A spray of fire

[DKSuddeth]

Chicago Trib editorial

Starkesia Reed and Siretha White were cut down by stray bullets in sprays of gunfire. Their murders, in recent incidents just days and blocks apart in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, were stunning.

Police say an AK-47 assault rifle converted to automatic use was used in the killing of 14-year-old Starkesia. It is not yet clear what weapon is to blame in the death of 10-year-old Siretha; investigators believe it may have been a pistol equipped with a large ammunition magazine.

Lets make that real clear, the large ammunition magazine that is

These killings underscore the need to restrict assault weapons--and why such efforts are immensely frustrating.yeah, because the handgun ban has been so successful, right?

If Illinois were to impose a ban on the sale of such weapons, it wouldn't be hard to get around it. The gang member charged with killing Starkesia Reed bought an AK-47 in Indiana, which doesn't require a firearm owner's card. It's the same kind of weapon used in her murder, though that Indiana purchase has not yet been linked to the crime.

Nevertheless, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Mayor Richard Daley and others have renewed a campaign for a state ban on assault weapons. They're on the right track.

Congress let a federal ban on 19 kinds of semiautomatic assault weapons expire in 2004. Blagojevich and Daley hope to generate momentum to pass a state ban on such weapons in the final days of the legislative session.

Let's acknowledge up front that a state ban might well not have spared the two girls from Englewood. Their killers could fairly easily have gotten the weapons in a neighboring state, legally or illegally.

Does that mean a state law is a bad idea? No.

The use of semiautomatic weapons in crimes declined while there was a federal ban, but Congress made the callous decision to let that ban expire. So the effort to restrict these weapons has to proceed elsewhere.

Seven states have passed such bans, and Illinois should be the eighth.

The gun lobby beat back an effort to implement a ban in Illinois last year and appeared to have bottled up a similar measure in this year's legislature as well. The gun lobby has promised to make political trouble for politicians who vote for gun-control laws.

And that probably worries the many fence-sitters in the Illinois House and Senate. The gun lobby seems to have more sway in Springfield than do the vast number of Illinois citizens who support a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. The legislators need to hear from them.

Sponsors of a ban hope public anger over the latest killings will change the political dynamic. If a ban is passed, it will be named in honor of Starkesia Reed and Siretha White.

That won't happen unless skittish legislators hear from their constituents. You do have a louder voice than the gun lobby, but only if you use it.

 

[benEzra]

Only four murders in the entire state in last year involved rifles of ANY type, and King Daley wants to outlaw all civilian rifles with handgrips that stick out. That's ridiculous. Rifles of any type are VERY rarely used in crimes.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/offense_tabulations/table_20-22.html

I wish they'd can the hysteria and look at the data. All rifles and shotguns COMBINED accounted for only 4 murders out of 448 in the state in 2005. More than twice as many people in Illinois were murdered with fists and feet as with all kinds of rifles combined. Nine times as many people were murdered with edged weapons as with rifles.

State.....Total.....Total.....Handguns...Rifles...Shotguns....Firearms......Edged......Other......Hands, Fists,
.........Murders...Firearms................................(Type Unknown)..Weapons....Weapons........Feet

Illinois.....448.....337.........313.......4..........0..........20..........37...........64..........10


You'd think the reporter would TELL you that little fact...

So, tell me again why civilian ownership of rifles with handgrips that stick out is SO dangerous that they need to be confiscated?

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

So what's to keep criminals from obtaining guns from another state and bring them in for a crime? Why not, the law abiding citizens are unarmed so there won't be much of a fight.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

That's why I don't live in big cities, especially ones that swing to the left politically. They seem to treat the symptoms rather than the source of a problem.

 

[DonP]

Huh?

"Let's acknowledge up front that a state ban might well not have spared the two girls from Englewood. Their killers could fairly easily have gotten the weapons in a neighboring state, legally or illegally.

Does that mean a state law is a bad idea? No."

Let's see, gang bangers ignore existing laws. So the solution to a community social problem is ... pass more laws.

I wrote a response, we'll see if it gets picked up, but FWIW the Tribune does have a web site that allows people to respond to editorials.

(Start)

The Englewood district has had problems with gangs fighting over turf to sell drugs on the street for some time, even in the face of the weapons in question already being banned.

Illinois has a FOID (Firearm Owners ID Card) card requirement to buy any gun or ammunition. (Anyone think the gang members had valid FOID cards and underwent the required background check and waiting period?)

The gun used are already banned in Chicago and was purchased in Indiana. (The criminals that killed the little girls don't care)

Full Auto, or "Real" Assault weapons have been illegal in Illinois since the 1930's.

Does anyone want to bet that even if the governor gets his ban, that the gangs that killed these two girls will still have illegal guns and they will be just as easy to buy on the street as they are today. Even your editorial admitted that the new legislation will probably have no effect on gang violence in Chicago and would not have spared these innocent girls lives! But what the heck, let's pass it anyway!

Let's see. Gangs break several laws to buy and use guns illegally. The Tribune's solution; pass more laws they won't obey anyway? Huh?

But the governor and mayor will get their "photo-op", the Tribune will occupy the moral high ground, and there will be no change in the violence in the Englewood community. Over 1.5 million Illinois gun owners may become overnight criminals. It's not the so called "gun lobby" you are dealing with, it's a lot of ordinary Illinois citizens that are really sick of being governed based on Chicago's inability to control itself or its neighborhoods.

For the record: House Bill 2414 bans ALL semi-automatic guns, all magazines over 10 rounds, including my 1965 Marlin Model 60 .22 cal. squirrel gun that holds 15 rounds, all guns over .50 caliber, including shotguns over .410 gauge and has no grandfather clause or compensation for confiscated firearms.

Along with thousands of other Illinois citizens I also shoot an AR-15 in government sanctioned CMP High Power competition. Every one of us that shoots competitively will become instant felons thanks to this lousy piece of legislation.

Let's all be honest for once here, OK?

This legislation is aimed at placating the African-American community in Englewood and is trying to put a band aid on a major social problem rather than commit the resources in the form of police coverage, job programs and other social support the Englewood community really needs. The mayor and governor's greatest hope is that the community citizens and ministers will celebrate a ban and not look too closely at the lack of results in their community since the last round of gun bans that didn't work.

Next on Daley's hit parade, "nobody needs a handgun... either", except of course the armed security details for himself, the governor and their families. As for the rest of you, you're on your own.

(End)

 

[Erebus]

The use of semiautomatic weapons in crimes declined while there was a federal ban, but Congress made the callous decision to let that ban expire.

Well it's obvious to me that the criminals were all just waiting through the ban to go out and commit their crimes with semi-automatic ASSAULT rifles</sarcasm>

Notice they don't mention if such crimes went back up or continued to fall after the ban expired? Is there any evidence the ban had anything to do with the fall?

Police say an AK-47 assault rifle converted to automatic use was used in the killing of 14-year-old Starkesia.

Based on what? 7.62X39 shells? Or is there some real evidence it was an AK-47?

The gang member charged with killing Starkesia Reed bought an AK-47 in Indiana, which doesn't require a firearm owner's card. It's the same kind of weapon used in her murder, though that Indiana purchase has not yet been linked to the crime.

So the pruchase could be completely unrelated.

It is not yet clear what weapon is to blame in the death of 10-year-old Siretha; investigators believe it may have been a pistol equipped with a large ammunition magazine.

Apparently the bullets that come from a 9 round magazine are less deadly than the same bullets coming from a 15 round magazine.


They are going to name a law after 2 victims they aren't even sure were murdered in the maner this proposed law would address. :banghead:

 

[whm1974]

Apparently the bullets that come from a 9 round magazine are less deadly than the same bullets coming from a 15 round magazine.

I would say a 9 round mag is deadlyer then a 15. If scum can't get Hi-Caps then they may become better shots.

-Bill

 

[ArmedBear]

Note the wording:

"what weapon is to blame in the death of 10-year-old Siretha"

Now Chicago has weapons that go around shooting children, all by themselves?

Has a weapon ever been charged with a crime?

Mr. Bat, you have been convicted of beating a teenager about the head and shoulders. You are hereby sentenced to ten years in the batting cage.

Mr. Knife, you were born to julienne carrots, but you went on a rampage and stabbed three men in a racially-motivated street fight. You have been convicted of assault with yourself, hate crimes, and attempted murder. You are hereby sentenced to the fish packaging plant for life.

Mr. Gun, you were supposed to be protecting an old lady in a dangerous neighborhood, but instead you snuck out her bedroom window and robbed a liquor store! You must now spend ten years as part of an educational program put on by the local PD.

Such cases would certainly take the heat off the poor criminals who are being charged with crimes so often these days. We all know that a disproportionate number of human beings are rotting in our jails. It's time to right these wrongs and put the blame on pieces of metal and wood instead.

 

[Standing Wolf]

It is not yet clear what weapon is to blame in the death of 10-year-old Siretha...

I personally think it's much more probable the blame ought to be assigned to the criminal rather than a weapon—but then, I don't live in Chicago. Maybe guns are different there. Heck, maybe criminals are, too.

 

[Silent-Snail]

If the gun can do these things then THEY are the criminals and should be prosecuted, not whatever picture of virtue that happens to be holding one of them at the time the dangerous, foul tempered, and murder minded inanimate object decides to "express its negative views towards humanity".

Too bad it'll never happen .