The ordinance imposes various restrictions on the new gun shops, most notably by limiting sales to one handgun per month per buyer. But traffickers who want to buy in bulk could just keep buying where they’re buying now. For instance, the same study found that nearly 20 percent of the guns confiscated by Chicago police came from four gun shops just beyond Chicago’s jurisdiction—three in the suburbs and one in Gary. Nearly 60 percent of the guns were bought in other states. Even the most restrictive Chicago ordinance won’t turn off those taps.
The New York Times editorial is the one that caught my eye as a conspicuous example of Afghanistanism. The lead editorial in the May 30 Times, it ran under the headline, “The Arms Struggle in Chicago.” Why should New York care so much about street violence in Chicago? I wondered. I don’t think New York does. The Times had points it wanted to make about the “misguided” Supreme Court and about “obstructionist politicians” responsible for Congress’ “disgraceful surrender to the gun lobby.” Chicago’s “sensible efforts” were worth mentioning because unless something is done about the courts and the gun lobby those efforts won’t do Chicago a lick of good.
In futility there is meaning.
Article Appeared @http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2014/06/06/chicago-writes-a-gun-law-because-the-courts-say-it-has-to