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Imagine if all it took to reduce the soaring number of shootings and homicides in Chicago was a little more gun control. It seems pretty silly, given that the vast majority of individuals committing violent crimes in the city aren’t legal gun owners to begin with, but Illinois gun control activist Kathleen Sances, who runs the Gun Violence Prevention PAC Illinois, swears that if Democrats in control of the statehouse in Springfield just pass one piece of legislation, things will start to turn around in the city.
That piece of legislation is cynically called the Fix the FOID Act, though it doesn’t offer much actual improvement to the fundamentally flawed law that requires all residents to obtain a Firearms Owner ID card before they can legally possess a firearm. Instead, it raises the fees for those hoping to exercise their Second Amendment rights, while treating them like criminals by making them provide fingerprints to the state police. According to
Today
Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 46F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Tonight
Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 46F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Updated: May 15, 2021 @ 7:11 pm
A bill seeking to create a state government office designed to curb gun violence on Friday advanced to a final vote in the House over objections from the chamber’s Republicans.
This story contains mentions of gun violence and domestic violence.
After nationwide firearm deaths reached a 20-year high in 2020, Evanston- and Illinois-based advocates are pushing for further implementation of gun-violence prevention policies.
Although gun violence increased nationally in 2020, some advocates say the issue doesn’t receive enough attention within the Evanston community, especially when it happens in Black and lower-income neighborhoods. Black men are eight times more likely to die by firearm homicide than the general population, according to a 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
Carolyn Murray, a gun control advocate and former 5th Ward aldermanic candidate, said City Council needs to take gun violence and its effects on the community more seriously.