May 21, 2008
Daley Backs Mell's Amnesty
Mayor Daley announced yesterday that he is behind Dick Mell's proposed ordinance to reopen gun registration in Chicago, creating a one-month amnesty for gun owners who forgot to re-register. The mayor says he's doing it for hunters with summer homes out of state, not the alderman. "A lot of people go back and forth to their summer homes ... A lot of people move their shotguns. A lot of 'em are bird hunters, gun collectors. ... They move 'em back from Wisconsin, Michigan, [other] parts of Illinois," the mayor told the Sun-Times. "It's one time [for] one month ... You want to have 'em register. There's nothing wrong with that ... People want to just register. A lot of 'em bring 'em back from hunting trips. So, why not?"
The city's ban on handguns, as well as the requirement that owners of all existing firearms register their weapons each year, was pushed through the city council in 1982 after assassination attempts on both President Reagan and Pope John Paul II. The number of registered firearms has declined steadily since then, although the number of illegal guns in Chicago has not. When asked if supporting the registration amnesty sent the wrong message at a time when gun-related homicides are up, they mayor replied "no, it doesn't."
Photo by ten-nine
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People who register their hunting rifles are generally are not the people who are committing gang-related shootings.
It would be interesting to see what percentage of crimes committed with guns in Chicago are committed with unregistered weapons.
It seems that the argument could be made to legalize handguns that are registered to people who pass an annual licensing test (another revenue stream for the city). What kind of logic dictates that only criminal should have the 'right' to own a handgun in the City?
Just spit-balling here.
I would guess the percentage would be about 96%.
there was at least one person (it looked like maybe two bodies) killed tonight at the corner of wilson and broadway tonight. broadway was blocked from sunnyside to wilson with crime scene tape and there were cops everywhere.
it's always been a sketchville corner, but it's a strange sight to actually see a body with a sheet over it on the sidewalk. sigh.
Daley must need Mell's vote for the Children's Museum.
What a concept you are breaking a law so you just re write the law to make it comply with your behavior. I think DICK mell has figured out how to lower the crime rate to 0.
"What a concept you are breaking a law so you just re write the law to make it comply with your behavior. I think DICK mell has figured out how to lower the crime rate to 0."
It's just the old Monty Python sketch, "The Piranha Brothers":
"The way to reduce the number of crimes is to reduce the number of offenses."
"After all, who among us has not set fire to some great public building. I know I have."
Just another example of some animals being more equal than others in Apartheid Chicago...