Chicago: 24 students have been murdered this school year

[Indy Lurker]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/22/eveningnews/main4036098.shtml



"You can't go nowhere without being shot," said Juston Gant. "It's crazy."

Last school year 34 (Chicago public school) students were killed. That's 58 deaths over what amounts to a 17-month period. And that makes an average of one child getting murdered every eight days.

In a city where handguns are already banned, Stop The Violence rallies have had little impact and the mayor's calls for stricter gun laws have fallen on deaf ears.

"Why is America turning its back on its children when it comes to gun violence?" said Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. "It's that simple."

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Yet another example of Chicago's failed gun control policy.





But wait, the mayor has a plan, he's going to study the violence (and not just blame guns!!!)



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http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/888523,violence041008.article


Daley announces study on youth violence

Daley said he got the idea for the study after the murder last fall of University of Chicago graduate student Amadou Cisse of Senegal.

The study will be led by U of C professor Jens Ludwig, who hopes to have “early results” — including new “intervention policies” -- within six to 12 months. The city would then launch a series of pilot programs to test those strategies.

Ludwig said interviews with those who have pulled the trigger would be critical. His analysis of Chicago homicides shows that “75 to 80 percent” of both offenders and victims have prior arrest records.

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Maybe there's some hope for Chicago.

[jmg257]

1. "“75 to 80 percent” of both offenders and victims ..."

"Why is America turning its back on its children when it comes to gun violence?" said Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. "It's that simple."

Maybe it isn't, Mayor.

"“75 to 80 percent” of both offenders and victims have prior arrest records.“"


Sounds similar to New Haven's study a few years back:

"A large percentage of offenders and victims {of gun violence} were 15-21 years of age."
"One fifth of offenders had been arrested for a prior gun offense, and three-fifths had a history of drug charges."
"Approximately one-third of offenders or victims associated with murders and armed assaults were members of neighborhood "groups" believed to be involved in other illegal activities."


Maybe other problems are more relevant other then guns, and whether they are banned or regulated or declared illegal to own - or not.

[Hoosier lawyer]

6. AMEN to that

We need to stop crying about guns and focus on the real problems in these places,the war on drugs, job creation and education. The guns will take care of themselves if you take care of the real problems.

[Longtooth]

8. I agree 100%. In my days in high school it was not uncommon

for the kids with trucks (most of the "cars" were "pick-ups") to have at least two long guns in them. Often there was also a revolver of some sort too. We did NOT have the problem of school shootings then. So were is the problem? It is not guns as that variable has remained constant. What variables HAVE changed?

[DonP]

2. "Students"

The media is playing thius up with all the hype they can muster.

Some of these kids are true victims and deserve far better than Daley or their own community leaders are willing to give them. But some of the other Student shootings have a smell to them.

None have been shot in or near the schools and one of the most recent, if you bothered to read to the last parapgraph, was; "thinking about going back to school after he dropped out 9 months ago". He was 18 years old, had been in trouble for gang activity, and was shot at 3 AM 5 miles from his home. To the Chicago Tribune and the Brady Bunch he will be lumped in statistically with the other "children".

[Longtooth]

3. Figures don't lie but . . . . .

[spin]

4. Finally, interest in find the root causes of violence...

University of Chicago researchers will interview victims, offenders and parents -- with a particular emphasis on single moms -- to get to the heart of youth violence and devise “out of the box” strategies to prevent it, Mayor Daley said today.

from the link posted in the OP http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/888523,violence041008.article.

Mayor Richard Daley should be commended for taking a step in the right direction to root out the causes of violence in Chicago.


I wonder if the school system is part of the problem:

Education Secretary William J. Bennett says Chicago's public schools are the worst in the nation and parents should consider private schools for their children.

****

''Forty-six percent of Chicago teachers send their children to private schools,'' he said. ''The people who know the product best send their children elsewhere.''

Mr. Bennett based his comments on the release last week of high school students' scores on the American College Test, used by many colleges in considering admissions. When the scores of the Chicago students were averaged, half of the city's 64 public high schools ranked in the bottom 1 percent of schools that gave the test.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D91E3FF93BA35752C1A961948260 Wednesday, April 23, 2008

If children go to a school system and fail to get a quality education, they will face enormous difficulty obtaining jobs that provide a good wage. Many will turn to a violent life of crime, gangs and drug dealing.

[Turbo Teg]

5. Can we get CCW on college campuses now?

It can be a start, then start letting teachers who would like to carry thier CCW weapon would be allowed to carry on school campuses.

[spin]

11. CCW on campus might help to reduce massacres

You could put up a sign on every entrance to the college campus that says,

NOTICE:

Licensed individuals carry weapons on this Campus

This is not a gun free zone!

[DonP]

9. Don't give Daley credit yet

"Mayor Richard Daley should be commended for taking a step in the right direction to root out the causes of violence in Chicago."

The guy Daley hired to do the "independent research" has already written two books that are based on the principle that effective gun control works to deter crime in urban environments. Daley doesn't want anyone going into this with an open mind and he would never dream of paying someone to do research on guns if he didn't already know what the results were going to be.

He already knows what the causes of the violence are but has such a delicately balanced coalition keeping him in office and in power that he does not dare to put a police focus on the communities where over 80% of the gun violence comes from, Englewood, Chatham and Roseland.

[spin]

12. I've seen something like this happen in St.. Petersburg Fl also...

For a while, I understand the cops were told to concentrate more on writing traffic tickets and spend less time in the high crime areas.

The new policy didn't seem to reduce the crime rate much. It probably was a politically smart move at the time.

[virginia mountainman]

7. More Proof, of the total and utter failure of..

Gun Free Zones....

But off course, their will be those, that WANT MORE, "gun free zones"


....What dumbasses...

[DonP]

10. From this morning's Chicago Tribune

Considering that Chapman is a member of the Trib Editorial Board, this columns is kind of stunning. The link is here if anyone wants to read the enitre column.

We had another round of killings last night on the South Side followed by another press conference with the new Police Commissioner, followed by the usual calls for banning .50 caliber rifles and assault weapons.


Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0424chapmanapr24,0,5976650.column

City misfires on gun violence
Steve Chapman
April 24, 2008

When a rash of gun murders takes place, it makes sense for the police to do one of two things: renew tactics that have been effective in the past at curbing homicides, or embrace ideas that have not been tried before. But those options don't appeal to Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis. What he proposes instead is a crackdown on assault weapons. ?
I'm tempted to say this is the moral equivalent of a placebo—a sugar pill that is irrelevant to the malady at hand. But that would be unfair. Placebos, after all, sometimes have a positive effect. Assault weapons bans, not so much. ?
If there are too many guns in Chicago, it's not because of any statutory oversight. The city has long outlawed the sale and possession of handguns. It also forbids assault weapons. If prohibition were the answer, no one would be asking the question.

(snip)

Gun control hasn't worked as a remedy for crime. So what makes anyone think the answer is more gun control?

[spin]

13. Wow, an intelligent column in a big city newspaper...

Will wonders ever cease?

I wonder how many 50 cal rifles, if any, were used to commit crime in Chicago.

A 50 cal rifle is, to say the least, hard to conceal. Not the type of weapon to use in a drive-by shooting or to rob a convenience store. Also a bit on the expensive side.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M82_Barrett_rifle