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Chicago Murder rate drops to lowest point in 50 years

I have no reasons to play a game. Chicago suburbs are nice, but we were not talking about the suburbs. We were talking about the actual city. Downtown is nice, but then again detroit's is not bad either.



Yeah, they do at times tend to forget about some of the realities that don't even make news coverage or that the police report on. Not if it will make them look really bad.


Chicago Has Most Gang Members In The United States, Social Media Popular Among Recruits: Report

The Chicago Crime Commission released an updated book about Chicago gangs this week, which reveals that the Windy City has more gang members than any other U.S. city.

The book gives an in-depth account of how gangs in Chicago have changed over the last five years. One disturbing thing researchers found was that gangs have been recruiting children at a very young age to join their ranks.

"Some of these leaders are 15 to 17 years old, so it's not that unusual for somebody at that age to be able to influence somebody in second or third grade," former Chicago Police superintendent Jody Weis told WGN News. Weis is now the president of the commission.

Vulnerable kids looking for structure and discipline in their lives will often reach out to the gang leaders, which is why Weis said it is important for parents to be more engaged with their kids, Fox Chicago reports.

According to the book, Chicago now has more than 70 gangs made up of more than 150,000 members. Social media has also become a popular way for gang members to communicate with one another, which could be a helpful tool for police, but also has incited violence.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

The 320-page book details some web conversations among gang members, where they discuss drug deals, murders and other gang activity.....snip~

Chicago Has Most Gang Members In The United States, Social Media Popular Among Recruits: Report

By the way.....that's the City proper and not counting all suburbs. ;)
 
That's like bragging your wife took 1st in a professional body building contest.

I was thinking the same thing

PS it should also be noted that regardless of your stance on gun control laws, regional controls like this are likely the least effective form of legislation imaginable. Being that it does create the very scenario the gun nuts constantly scream about: the only one's armed are the criminals. Being that it isn't exactly difficult to get a gun outside the confines of Chicago and the type of people committing such crimes are not really concerned about breaking such laws to begin with
 
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I can't read the linked article, as it is behind a paywall.

Is it your intent to claim that Chicago has recently imposed tighter gun control laws than before, and that these tighter laws are responsible for the drop in the homicide rate?

The last news of any significance that I recall regarding Chicago's gun control laws was that the U.S. Supreme Court struck them down as unconstitutional; and that Chicago was scrambling to try to implement new laws that comply with the recent Supreme Court ruling. Any such laws, if they got enacted, and have any hope of standing, would be less strict than those that were struck down.

And even with that drop in the homicide rate, Chicago remains one of the most murderously violent cities in the United States—hardly any basis on which to hold them up as an example of a place that is doing anything right with regard to the issue of violent crime.

Sounds like the gun control people are taking the same line as the global warming people. Evidence of a drop in homicides in conjunction with stiffer gun control has nothing to do with stiffer gun control laws.
 
"Chicago is slated to end 2013 with fewer murders than at any time since the early 1960s with 412 homicides"

Chicago Homicides Down by 17% in 2013 - WSJ.com

What was all of that Republican rhetoric about failed gun control laws?

Toronto and Chicago are virtually the same size, population wise - we alternate back and forth as the fourth or fifth largest city in North America after Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles. In Toronto, we generally have about 50-60 murders a year, and we consider that to be quite high even if a majority of those murdered are active in gangs or crime of some sort. I hardly think 412 murders is something to cheer about although any reduction is good.

As for gun control laws, if you can indicate that the number of murders committed by use of a gun, particularly an illegal gun, has drastically fallen since the introduction of gun control regulations in Chicago, you may have a point - however, I'm guessing you've got no such evidence.
 
"Chicago is slated to end 2013 with fewer murders than at any time since the early 1960s with 412 homicides"

Chicago Homicides Down by 17% in 2013 - WSJ.com

What was all of that Republican rhetoric about failed gun control laws?
First off...if you are going to make a silly argument you have to reconcile your argument with the fact that in 2013 a federal judge ORDERED Illinois to loosen restrictions on private gun ownership and concealed carry. By your very argument, you make the other sides case for them.
Now...

Are you REALLY excited about this as 'progress'?
2013 Chicago Murders - Timeline - DNAinfo.com Chicago
 
Way to go Chicago. You're almost an awful place to live in, down from disgusting cess pool. Congratulations.
 
High court strikes down Chicago handgun ban - CNN.com

I doubt gun control laws were the reason for lowered homicides
Maybe they are just running out of innocent people to kill there? Hell..its been a rough 20 years! There have been more dead in the city of Chicago during the same duration than there were deaths in a ****ing war zone. But hey...raise the roof, bitches!!! Its time to party!!!
 
Way to go Chicago. You're almost an awful place to live in, down from disgusting cess pool. Congratulations.
Maybe its just because it has been cold to shoot anyone in the last few weeks. 1 year is an anomaly. Better give it a few years before we move it from the "Cities to Really Really REALLY Avoid" list to the "Cities to just Really REALLY Avoid" list.
 
Toronto and Chicago are virtually the same size, population wise - we alternate back and forth as the fourth or fifth largest city in North America after Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles. In Toronto, we generally have about 50-60 murders a year, and we consider that to be quite high even if a majority of those murdered are active in gangs or crime of some sort. I hardly think 412 murders is something to cheer about although any reduction is good.

As for gun control laws, if you can indicate that the number of murders committed by use of a gun, particularly an illegal gun, has drastically fallen since the introduction of gun control regulations in Chicago, you may have a point - however, I'm guessing you've got no such evidence.

A drop of 20% in the murder rate is fairly significant I think. It is also the lowest number of homicides since the 1960's.
 
Violence as a whole has dropped across the country, this isn't a secret. Yet, gun laws are becoming extremely lax as of late across the country.

Gun ownership has gone up exponentially....and crime has dropped exponentially. Soooooo....yeah. That whole argument is basically dead, as more guns, as of late, equals less violence. As there are more guns and gun owners....and less violence. This is pretty basic math.

So, stop with the emotional kneejerk junk. Numbers. Numbers don't lie. Liberals do.
 
A drop of 20% in the murder rate is fairly significant I think. It is also the lowest number of homicides since the 1960's.

But the OP claim is it's related to gun control - I haven't seen any evidence of that. For all you know, there could have been a run on knives and 100 people benefitted from the shortage.
 
A drop of 20% in the murder rate is fairly significant I think. It is also the lowest number of homicides since the 1960's.

correlation vs causation, mate.
 
But the OP claim is it's related to gun control - I haven't seen any evidence of that. For all you know, there could have been a run on knives and 100 people benefitted from the shortage.

I haven't seen any evidence that it is not related to gun control. What I have seen is that the city is taking measures to reduce the number of guns on the streets. Coincidentally, I guess, the number of murders, for no reason at all, has gone down 20%. 100 less people were killed in a span of a year and the only major change is a change in the gun control laws. I just add 1+1= which apparently coincidentally equals 2..
 
But the OP claim is it's related to gun control - I haven't seen any evidence of that. For all you know, there could have been a run on knives and 100 people benefitted from the shortage.

Yep. Or perhaps, this years crop of shooters just weren't as accurate as last years.... or perhaps the victims lived more this year than last years due to one of a thousand other variables and situations.
 
Yep. Or perhaps, this years crop of shooters just weren't as accurate as last years.... or perhaps the victims lived more this year than last years due to one of a thousand other variables and situations.

Or perhaps gun control contributed.
 
Or perhaps gun control contributed.

It could be lots of things, which is why you should present some evidence that supports your claim
 
"Chicago is slated to end 2013 with fewer murders than at any time since the early 1960s with 412 homicides"

Chicago Homicides Down by 17% in 2013 - WSJ.com

What was all of that Republican rhetoric about failed gun control laws?
Weren't people moving out of Chicago as well?

I can see a possible truth...

Murders down 17% after population exodus of 17%.

What would that mean? The thread title name is a lie. The number of murders is down by 17%. Not the murder rate.

Census Data: Chicago Population Fell By 200,000 In Last Ten Years

Packing Up: Where People Are Moving In and Out

Washington, D.C. Named Most Popular Moving Destination of the Summer by United Van Lines

Why people are moving out of Chicago and into surrounding communities
 
Maybe it was the increase in welfare benefits? That seems more likely than gun control. Poverty is a stimulant for crime. So, if you give the poor more money, there might be less crime.

Just my speculation. No links.
 
Or perhaps gun control contributed.
And you have the statistics of the guns taken from the hands of criminals, right? Should be a lot of fun...lets see how the new gun laws forced onto the state caused a decrease in murder rates. And of course...when we talk about the new gun laws we are talking about the laws mandating the state allow for less restrictive and viable concealed carry by law abiding citizens...right?
 
Good point.

It didn't say now, did it!

Well since 75% of homicides in Chicago are gun related, the reduction would have to be pretty obvious if they were not gun homicide reductions. And if that were the case, where are all the articles blaring that gun control is not working with damning statistics that show gun hommicides remained the same while knife homicides dropped to 0.
 
"In Chicago, the police also said the number of shootings fell 24 percent from 2,448 to 1,864 between 2012 and 2013, and the number of shooting victims dropped from 3,066 to 2,328 for the same period. Further, the department said every police district in the city saw a reduction in crime and all but four of the city's 22 police districts saw the number of homicides either fall or remain the same as the year before."

2013 Ends With a Big Drop in Homicides in Chicago - ABC News

While the article also mentions things such as more police officers posted in high crime areas with more overtime being paid, other articles also mention that thousands of guns were pulled from those areas where those police officers patrolled.
 
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