that pretty much any large public gathering was guaranteed to have violence and often a shooting or two. Despite lies to the contrary by Daley and co., such things are creeping into the Loop and elsewhere.

As Taste of Gang Violence (Taste of Chicago) has demonstrated, being around thousands of people is no guarantee that nobody's going to get shot.

Deanimator said:

There are NO "safe" places in Chicago, except maybe Daley's office.

Last year it seemed that pretty much any large public gathering was guaranteed to have violence and often a shooting or two. Despite lies to the contrary by Daley and co., such things are creeping into the Loop and elsewhere.

As Taste of Gang Violence (Taste of Chicago) has demonstrated, being around thousands of people is no guarantee that nobody's going to get shot.

Click to expand...

D is right. Chicago has had a lot of trouble with gang violence at their public festivals, and has had almost no success in dealing with it other than getting the news media not to report on it.

As far as I know both would be illegal.

Cold

I don't know how smart of an idea the knife would be. Also with Chicago in December anyone you would use it against would probably be wearing at least 2 1/2 inches of jacket.

Plenty of bars and restaurants near where you'll be that you won't have to worry. If you're planning on walking more than five or six blocks, simply jump in a cab. We got a few inches of snow last night and more is expected - a cab saves your shoes...!

Navy Pier is nothing much to look at, imho. (http://www.navypier.com/). You'll find better food, better attractions, better Christmas sights and sounds in the shops along Michigan Avenue more so than you will along Navy Pier.

Lived here 15 years and am pretty sick of it. Looking forward to when the kids go off to school so I can get the hell out of here...

look on the bright side for not getting to carry your gun, you will be in a city with the highest cop per capita even though the cop might be the one beating you

D is right. Chicago has had a lot of trouble with gang violence at their public festivals, and has had almost no success in dealing with it other than getting the news media not to report on it.

Click to expand...

Give credit where credit is due. Daley's also been successful in getting the Chicago TV stations to cheerfully report that crimes which took place in the Loop, took place somewhere else.

Of course "places you shouldn't go" in Chicago have always been largely determined by race. When I was a kid it was dangerous for Black people to be in Marquette Park. Now the racial boundary lines have shifted massively. No doubt it's dangerous for Whites, Blacks and Puerto Ricans to be in the "wrong" Mexican neighborhood. There are endless racial and ethnic permutations of "don't go there", along with "You're <insert race>, but you LOOK like you're wearing the wrong colors." It's the Chicago way.

Think of it as Baghdad with snow.

O my God......awhile back my son stopped with a truck he had bought...was checking it out...where did you get it son....Chicago, he met me halfway, right in the middle of Chicago.....nice truck son....noticing his Glock that he carries everyplace legal....you didn't take your Glock there did you...I know he knows its illegal there.....ya Dad. I had cash, don't know the guy an I don't care if it is Chicago......O my God...Son do you know what those Illinois Nazi's would of done if they found out!!!!!! You probably would be in jail for years!!! I admire his guts believing in the 2nd Ammendment...but stay out of Illinois!!!!!

Funny though...isn't Krebs Custom Rifles in IL?

Funny though...isn't Krebs Custom Rifles in IL?

Click to expand...

Daley and his drooling band of mental defectives keep trying to expand their corruption and fascism outside of Cook County (and to the rest of the United States), but so far it's been hard sledding.

Unlike Chicagoans, even some other Illinoisians look at the actual RESULTS of a policy, and whom that policy benefits.

It is a big city - don't plan on walking too much or away from the crowds. Don't take public transportation except up and down Michigan Ave on the bus. Don't take the subway. One missed stop and you'll be in crappy parts. Cab it or get a car with GPS. *hitcago, just a few years ago had the highest murder rate in the country. Think about that...

In general, North Michigan Ave (mag mile) is ok. The downtown area is ok during the day but gets really dead at night. Most of the city is crap. Pepper spray is legal. Lots of restrictions on knives - the other posts were good...

Again, stay in the Gold Coast, Mag Mile, Navy Pier, North Michigan Ave, the Loop during the day, and cab it everywhere and you should be fine. Stay with the tourists...

Big Boy
Chicago, no gun, how about a knife?
Going on a trip to Chicago in a few days. I don't like being in a big city I don't know unprotected. Sadly their ban on handguns is going to keep it that way for me.
Anyone know their policy on knives?

Click to expand...

If you stay downtown or anywhere near rush st you should be ok. Pretty much anything north of downtown is ok. Don't go west or south at all unless you take a cab. Most all downtown areas and north, near north are patrolled pretty heavilly. Most of those areas are pretty good. TONS of people around even late at night.

Click to expand...

Correct. I've worked in the Loop for 21 years and spend a lot of time in the city. The closest I've ever come to a violent crime was witnessing the corpse of a guy who had killed two deputy marshalls and was attempting to flee the basement of the federal building. Other than that--admittedly horrific, but a guy who was escaping custody--nothing.

It's a huge city and most of the crime occurs in the south and west, where gang violence is rampant. In the areas where you'll be, the greatest risks are property crimes and getting into a fight with a drunk. Violent crime can occur elsewhere, but where you'll be is no better or worse than any other city--stay sober and alert, don't go wandering, and you'll be fine.

Oh yeah--bring a warm coat.

Don't look like a hoodlum and nobody will check if you're carrying a usefully large folder-it happens all over the city all day long, and the only ones who have a problem have some other reason to talk to the cops.

Larry

It's a huge city and most of the crime occurs in the south and west, where gang violence is rampant.

Click to expand...

There's violence everywhere in Chicago.

About ten years ago, I saw my relatives for the first time in 13 years. I drove to my cousin's place in Humboldt Park and waited for her to come downstairs. When she got in, I asked her why there were candles next to the apartment doorway. She replied, "Those are for 'Manuel' who got shot there."

a knife can fly in checked luggage all day. I brought swords back from califorina to ohio, then to japan.