U.S. Rep Danny Davis Calls For Government To Do More To Curb Gun Violence

By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 28, 2016 8:33PM

Two days after U.S. Rep. Danny Davis delivered a heartfelt eulogy for this slain 15-year-old grandson, the legislator was joined by several officials on Monday at City Hall in calling for action at each level of government against the gun violence epidemic in Chicago.

Wilson was fatally shot in his Englewood home on Friday, Nov. 18 after getting into an argument over shoes, according to police. Two teenagers, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl, face charges of first-degree murder.

Davis said at the press conference that there were no easy answers. "The more I study the issue of gun violence, I am becoming more and more convinced that there is no panacea, no silver bullet, no single answer to the call and no one solution," Davis said, according to NBC Chicago.

But he urged lawmakers at state, local and federal levels to apply the so-called 10-20-30 plan. The measure calls for 10 percent of investment funds to be allocated to poor neighborhoods—those where 20 percent of people have lived below the poverty line for 30 years or more. The initiative would target "nine or 10 endangered communities," Davis said, according to the Sun-Times.

"Declare poverty is an enemy no matter what your race, gender or ethnic background," Davis added.

Davis was joined by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Rev. Jesse Jackson and former Gov. Pat Quinn, among others. Rev. Jesse Jackson called poverty a "weapon of mass destruction." He urged lawmakers convene a White House summit on urban violence before President Obama's term expires with Chicago being made a test case for potential reforms, the Sun-Times reports.

And Rush underscored the need for an Illinois state budget. "Without a budget the black communities continue to struggle the hardest," Rush said. "We are struggling in this city."

The press conference arrived on the heels of a particularly violent Thanksgiving holiday weekend in Chicago. Last week, Davis called for a "state of emergency" in the wake of his grandson's death in order to curb violence.