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[NervousXtian]

That's a lot, but shootings are an every day thing in Chicago.

Gang violence just doesn't get reported the same as random shootings. It's all the same story over and over: young black man shot by another young black man. It's been repeated so many times over the years that people are numb too it.. which is sad. Not sure how to change that, but it's such a deep issue of poverty and it's very complex to fix.

 

[ghst]

those organized militias really need to be more careful.

 

[joelseph]

Chicago is porbably the most segregated city in the US.

This.

 

[mernst23]

I always found it funny/sad that the murder rate is so connected to the weather.

Oh look, it's raining; guess i'll save my murdering urge until it's nicer/hotter out.

 

[kevm3]

Criminals don't use legal guns.

 

[Roland Garros]

Everyone has to make a decision on what's best for their household/loved ones. I don't see why its such a stretch why hearing about more and more of these shootings shouldn't cause someone to look into responsible gun ownership for self defense purposes.

We're more disturbed by the fact your logical response to gun violence is to go and buy a gun. That is a scary, scary slippery slope. And not your fault, I must stress. It's clearly just the culture of guns in America.

 

[Phonomezer]

The fuck. What is the cause of so much violence? Drugs? Boredom?

 

[joelseph]

I always found it funny/sad that the murder rate is so connected to the weather.

Oh look, it's raining; guess i'll save my murdering urge until it's nicer/hotter out.

Lack of central air in old apartment buildings force Chicago's lower income homes into the streets when it gets above 90 degrees. You can just feel the violence in the air, hanging in the humidity. It is surreal.

 

[Wiseblade]

But if everyone's armed...

No one will be.

Or more likely, routine tasks end in a mexican standoff.

 

[marrec]

Good luck getting rid of their guns. Remember, it's illegal to carry outside of your home in Chicago, yet these kids are running around armed all over the place. What makes you think that could change?

This is such a lazy attitude, there are so many guns in America which explains the level of gun violence, so since we can't reduce the level of guns in America we'll just make sure EVERYONE has a gun!

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

Concealed is already illegal in Chicago. So your wish came true, and it still sucks.

More gun control or less gun control won't change anything in Chicago.

Gang violence is though to approach.

Though alot of criminals do get their guns legally in other states.

 

[Blutonium]

the fuck is going on.

Business as usual?

 

[MThanded]

Good luck getting rid of their guns. Remember, it's illegal to carry outside of your home in Chicago, yet these kids are running around armed all over the place. What makes you think that could change?


Concealed is already illegal in Chicago. So your wish came true, and it still sucks. I never assumed you're against gun ownership.

More gun control or less gun control won't change anything in Chicago.


Ah. I live in Hyde Park, which is probably the safest place to be in South Chicago. Near 53rd and Cottage Grove. Still, things happen here frequently, and I am all-too-aware how violence spills over between regions.

Piecemeal gun control won't work. If you can buy guns easily in another state and bring them to chi-town it doesn't really matter how strict the gun laws are there.

 

[Karsticles]

This is such a lazy attitude, there are so many guns in America which explains the level of gun violence, so since we can't reduce the level of guns in America we'll just make sure EVERYONE has a gun!

That's not why I believe in gun ownership. I'm an anti-statist, and I'll be damned if the Chicago police are my only way to protect myself in this life.

Piecemeal gun control won't work. If you can buy guns easily in another state and bring them to chi-town it doesn't really matter how strict the gun laws are there.

He just said he's against concealed carry, and I responded to that. You changed it to gun ownership. I'm strongly for gun ownership, and not because I consider guns to be an unstoppable force.

Gang violence is though to approach.

Though alot of criminals do get their guns legally in other states.

What is that first sentence?

 

[Nesotenso]

This.

Hypersegregation

 

[DECK'ARD]

That's not why I believe in gun ownership. I'm an anti-statist, and I'll be damned if the Chicago police are my only way to protect myself in this life.

So you're saying society is so fundamentally broken that you don't even feel safe?

 

[shinobi602]

This is such a lazy attitude, there are so many guns in America which explains the level of gun violence, so since we can't reduce the level of guns in America we'll just make sure EVERYONE has a gun!

I guess keeping upstanding citizens unarmed will surely keep them safe when confronted with situations like this. Guy coming at you with a gun? Pull out dem fists!

 

[Pennywise]

That's not why I believe in gun ownership. I'm an anti-statist, and I'll be damned if the Chicago police are my only way to protect myself in this life.

That's kinda sad.
I wouldn't even consider living there for any second if I were you.

Somehow the trust of the police is rather low in the states or so it seems.

 

[marrec]

So you're saying society is so fundamentally broken that you don't even feel safe?

No he's saying fuck da police.

 

[Wiseblade]

That's not why I believe in gun ownership. I'm an anti-statist, and I'll be damned if the Chicago police are my only way to protect myself in this life.

Words can't express how glad I am that there's an ocean separating us right now.

 

[Nesotenso]

Cooper's show had segments on it. Posting links for new page

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/2...re/?hpt=ac_mid

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/2...go/?hpt=ac_bn4

 

[Karsticles]

So you're saying society is so fundamentally broken that you don't even feel safe?

Of course I don't feel safe. That's just called having a brain when you live here.

I also don't trust cops.

 

[MThanded]

Your concealed weapon is not going to save you get caught in a gang shootout. Those guys don't give a shit about their lives. You do. They already have a leg up on you.

 

[shinobi602]

So you're saying society is so fundamentally broken that you don't even feel safe?

Uhh, yea, you bet your ass it is.

 

[Meier]

This map is a few years old (I'm sure there is an updated version) and it looks spread over the whole city at first but when you zoom in, you'll notice that the vast majority are located to the South and West. Realistically, white people don't live in these areas on the whole so most of the violence just goes unreported.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=...73645&spn=0.434828,0.583649&z=10&source=embed

Unrelated, but an old coworker of mine from when I lived in Chicago had her husband die about 10 days ago. He was waiting for the bus and a cabby who was speeding lost control of his car, hit him and then flipped his cab four times. No one in the car died.. just the unfortunate bystander.

 

[Shake Appeal]

The fuck. What is the cause of so much violence? Drugs? Boredom?

In the case of Chicago, rampant income inequality and more than two centuries of extremely complicated race relations and discrimination in the United States.

 

[Karsticles]

Your concealed weapon is not going to save you get caught in a gang shootout.

A gang shootout is not what I'm looking to protect myself from. Like I said, there are a lot of home break-ins around here.

That's kinda sad.
I wouldn't even consider living there for any second if I were you.

Somehow the trust of the police is rather low in the states or so it seems.

Another year, and I plan to be gone. Probably not to any place better, since all the good PhD programs are in major cities.

Just stay the fuck out of gang ridden areas and you'll be fine. I'm sure gangs know targeting middle class people is a one way ticket to prison or getting shot by the cops.

It's a good thing that everyone worried for him/herself is a middle class white person...?

 

[Jimothy]

Your concealed weapon is not going to save you get caught in a gang shootout.

Just stay the fuck out of gang ridden areas and you'll be fine. I'm sure gangs know targeting middle class people is a one way ticket to prison or getting shot by the cops.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

Your concealed weapon is not going to save you get caught in a gang shootout. Those guys don't give a shit about their lives. You do. They already have a leg up on you.

unless you have Spider senses and they tingle.

 

[Azzurri]

Sister lives in River North, so I don't see the "bad" areas, thank god.

 

[marrec]

unless you have Spider senses and they tingle.

My Spider Senses only tingle when I touch myself.

 

[MThanded]

A gang shootout is not what I'm looking to protect myself from. Like I said, there are a lot of home break-ins around here.


Another year, and I plan to be gone. Probably not to any place better, since all the good PhD programs are in major cities.


It's a good thing that everyone worried for him/herself is a middle class white person...?

Not sure what you are planning to do for PhD but I currently am in a PhD program in Pittsburgh. City is pretty safe. Almost all cities are safe if you are in the safe part of town. For example, look at Baltimore.

 

[Soup Bar]

Between 1982 and 2010, it was illegal to even own a gun in Chicago, and see how well that worked.

 

[Buttermilk]

Piecemeal gun control won't work. If you can buy guns easily in another state and bring them to chi-town it doesn't really matter how strict the gun laws are there.

Could'nt the same be said for banning guns in America?

 

[Karsticles]

Not sure what you are planning to do for PhD but I currently am in a PhD program in Pittsburgh. City is pretty safe. Almost all cities are safe if you are in the safe part of town.

Philosophy. Yeah, there are always safe parts of town. It's something I'd have to figure out depending on if/when I go. I prefer small towns though, not big cities. Most of the top philosophy programs are in big cities. Which is why I'm in Chicago in the first place...

 

[DECK'ARD]

Of course I don't feel safe. That's just called having a brain when you live here.

I also don't trust cops.

Sounds a shitty position to be in, whether you want to own a gun or not.

It's very hard to see it from a UK perspective though, my newsfeed is just full of people baffled after the Empire State story. How shootings just keep happening and life just carries on as normal, like oh well, shit happens, just hope it doesn't happen to me.

 

[Talon]

It's more than guns in Chicago. The city (and state) has cut crucial infrastructure and safety nets for the poor and actively established a policy of pushing public housing further south and west - basically exacerbating the already highly economically segregated neighborhoods. The infamous Cabrini Green was shut down, and they're turning the area into condos, office buildings (Groupon's initial HQ before the move to the Wrigley building), and a big yuppie church has moved into the area. Then you have the Wilson Yard development as well.

I spent some time reporting around Uptown, and the reality is that these families that require assisted housing absolutely want and need to work and make a living. Welfare checks are not enough to live on - it came out somewhere around $300 a month for families with kids. It also didn't help that these temporary housing units (one right off the Lawrence stop) are dealing with smaller and smaller budgets year after year, and they're constantly full up and unable to produce the staff necessary to help with job placements and rehabilitation programming.

And, of course, education is failing the city's youth. This is more crucial to me than anything else, and the city and teachers union are involved in another tiff over work hours and compensation. This in a city with the shortest school day in the country. Even a shift to a 4'o'clock dismissal could make a huge difference.

And then the fact that vast stretches of the south side and west side are food deserts (lack of access to fresh produce or really any decent groceries), which exacerbates obesity and other health complications in poor populations.

I live in the west part of Lincoln Park, which is a totally gentrified neighborhood with $4 million homes across the street from our townhome. The north side up to Uptown is white washed to hell.

 

[Grover Cleveland]

The fuck. What is the cause of so much violence? Drugs? Boredom?

In the case of Chicago, it's the tragic combination of young people stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty who see no way out of their predicament other than turning to drugs and gangs and an outside culture that's become desensitized (or worse indifferent) to gang violence, because it's largely remained confined to the poor black community.

Oh, a black dude shot another black dude? Oh, so it's just like any other Thursday.

 

[marrec]

Philosophy. Yeah, there are always safe parts of town. It's something I'd have to figure out depending on if/when I go. I prefer small towns though, not big cities. Most of the top philosophy programs are in big cities. Which is why I'm in Chicago in the first place...

Meh, I lived in the least safe place in or around Pittsburgh for a few years and came out just fine. Closest I got to any violence was a guy a block away got his door kicked in and shot-gunned to the face.

Almost every killing that happened in the neighborhood was drug related. Hmm....

 

[Hex]

I am going to assume that all of those shot were not carrying swords?
Things really are getting to the point that you have to take notice.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

It's more than guns in Chicago. The city (and state) has cut crucial infrastructure and safety nets for the poor and actively established a policy of pushing public housing further south and west - basically exacerbating the already highly economically segregated neighborhoods. The infamous Cabrini Green was shut down, and they're turning the area into condos, office buildings (Groupon's initial HQ before the move to the Wrigley building), and a big yuppie church has moved into the area. Then you have the Wilson Yard development as well.

I spent some time reporting around Uptown, and the reality is that these families that require assisted housing absolutely want and need to work and make a living. Welfare checks are not enough to live on - it came out somewhere around $300 a month for families with kids. It also didn't help that these temporary housing units (one right off the Lawrence stop) are dealing with smaller and smaller budgets year after year, and they're constantly full up and unable to produce the staff necessary to help with job placements and rehabilitation programming.

And, of course, education is failing the city's youth. This is more crucial to me than anything else, and the city and teachers union are involved in another tiff over work hours and compensation. This in a city with the shortest school day in the country. Even a shift to a 4'o'clock dismissal could make a huge difference.

Dude, you can't have projects that close to Old Town.

But in seriousness, its totally Paris, the city is moving the disaffected, poorly served populations to the fringes and gussying up the city center.

And a point of note, I have a gun permit for the city, which I'm thinking is dumb, because I live in East Lakeview.

 

[Clockblockers]

I don't have the link off hand, but several interviews I saw attribute the shootings in Chicago (mostly limited the South and West sides; which are the poor areas) to the fact that the gangs are splintering and forming new gangs that need to prove themselves.

I can be wrong, but I believe the Chicago police chief said there were hundreds of gangs which makes talking to them and trying to keep the peace extremely difficult.

EDIT:

The city has about 60 gangs that have splintered into about 600 factions, according to Robert Tracy, who heads the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Crime Control Strategies. An analysis [PDF] by the Chicago police found that the vast majority of the 436 murders last year were young black men — in their teens or early 20s — shot by their peers in gang-related incidents. Most victims and their killers had a prior history of arrest.

Link

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...ill-it-take-to-stop-gang-violence-in-chicago/

 

[dankir]

Goddamn America, you scary.

 

[Talon]

Dude, you can't have projects that close to Old Town.

But in seriousness, its totally Paris, the city is moving the disaffected, poorly served populations to the fringes and gussying up the city center.

And a point of note, I have a gun permit for the city, which I'm thinking is dumb, because I live in East Lakeview.

Not very Diversey

 

[DECK'ARD]

So without wanting to derail things into gun-control, will ANYONE tackle all this at all in the upcoming election?

Because if society can't protect you, isn't that society fundamentally broken? That's a pretty major issue I would have thought in a presidential election.

 

[Meier]

Goddamn America, you scary.

This is the main reason why the media doesn't report much on Chicago's gang warfare.

Not very Diversey

Clever.

 

[MjFrancis]

Unacknowledged by many in this conversation:

1)Removing guns from society will certainly reduce gun violence in the long term. How long or to what degree depends on how many guns are removed and how quickly. Honestly I'd see the year 2100 as a feasible goal to remove handguns from the civilian population in the United States. This is a part of the culture that will require generations to change, nevermind the logistics.

2)Removing guns from individuals, especially law-abiding citizens in crime-ridden areas, will make that individual feel most likely to be a victim of a gun crime. No matter how low the odds of being a victim increase, the fear is still there. And if you live in one of these areas being told by a keyboard warrior that it will be good for society in the long term is little consolation when you have actual experience that owning a gun can preserve life or property.

Just food for thought to keep the gun control conversation in perpetual motion.

 

[Callo Merlose]

America is falling apart.

Doesn't NY and Chicago have tight gun laws?

New York's half as bad as Chicago when it comes to homicides.

 

[ChiTownBuffalo]

Not very Diversey

I mean, the Asians are the scary minorities on my block.

Oogie boogie!

 

[Sneds]

I'm pretty sure the news is just reporting shootings more and more. I think these things happen all the time in this country.

If that's true, then that's a good development.