Illinois Should Enforce Existing Laws to Curb the Gun Violence Epidemic – Not Go After Law Abiding Gun Owners
| This week, Governor Pritzker signed into law a bill banning law-abiding gun owners from purchasing certain types of firearms and requiring registration of some guns already owned. “While the epidemic of gun violence in Illinois is tragic and very real, we strongly disagree that this bill is the solution to it. Instead, it only infringes on the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners to bear arms safely and legally,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy. “It should be noted that Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the country and yet still had the most murders in the US last year. This bill will do nothing to deter criminals from committing these heinous crimes, yet it infringes significantly on the constitutional freedoms of law-abiding Illinoisans who use firearms safely and responsibly.” 723 people were murdered in Chicago in 2022. Tragically, that is more than any other major city in the US, despite having some of our nation’s toughest gun laws. Under the watch of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, the city has far too often taken a lax approach to prosecuting violent crime. According to the Chicago Tribune, “For the three-year period analyzed, Foxx’s office dropped 8.1% of homicide cases, compared with 5.3% under Alvarez.” In 2021, the Chicago State’s Attorney initially refused to press charges in a deadly gang shootout due to it being “mutual combat”. Charges were ultimately filed months later. Chairman Tracy continued, “The criminals are the problem, and when instead of enforcing the laws that we have on the books, Democrats go after law-abiding gun owners, it sends the wrong message. We need more cops on the streets, and when criminals commit violent crimes, instead of letting them go, we should fully prosecute them, and support the law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to arrest them. Instead of violating the Second Amendment, we should enforce existing gun laws to curb this horrible violence epidemic.” |
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