Final toll in Chicago for 2015:
499 homicides, narrowly missing that 500 mark. We have no doubt Rahm breathed a sigh of relief as 499 sounds like a lot less than 500.
2995 people were shot.
Is that because there’s a lot of guns in Chicago? Hardly.
There aren’t a lot of legally-owned guns in Chicago because of Chicago’s long-history of strict gun control. Some of this has changed following the passage of the Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act, but by and large there are precious few gun owners per capita in Cook County.
Contrast that with Florida, where over 8% of the population are licensed to carry guns in public. At the same time, Florida has the lowest recorded level of firearms violent crime in that state’s history. They also have 10-20-Life sentencing enhancements for possessing / using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. Illinois also has firearm-related sentencing enhancements, but they are often plea-bargained away or left underutilized by prosecutors. Florida’s enhancements are not negotiable in plea negotiations, and there’s no early releases or probation.
In Chicago, when cops catch a trio of violent teens doing a drive-by, they get charged with a class 4 felony, which is one to three in prison upon conviction. It’s this catch and release style of prosecution that is the single-largest reason for the high levels of criminal violence in Chicago.
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