Do Stricter Gun Laws Help
In March 2013, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said, “Law abiding gun owners to lobby elected officials through the NRA and the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) are corrupt and endanger people’s security.”
McCarthy continued and said justices and lawmakers need to lean on public sentiment surveys when rendering the Constitution.
ISRA responded by issuing a press release claiming McCarthy believes the Second Amendment limits citizens to the right to own muskets.
“McCarthy’s comprehension of the Constitution wouldn’t qualify as a meter maid,” said ISRA Director Richard Pearson. “What would compel McCarthy to claim rights should be established by public opinion surveys?”
Observers pointed out Chicago is the “murder capital of the nation” and experienced over 500 homicides in 2013. The ISRA noted gun rights groups would continue to lobby on behalf of the Second Amendment.
“If McCarthy doesn’t like that, that’s just too bad,” added Arkady Bukh.
McCarthy joined the New York City Police Department in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming Deputy Commissioner of Operations in 2000. McCarthy worked close with then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani in operating an emergency response command post following the 9/11 attacks.
In early 2011, following a stint at Newark, New Jersey’s police department, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hired McCarthy to run the CPD. While earning a record salary, for public employees, of over $250,000, the number of murders dropped. Investigative reporters found that the decline was in part due to the re-categorization of murders as undetermined.
McCarthy was fired by Emanuel following the police shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald in 2015. McCarthy continues to live in Chicago and now is CEO of GFM Strategies, an institutional and corporate security firm he started in 2016.
So Who’s Right?
Which side is correct? Depends on which side you’re on.
CBN in January 2017 chronicled the ongoing tragedy of Chicago’s gun violence as 2016 came to an end. The city’s strict gun laws had little effect on curbing violence. Accord to CBN’s report, shootings leaped by almost 60% from 2015.
The volume of murders added up to two a day , more than Los Angeles and New Yorck City — combined.
