How the Illinois House can help combat gun crime - but they won't

Where I live, I can (and do) carry every day.  In fact, I'll be going to my local sheriff office tomorrow to renew my CHL license.'   For the third time ... CHL must be renewed every five years; the cost is $5,

I feel good about that.   I've never been threatened by a gun, or witnessed firearms violence in the 20+ years I've lived here.

How many people in Chicago (etc.) can make that claim?

How the Illinois House can help combat gun crime - Chicago Tribune:

Will allowing the state to regulate dealers prevent all guns from getting in criminal hands? Of course not. But allowing the state to require dealers to improve security measures will help prevent gun theft and burglary. Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stated that since 2012, the earliest year for which data are available, burglaries from licensed dealers have increased by 48 percent, and the number of guns stolen during these burglaries increased by 73 percent. Requiring dealers to train all employees on how to identify potential straw purchasers will also reduce that path of guns getting into the illegal market.

Chicago might be better served by allowing gun stores to locate in the inner city, where police presence is better manned, then  forcing them to establish in the outlying districts.



Last time I checked (six months ago)   I could find only ONE gun store in Chicago.

But gun stores in outlying districts DO have problems with burglary ... or should we call them "Raids"?

Gangs of from five to fifteen, with several vehicles, defeat the barriers, drive a vehicle through the front, and load the truck with everything in reach. (Video of a gang raid on a Houston gun store)

Chicago crooks are so cocky, they even boast of their crimes on you tube.
(forty minute video ... NSFW)

This has NOTHING AT ALL to do with training clerks in a gun store!!!
The author of this article has not understanding of the mechanism by which gun stores run their businesses; it has everything to do with the lawlessness in major cities.

Not saying I have the solution .. at least, one which would be cost effective; after all, the gun-store stock is insured (another huge expense).

But don't the gun dealers have an obligation to the community to keep people from stealing guns and ammunition?

There's a limit to the extent gun dealers can protect their stock and their premises.  That's the point where it costs more to improve the security than it costs to lose the stock.

Gun dealers take reasonable (and generally effective) measures to provide adequate security ...
under normal circumstances ... which do not prevail in major cities, such as Chicago, DC and Baltimore, et al.

Gun thieves have a MUCH lower level of "operating costs";  a couple of junkers to drive through the door, a crew to grab as much product as possible during a limited time frame, and lookouts watching for cop cars screaming down the street.  (See above video of a gang raid on a Houston gun store)

It would be a lot easier if gun stores were allowed within the central parts of Chicago; much more active police presence there, much quicker response time to a "Smash and Grab".

But Chicago doesn't WANT gun stores in central areas; they want them way on the outskirts, where their presence won't infect the local school children with the unhealthy lust for firepower.

Shrug.  I guess Chicago has made up its mind what it wants; and what it wants is to barely tolerate gun shops, and take no responsibility for protecting the legal products which they vend,

The politicians which have run Chicago for over a century have every thing just the way they want it.  If they wished, they could change the equation so that gun shops would have convenient to city resources, such a frequent patrols by armed policemen, and fast response to a burglar alarm..

But they would rather these entrepreneurs remain outside the pale of  'honest businesses'.  The comments in the referenced article (below) make it clear how  Official Chicago is happy to drive gun shops out of business; all the politicians have to do is sit back and let the Bad Guys impose their political will on the retailers that they don't like so much.

Funny ... they don't like guns, but they go out of their way to make it possible for crooks to get guns.

It's one of those "Believing Two Opposing Viewpoints At The Same Time" things, I guess.

CF: Cognitive Dissonance

Forget it, Jake; It's Chi-Town.

Chicago, like many other major cities (eg: Baltimore, Los Angeles, DC) is a "Gun Free Zone".

That means that it is illegal for an honest citizen to own a gun.

The only people who regularly carry a gun are the outlaws.  So only outlaws own guns; honest citizens do not.   At least ... not legally.

How is that working out for you Chicago, Baltimore, L.A., DC?

Maybe it's time for you to revisit your firearms laws?

The view from the sticks is, your attempt to minimize firearms deaths is causing more death than it is stopping.