The police department says that a hard core
It would ask judges to sentence repeat gun offenders at the higher end of the three-year to 14-year guideline range. "The last thing Im looking to do is lock someone up based on the color of their skin or where they live. "Illinois can be a real trend-setter here," said state representative Michael Zalewski, a Democrat who supports the measure."The idea that this is the premier solution that people are talking about, for me, is just so disappointing." But officials admit that tougher gun laws cannot fix the deeper problems at the root of the violence.Chicago -- the Midwestern stomping grounds of Al Capone, the ruthless mobster who left a trail of blood in the Roaring 1920s -- is grappling once again with a gun violence problem and a soaring murder rate. Another reason is that this latest sentencing law would not impose strict mandatory minimums, something legislators and gun-rights advocates have opposed."The new draft bill is headed for the Illinois state legislature in the next few weeks, where there are indications of bipartisan support.
"I want our focus to be on individuals that we know are driving the violence on the streets," he said."But the housing crisis and Great Recession took a toll on the streets around her, where there are now a number of abandoned homes. The city is on track to end 2016 with the most killings since 1998. Life was not always this way.When she hears the sounds of gunshots, she says, she and her children drop to the floor inside their home, just in case a stray bullet pierces the walls.Despite a tough national climate for passing gun control measures, the bills authors are hopeful that Illinois will be different. Alicia Means, 42, lives in the struggling Marquette Park neighborhood on the citys southwest side.Republican state lawmaker Michael Connelly has also offered cautious support, saying, "We have to do something.There have been more than 670 murders in Chicago from January to mid-November, according to police -- a 56 per cent jump in just one year. But he said that longer jail terms are not the answer for predominantly African-American communities that "have faced longer and longer sentences in every crime imaginable. "Change has been mainly no employment, no resources, people losing their Wheel lighters homes.All of a sudden, a deafening scream pierces the silence: the mans family has just learned he has been declared dead at the hospital."You could reduce the violence in the city by 40 percent just by keeping people in jail for crimes they have committed. People cared about other peoples children."As a Chicagoan, Im ashamed, because we could do better.
"I have seen too many lives torn apart."Mr Johnson, the citys police Chief, who is black, insists he understands the pitfalls.. Judges who hand down lighter sentences would need to offer a written explanation of their reasoning."Mr Johnson and his state lawmaker allies want to reduce the number of shootings by stiffening jail sentences for those repeatedly arrested for gun offenses.. A 21-year-old man has been shot outside his home.""Theres a kind of tone-deafness about it," he said..Chicago: On a recent evening on Chicagos southwest side, an all-too-familiar scene unfolds: within sight of the Windy Citys iconic downtown high-rises, dozens of police officers swarm.". "There are a lot of reasons why there is violence in what is a fairly concentrated part of the city," Mr Kotlowitz said, citing historic, socio-economic factors and trauma from past bloodshed. On Friday night, the grandson of Illinois congressman Danny Davis was fatally shot in the head -- over a pair of shoes, police said. Alex Kotlowitz has heard all of this before, having spent decades studying Chicagos economically-challenged neighborhoods.
One reason is that the states Republican governor Bruce Rauner has already agreed to tougher gun laws.The police department says that a hard core of 1,400 recidivist gun offenders -- many of them gang members or drug dealers -- are fueling much of the violence.Earlier this year, he signed a bill to increase penalties for gun trafficking from nearby Wisconsin and Indiana -- border states with more permissive gun laws. no way to pay their bills," Ms Means said. "Were beyond frustrated," said Anthony Guglielmi, a police department spokesperson. His book There Are No Children Here takes an unblinking look at growing up poor in Chicago. Too many parents lose a child," Chicagos police Chief Eddie Johnson said at a recent public forum. Growing up, she said her neighborhood was "nice and clean.The nations third largest city is struggling to figure out how to stem the free flow of bullets and blood, and is hoping new, tougher gun laws are the answer