Thread: what is going on in Chicago??

To our members living in and around the Chicago area.… I heard something on the news the other day about this being the worst year ever or in a long time for murders? And also a large number of deaths due to the heat???

What is going on over there?

I lived in Chicago for about a year to attend college and I didn't have air conditioning. I guess this summer is really bad?

But what about all these shootings?

Haven't heard about shootings but weather stays above 90F for almost 40 days already

Global warming.

For the first half of 2012, homicides jumped about 39 percent over the year-earlier period, while shootings rose 9 percent. Chicago church leaders call for a weekend of peace - Chicago Tribune

That was the news item I heard about and apparently even during the weekend of peace there were shootings.


Then from last night... A 16-year-old boy and eight others were wounded by gunfire across Chicago Friday night and Saturday morning, according to police.
Nine wounded in shootings across city - chicagotribune.com

And you dear Doomer have not heard anything about this???

Are they in gangs or drug dealers or why does this happen? Why Chicacago?
Tragic either way.

In the UK, guns are not available to anyone but those who can prove that they need it for sport, or people with cash and criminal contacts. So guns are not available to gangs - they use knives instead and there are a few gang related knife killings per year. But the police are on a massive hunt of these knives and confiscate all they come across.

And the idea of banning guns probably wouldn't work in the USA - there are too many guns around already, it would be impossible to collect and control them all:


^{http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states:}

Number of Privately Owned Firearms

The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in the United States is 270,000,000¹
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Rate of Civilian Firearm Possession per 100 Population

The rate of private gun ownership in the United States is 88.8² firearms per 100 people



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Rate of Privately Owned Firearms per 100 Population - World Ranking

In a comparison of the rate of private gun ownership in 179 countries, the United States ranked at No. 1

Compare with Russia:
Although I think the figure must be wrong - the figure is much lower than Sweden and Finland. I thought shooting for game was a hobby in Russia....

Civilian Guns

Compare
Number of Privately Owned Firearms

The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in Russia is 12,750,000¹

Compare
Rate of Civilian Firearm Possession per 100 Population

The rate of private gun ownership in Russia is 8.9² firearms per 100 people

Compare
Rate of Privately Owned Firearms per 100 Population - World Ranking

In a comparison of the rate of private gun ownership in 179 countries, Russia ranked at No. 68²

Compare
Number of Registered Firearms

The number of registered guns in Russia is reported to be 5,000,000¹

Compare
Rate of Registered Firearms per 100 Population

The rate of registered firearms per 100 people in Russia is 3.50³

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Number of Privately Owned Rifles

In Russia, the number of rifles in civilian possession is reported to be 226,000⁴

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Number of Privately Owned Shotguns

In Russia, the number of shotguns in civilian possession is reported to be 3,410,000

Doomer... you still haven't heard anything about these shootings??

Monday night...
At least 10 people were wounded in seven shootings across Chicago overnight, police said.

Saturday night...
A man was killed and at least 16 others were shot across the city Saturday evening and this morning, continuing a streak of violence that has left dozens wounded in recent days.

Friday night...
4 killed, 14 others wounded across Chicago

Thursday night...
Nineteen people were shot across the South and West sides from Thursday evening through early Friday morning -- 13 of them wounded over a 30-minute period, authorities say.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

Doomer... you still haven't heard anything about these shootings??

Nope But I live in suburbs
Here is the interactive map, if you'd like - Chicago, IL Crime Map - Showing Crimes in Chicago - Crime Statistics, Alerts and Reports - Crime Stops Here

Here is the map of NY too - New York, NY Crime Map - Showing Crimes in New York - Crime Statistics, Alerts and Reports - Crime Stops Here

So you live in the suburbs and are blissfully ignorant. Love it. I live in the suburbs too, yet I knew all about the shooting at a school that took place in Baltimore yesterday, even my sister who lives in Los Angeles knew about it! I find your lack of knowing what happens in Chicago very interesting. I'm not putting you down, honestly, I find it fascinating. Maybe it is because I grew up always watching the news that automatically covers such a large area that I am sort of programmed to tap into the news for a larger area? I am used to hearing news about Washington, Maryland and Virginia as well as news from the Baltimore area if it was important even though technically, that would be a different news channel for me, our local stations would carry it like they did yesterday about the school shooting.

For the past few days, my dad has been watching the news about the hurricane and now tropical storm. It is no where near us, but he is still watching it.

Originally Posted by rockzmom

I live in the suburbs too, yet I knew all about the shooting at a school that took place in Baltimore yesterday, even my sister who lives in Los Angeles knew about it!

I envy the amount of free time you have

I guess it’s the harbinger of incipient revival of the notorious Chicago Outfit allegedly formerly closely connected with local politicians*. I've seen somwhere that folks prognosticate outbreaks of its activity after a good spell of pacifying hibernation.

Although other urban areas had their share of corruption, Chicago remained unique for its mixture of Organized Crime and political organization. The extent of Mafia influence on the city is still not fully appreciated, even by long-time residents. We think of Mobs hijacking trucks or businesses – not ballot boxes. But the ability to deliver votes and manipulate elected officials provided more muscle to the Outfit than their army of enforcers.

*Newsalert: The Political Corruption Behind Barack Obama and Chicago