It’s interesting. The Democrats are so all over the place during their presidential primaries that they tend to drift off topic and forget some of their primary goals. We’re hearing a lot about immigration, health care and student loans. We’re even hearing the left admit that due process is important — though they only apply it to illegal immigrants. It’s why it seems like the fight for gun control has gone a little quiet.
That’s only an illusion. There are still powerful anti-gun lobbies in this country, and they continue to make big progress in state and local politics every day.
Despite that effort, the fight is far from over. Every once in a while, something amazing happens and staunchly liberal areas learn to value the right to bear arms. That just might be happening in Chicago right now.
The Big Crime
You hear about crime and violence in Chicago a lot. That’s for good reason. Mainstream media does everything they can to conceal this problem. They compare obscure statistics to make it seem like Chicago isn’t bad.
Did you know that Boise, Idaho, has a hire murder rate than Chicago every third blue moon during a potato harvest when it rains? See? Chicago isn’t so bad.
Meanwhile, everyone who lives in the city knows how dangerous it is. While crime rates fell across the country over the last few years, they’ve mostly held steady in Chicago. They’ve had single days where their number of murders outpaced war zones.
In fact, Chicago violence has reached the point where the mayor actually asked the state to deploy the national guard to the most dangerous neighborhoods. Any way you look at it, violence in Chicago is out of control.
Admitting as much comes with the acknowledgement that Chicago policy is a failed experiment. Draconian gun laws have done absolutely nothing to solve the problem.
This is where things get interesting. La Shawn Ford is a state representative for a district in Chicago. He recently ran for mayor, and he’s a Democrat. For plenty of his career, he played along with the agenda and tried to downplay the true scope of violence in his city. Then, reality struck.
Recently, a shooting occurred that killed a 22-year-old man. Bullets from that shooting struck Ford’s car. The danger couldn’t be ignored, and in a stunning turnaround, Ford admitted that something has to change.
This might have been the fastest and most extreme red-pilling in history. Ford immediately made curbing violence his top priority, and the way he is leading the charge is to encourage citizens to get their concealed carry permits. It’s truly stunning.
The Shifting Trend
The big news is that Ford hasn’t been run out of town. His efforts are being met with widespread agreement. Citizens in the most violent neighborhoods have long taken to carrying weapons to defend themselves. The only problem is that they have had to break the law to do so. With Ford trying to change city regulations, that might finally reverse.
Until then, Chicago residents who want to take Ford’s advice have to jump through extraordinary hoops. Illinois state laws are not as restrictive as states like California, but the processing for the license is very expensive. It’s particularly prohibitive to people in low-income areas. Guess where the most crimes happen.
So, there’s a lot of work left to do. But, if a staunch Democrat in the heart of Chicago can be shown reason, then maybe there’s still hope. Sure, it took literal gunshots to convince him of the true nature of the danger, but plenty of Democrats would fail to wake up even under those circumstances.
While New York and California drive residents away in droves, and solid Republican policy make Texas and Florida the new most popular states, Chicago is taking steps to reverse decades of bad decisions. They just might be able to ride this wave of sensibility all the way to the right.
It might be a pipe dream, but we have to appreciate when things take a turn for the better, and if Ford can make any progress at all, that’s exactly what we’ll see in Chicago.
You wrote, “You hear about crime and violence in Chicago a lot.” Don’t you mean you DON’T hear about….?” You wrote, “Did you know that Boise, Idaho, has a hire murder rate than Chicago …..?” Don’t you mean HIGHER?”
Come on, folks. I agree with the point of the article BUT can’t you find a good proofreader?
My hat goes off to Mr. Ford for finally seeing the light but why did it have to take an encounter with violence for that to happen. As the article states, Ford has followed the libturd party line throughout his political career. This sudden change in attitude sounds just a tad fishy to me – setting up for his next campaign with a pro gun approach.
Unfortunately, nothing will change in Chicago until mayor Beetlejuice is voted out of office.
WOW!! a Democrat seeing the light… ..Red-pilled to gun-freedom! It’s too bad that it took a dangerous situation to bring about legitimate thought-process. ..a step in the right direction!
Born in Chicago visited a few Times still don’t want to live there crime rate is about the same here but we are allowed to defend our homes here.So the bad guys loose about half the time.
Actually the first thing to do is get rid of the “DO NOTHING” mayor and then give the police the backing to do their job. Then let the 2nd Amendment be used as intended. For self protection and in defense of others, as well as against any tyrannical government like what is now in control of Chicago. Knowing or NOT knowing if the other person is armed is a deterrent in itself, as most criminals are really cowards and will only pray on those who they feel are weak and defenseless. Old saying; “BETTER TO HAVE A GUN AND ‘NOT’ USE IT, THAN ‘NOT’ TO HAVE A GUN WHEN YOU NEED IT.”
You need a new editor, ” Hire” rate than Chicago, “HIGHER” is the word. The left thinks we’re uneducated as it is.