Getting a gun in Chicago quick and easy

[Doc91678]

By frank main
1-2013



Want to know how to get a gun?

Just ask Chris.

The skinny teen attends high school in Chicago and is a talented athlete. But he’s also a notorious gunslinger.

As a shooter in a South Side gang, he can get his hands on a gun as quick as you can get a burger at a fast-food restaurant.

“I will make a call and say I need a gun. I will ride down the street on my bike and get it — five minutes.”

The Chicago Sun-Times sat down with Chris for a lesson on how gangs get guns. Armed gangs like Chris’ have driven up Chicago’s murder total 28 percent above the tally at this time last year. And Chris is on the front lines of the shooting.

“For your ’hood, you can’t stop [getting] guns because it’s war season. A gang need any gun it can get,” said the teen, who has worked as an informant for police and asked for anonymity. The Sun-Times is identifying him by an alias.

‘Gun guys’

He knows men whose full-time job in the underground economy is to buy guns from suburban stores and illegally sell them to criminals.

Chris calls them the “gun guys.” The cops have another name for them: “straw purchasers.”

“Gun guys” have clean records allowing them to obtain Illinois firearm owner’s identification cards. With FOID cards, they can legally buy guns at stores in the suburbs.

Then they illegally sell them to gang members banned from owning guns because of their criminal backgrounds.

Most of the guns recovered in crimes in Chicago were bought in suburban gun stores, according to a new University of Chicago Crime Lab study of police gun-trace data.


(Excerpt)

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Getting a gun in Chicago quick and easy - Chicago Sun-Times

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - call out the National Guard...

Retired general says National Guard could help curb Chicago violence
February 21, 2013 - To reduce the homicides and shootings plaguing Chicago streets, elected officials should consider calling on the state and federal governments for help, even the National Guard if necessary, said a retired Army lieutenant general who spearheaded the military response after Hurricane Katrina.

"Just like we do with any disaster. When the tornado comes, or the floods come, the federal government comes in to help," Russel L. Honore said Thursday at a news conference in Chicago. "Let's not let this be about pride. 'We are big ol' Chicago, we are too proud, we can handle this.' Maybe you can't handle it. If you need help, get the federal government here. But let's control the streets so children and elderly people can be in a safe community." Honore, known for his no-nonsense leadership, was in Chicago as part of The HistoryMakers project to record and archive the stories of African-American military leaders. The nonprofit organization houses the largest collection of recorded histories of African-Americans. As part of his visit, Honore met with high school students to discuss his career. At the news conference at the Chicago Military Academy in the Bronzeville neighborhood, Honore spoke out against the gun violence that affects the lives of so many of the students.

Honore was mild in his tone and fell short of demanding action. Instead he suggested a strategy he thinks could work. To tackle the violence here, Honore said, the state police and other law enforcement agencies could lend a hand to local police. And the National Guard could take over routine duties, patrolling the streets and handling traffic, while police concentrate their efforts on solving crimes and increasing their presence in troubled neighborhoods. Last year, Chicago homicides exceeded 500 for the first time since 2008, a 16 percent jump from 2011. And January saw the most homicides for that month since 2002. In addition, the shooting death of Hadiya Pendleton has placed an international spotlight on the random violence in Chicago because the 15-year-old honors student with so much promise was killed less than a mile from President Barack Obama's home.

To reduce the violence, more attention needs to be paid to poor communities infested with drugs, Honore said. "Trust me, we can tap this down," Honore said of the shootings. "It would take a commitment, and it's not going to be popular. Many people are going to say why are you bringing that to my community? (But) do you want law enforcement or do you want people shooting day and night and destroying the lives of innocent people like the little girl who lost her life here a few weeks ago?" Rondell Freeman, a 17-year-old junior at Prologue Early College High School who was among the students to hear Honore's remarks, said he feels afraid on the streets or even visiting the local park in his Garfield Park community. Honore's suggestion to bring in state police and National Guard seems radical, but it may be necessary, he said. "We should do whatever it takes to end the violence, so we won't have to feel scared," he said. "These kids have guns. We need experienced people that can stop them."

When he's not working as a Chicago police officer, Richard Wooten said he's in the neighborhoods — Auburn Gresham, West Chesterfield and Chatham — helping residents develop neighborhood watch groups. "Crime in Chicago is just running rampant," said Wooten, who does community work as part of his own organization, the Gathering Point Community Council. He attended Honore's news conference. "This is going to require more than just the Chicago Police Department," he said. "We are in a state right now where we need not only to get the community activated and mobilized and dealing with the issues in their community, but somewhere along the way, we're going to have to tap into some federal funding."

Source

 

[Clementine]

Well, damn, do these criminals not understand what gun free zones are? Do they not appreciate the strict laws put forth by the left to keep people safe? Shameful that they'll take advantage of laws that prevent people from defending themselves against the scum that roams the city. Typical criminals. Of course, they aren't the target of the liberal gun control laws.