Please understand: Chicago already has the strictest gun laws in America.
Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, had an odd explanation for the gun violence gripping the city Sunday, suggesting that lax gun laws and coronavirus-related lockdowns were largely to blame for the spike in shootings, which has left at least four children dead and dozens of Chicago residents wounded.
Speaking to a press conference, Lightfoot said the violence problem is “complicated,” according to the Washington Examiner.
“That’s a complicated question,” Lightfoot told media. “We have way too many guns on the streets.”
“Lightfoot also suggested that the coronavirus shutdowns that kept people inside for months played a role in creating a ‘perfect storm’ while also pointing out the death of George Floyd as an event that sparked anger in the community,” the Examiner reported.
That “perfect storm” is responsible for a nearly record-breaking streak of violence in the city. As of late June, “329 people have been killed in Chicago, an increase of about 34% from the 246 homicides during the same period last year, according to police. Shootings in that period rose by about 42%, from 978 in 2019 to 1,384 in 2020,” NBC Chicago reports. Crime, overall, is down by 9%.
There have been only five days in July, but already this month 84 people have been shot and wounded in the city, and 18 have been shot and killed. In just the last three weeks, several children have been murdered by gun violence, one as young as a year old.