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Subscribe to RSSReturning to his hometown of Chicago, President Obama touched on issues he address during his State of the Union: Increasing gun violence, Strengthening gun laws, and improving the economy. Watch the entire speech.
President Barack Obama took his push for stricter gun laws to his adoptive hometown of Chicago, as that city endures an epidemic of high-profile shooting deaths.
Speaking near his family home on the south side of Chicago, the president renewed his call for Congress to allow for a vote on his various gun measures. And Obama pointed to recent incidences of violence, including the murder of Hadiya Pendleton, the Chicago teenager who was gunned down shortly after performing with classmates in Obama’s second inaugural parade.
“This week, in my State of the Union, I talked about Hadiya and the fact that, unfortunately, what happened to Hadiya is not unique,” Obama said, noting that Pendelton’s parents were in attendance at his speech. “It's not unique to Chicago."
The president’s adoptive hometown, though, has suffered from an epidemic of gun violence. The city suffered over 500 homicides in 2012, including a record number of gun deaths for victims under the age of 18.
“That's the equivalent of a Newtown every four months,” Obama said, referencing the deadly shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut in December, which left 26 students and teachers dead, and provided the impetus for the administration’s new push for comprehensive legislation to curb gun violence.
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Conservatives, though, have also helped popularize Chicago as a prime example as to why the president’s gun proposals are ineffective.
"When President Obama visits Friday, let’s hope we hear something more thoughtful than the usual rhetoric about expanding background checks, to which gangs never submit, and banning some weapons which they rarely use," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., wrote Thursday in the Chicago Tribune.
“Honesty about what it will really take to face gang violence is the best tribute he can offer to Hadiya Pendleton and the dozens of other children killed in Chicago each year,” Gingrich added in his op-ed, referring to the Pendleton’s parents attended Friday’s speech at Hyde Park Academy.
Obama used his speech at the academy to also talk up elements of his education reforms proposed in the State of the Union address earlier this week, including expanded access to Pre-K education and better federal support for schools and standards. The president also talked up his proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9.00/hour, though such a proposal has already encountered resistance from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
This story was originally published on Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:51 PM EST
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This entire gun control debate is stupid, but it's especially moronic in places like Chicago. Chicago has 100,000 gang members, the city is filled with drug dealers, ex-convicts, and illegal immigrants and these are the people responsible for 95% of the gun violence...and the best solution these liberal gun grabbers can come up with is further restrictions against law-abiding citizens?
Is this a joke?
It is no joke,he is demonstrating to anyone that is not retarded,that this is how his policies will work.
Once good people are disarmed,the whole country will be like Chicago,and the guy is such a jacka$$,he don't see where thats a bad thing.
or maybe he does.
Gun control...an escalating committment to a losing course of action.
Criminals don't obey the law, so enforcing current laws when they are violated will do exponentially more good than enacting new laws that only effect law-abiding citizens. Remove the criminals from society and you will remove the crime from society.
Obama got 95% of the vote in Chicago.....isn't it obvious what we have to do to stop this gun madness?? .....ban Obama supporters!!
I had heard that he got 122% of the vote from the south side alone. I did question the number, but after thinking about politics there I could understand it.
The number of guns in our society have increased dramatically over the past few decades, and as law-abiding gun ownership has increased this has been the result:
According to FBI Annual Crime Reports:
Murders by any kind of firearm,
1993: 17,075
Murders by any kind of firearm, 2011: 8,583
And this is what strict gun laws have gotten Chicago:
The city violent crime rate for Chicago in 2010 was higher than the national violent crime rate average by 148.31% and the city property crime rate in Chicago was higher than the national property crime rate average by 44%.
In 2010 the city violent crime rate in Chicago was higher than the violent crime rate in Illinois by 130.33% and the city property crime rate in Chicago was higher than the property crime rate in Illinois by 58.02%.
chicago gun laws.....very effective......obama?....a total ass.......
I finally scored some more 5.56 today!! Those voices in my head keep saying buy another AR15, Get more Ammo, Buy a Corvette.
These dang voices are costing me a fortune!
All of these countries have much stricter gun laws than America, they also have
much higher violent crime rates than America despite not having large
populations of blacks and hispanics that are responsible for about 95% of the
violent crime in America. These are facts...more gun laws equals disarmed
citizens and that equals more crime. It's true in our cities in the United
States with the strictest gun laws and it's true around the
world:
The figures were sourced from Eurostat, the European
Commission's database of
statistics. They are gathered using official
sources in the countries concerned
such as the national statistics office,
the national prison administration,
ministries of the interior or justice,
and police.
A breakdown of the statistics, which were compiled into
league tables by the
Conservatives, revealed that violent crime in the UK
had increased (post gun ban) from 652,974
offences in 1998 to more than 1.15
million crimes in 2007.
It means there are over 2,000 crimes recorded
per 100,000 population in the
UK, making it the most violent place in
Europe.
Austria is second, with a rate of 1,677 per 100,000 people,
followed by
Sweden, Belgium, Finland and Holland.
France recorded
324,765 violent crimes in 2007 – a 67 per cent increase in
the past decade –
at a rate of 504 per 100,000 population.
By comparison, America has an
estimated rate of 466 violent crimes per
100,000
population.
Meanwhile...in the United States...which has seen a
steady increase in gun ownership and concealed carry laws:
According
to FBI Annual Crime
Reports:
Murders by any kind of firearm, 1993:
17,075
Murders by any kind of firearm, 2011: 8,583
Yeah, no mention that MAYBE, guns are not the problem, MAYBE letting a known Disciple member who violated probation 3 times in less than 1 year (on unlawful weapons charges) who had been shot a month prior (exacting revenge on a rival gang) escape incarceration WAS THE REAL PROBLEM!
Those in favor of more gun control will not accept that. It seems that the only thing they want is more gun control. They will not accept the fact that no gun ever pulled it's own trigger.
Plain and simple, if you disarm law abiding Americans, the criminals and gangs win. I've had a conceal carry permit for many years, and I most certainly carry a firearm when going to malls etc., especially in this day and age, and would be more than happy to risk my own life to take down a crazy mentally ill person going on a shooting rampage. And my AR 15 stays at home for protection as they are way more accurate, so banning them would only eliminate my ability for target practice at the shooting range. So a ban would only compound our present problem, in which it didn't work before. We need to solve the problem, not put a band aidon it. A mentally ill, national registry, tied to a back ground check would be a good start. And I do indeed, agree with putting an armed guard or police officer in every school. I'm over 50, and there was an armed gaurd in my elementary and high school, even back then.
I'm so glad I don't live where these gungrabbing leftists do! If you said some of the things those dingbats say around here they would lock you up! Must be something about their brain being frozen 4 months of the year.
He has no solutions for what has happened,he cant stop street crime and he cant stop the psychos from shooting the $hit out of this country...
all he can do is lay some more laws on the people who dont cause the problems.
We are tired of it!
Im not sure he can even lay another law out, I mean it will only be a law thats not in force, it sounds like a joke but its true. A gangbanger who violates probation 3 times in less than 1 year, who got shot a month earlier popping shots at a rival gang, is free to walk the streets. Nope, its guns that are the problem. Obviously Michael Ward gave 2 $hits about the law.
Education, Obama said. LOL. Maybe he should start with the state which gave him a 21% victory, California. The left coast is getting dumber by the day, if that's possible. The latest sign was getting rid of requirement for algebra for middle schoolers.
@ JobSeeker
If you want an education, go to the library
Obama, you should have listened to Clinton, right out of the gate off a victory you make yourself one of the most hated people in the country.
I sure do Hate him!
There is no reason to hate him,any more than you hate a baby who poops their pants.
He cant help what he does,he is supposed to be the leader of a vast country,and he understands dried $hit about most of its inhabitants.
He is not up or fit for this job,and the people who put him in it are responsible for what happens.
Obama won a popularity contest. If people had voted based on qualifications than he never would have gotten the nomination in 2008. There are much more qualified politicians in the Democrat party for the job. Not many but a few. Collin Peterson is one example.
So-called "gun control" is one of those things that always get calls for more of the same or worse in face of it's own faliure.
Which is why it's supporters use emotion rather than logic or facts.
Simple answer to your question, emotion is all they have. Facts and and logic point it all in the other direction. That is not what they want.
I am at a loss to imagine more restrictive gun control laws than Chicago, and they have been that way for generations. AND, for generations the gun violence in that city has gone up and up AND UP! Maybe someone can explain that to me (Washington DC and NYC too), without using cliches and Kool-Aid!
Actually gun homicides in Chicago have been steadily going down since 1995.
http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Slide1-300x225.jpg
According to FBI Annual Crime
Reports:
Murders by any kind of
firearm, 1993: 17,075
Murders by any kind of firearm, 2011: 8,583
Obama, how about a REAL solution. RICO act gang bangers. You have a BGD tattoo, you get arrested, you get convicted for every crime your gang commits and get 700 years in prison! Leave the people who shoot paper targets ALONE!
Thank You Mr Obama
The NRA is a very good gun salesman, relying on pandering to fear. It only took one sentence to refute your meandering post.
Who is pandering to fear. The anti gun crowd is afraid of inanimate objects because some political figure told you to be afraid of guns.
@ salsa
That is hilarious. Pandering to fear? Is that why the president is flying the Sandy Hook families or whatever family he can take to all of his stops? He is the FEARMONGER!!!!!!
Gun control around here means using both hands!
I am not sure it is going to help. Obama goes to the city with the highest murder rate and the toughest gun laws in the country to talk about tougher gun laws. Maybe it makes sense to him.
Chicago is surrounded by areas with very weak gun laws. I think a 2nd grader could understand that.
What makes Chicago different than ANY other city in the USA?
Just because they can't keep the gangs from killing each other in Chicago I need to give up my Constitutional rights?
Sorry but..........No.
Ever hear of the phrase 2nd City? Another bag of rocks.
So the areas around Chicago with the weak gun laws have terrible crime and murder?
Or is there some problem with the people in Chicago?
The table below shows the counties where the guns were purchased. Nearly 5,000 of the guns seized in Chicago — almost 30 percent — were bought in Cook County, Illinois, where Chicago is located. The next largest county source was Lake County, Indiana (6.2 percent), which is part of the Chicago metro area as well.
County (State)
Number
Percent
Cook, Illinois
4,975
28.9
Lake, Indiana
1,064
6.2
Du Page, Illinois
633
3.7
Marion, Indiana
455
2.6
Will, Illinois
349
2.0
Porter, Indiana
295
1.7
Kane, Illinois
293
1.7
St. Joseph, Indiana
247
1.4
Lake, Illinois
148
0.9
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
127
0.7
Total
17,230
100
This second table below shows the states where Chicago's guns come from. More than half of these guns — nearly 10,000 or almost 58 percent — originate from outside the state of Illinois. More than 3,000 guns come from Indiana, and another 1,000-plus come from Mississippi.
State
Number
Percent
Illinois
7,280
42.3
Indiana
3,148
18.3
Mississippi
1,199
7.0
Wisconsin
636
3.7
Ohio
419
2.4
Kentucky
388
2.3
Tennessee
373
2.2
Alabama
345
2
Georgia
307
1.8
Arkansas
297
1.7
Total
17,230
100
Data courtesy of the Chicago Police Department and the University of Chicago
This study illustrates one of the biggest difficulties in gun control policy. Because these guns are often not bought in the state, or even the metro area, law enforcement may have a harder time tracking them, as guns, like people, are highly mobile.
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/08/where-chicagos-guns-come/3090/
Does this table somehow excuse the lawlessness of the Chicago criminals,or what is the point?
How does the crime rate in these places with the "lax" gunlaws compare to the crime rate of the savages in Chicago?
Criminals are highly mobile,too,unless their a$$ is in jail.
So Chicago cops seized 17.230 firearms? How many years? ha ha If they were half as good at keeping their criminals in jail instead of out on the street the murder rate would crash!
Ha ha that's the trouble they have their good cops tracing guns instead of working on murders.
First, I am not so sure why there is urgency on this topic today. In fact despite what those in the media would have you believe, gun crime is down over 50% since a peak in the late 80's / early 90's. While there have certainly been a rash of the mass shootings, overall the violence is down. There has been no real correllation if the United States between more or less gun control and the rate of violence. In fact, we have less violence in places with fewer gun laws.
The real problem in this country is the devaluing of the man in society. In an effort to lift up women, we made it so a father was no longer an important part of raising a child. This has especially effected the minority populations that were improving greatly up until the 60's and the New Society programs. These programs increase the dependence on the government and broke the dependence on family. We now have a society where divorce is common place and father's in lower socio-economic statuses are quite often completely absent.
I appreciate Mr. Obama's calls in the SOTU on the importance of family, but this mut be a center of the President's case. He must call on fathers to be more involved and say that it takes a real man to be a father. It takes a real man to sacrifice is own desires for those of his children to have a father. We must all call out those we know who enter into divorce lightly and to those fathers who don't spend time with their children.
Being a man is important (as is being a woman), we cannot continue ignoring the plight of the boys of this nation. Boys without a father involved in their life are significantly more likely to be drains on society. This my friends is on us, not on our politicians.
Im white but i think it will take deades..to breaks the cycle of baby slaves being sold to the higher bider..its in there blood..to just multifly...and not care pass on from slavery..
Obama has broke from that cycle ..and i do see other black men taking there children places now...something i never seen growing up.the black women i seen but the man was gone
86 percent of all black children are born to unwed mothers. Thanks Goodness, for welfare and food stamps. Else wise there would be no profit in having all of these children. In the US over 52 percent of all children are born to single mothers. Sounds to me like maybe all men should step up. However, as long as a woman has no respect or value for herself you can expect these numbers to only increase
hey tea nuts...your ammo is running dry.....your mouths i mean
Picture this comedy sketch;
four gang bangers sitting around a table.Drugs and paraphernalia abound.
The first gang-member says;" i just got finished beating one of my Prostitutes up for holding out on me.
The next says he just "popped a cap in the neighborhood gangs house as I drove by".
The third says "I just got finished rocking up two ounces of cocaine for sale"
The fourth pulls out his weapon drops the magazine and starts loading.
When he gets to 11 all three of the other gang members gasp and stand up. One says;" man thats more than ten rounds, that's illegal"
Likely scenario?
additional scenes to the above sketch;
Conversation turns to Obamas visit, one gang banger says to his pals;
"its finally happening, i can finally leave my life of pimping and pandering behind.The minimum wage has reached above 9 dollars an hour.
Th next says "Amen, I have been saying all along that 9 per hour was the threshhod to make me hit the straight and narrow".
The third says, " Yep i plan on apologizing for shooting up that house on my way by tonight, Burger king here comes my resume"
The fourth is still mulling over whether to unload his stolen 9mm so that he is not breaking the law by having too many rounds in his gun.
Got some 5.56 today. still need some 9mm.
That stinkin Obozo has tripled the cost of ammo and gasoline!
Ammo is out there but you have to check quite a few places. Of course the government buying up as much ammo as they can, is adding to the shortage.
Hopefully Obama will take his message to the streets of Chicago...that way he could soak up some of the local culture and maybe soak up more lead than he could carry...you gotta watch out what you wish for in life cause you just might get it...gun control...tight groups...
People are being gunned down quite often around Obama's house. That's why he spends a good deal of his time in Hawaii and other exotic locations.
Re-Elect
Over the years I've lived in DuPage, Kane, and Will Counties in Illinois. I've always wondered why all of those gangbangers and Democrats were at the local Walmarts.