Pfleger counters that most guns on the street were purchased legally before being sold on the black market. “Then it shows up in a crime months or even years later, and no one is taking responsibility for it.” Too many advocates push for easier access to firearms, he says, with “little concern for black and brown lives.”
In the spring of 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the city’s handgun ban was unconstitutional. In his majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that “Chicago residents now face one of the highest murder rates in the country” and that black communities were hit hardest. “The Second Amendment right protects the rights of minorities and other residents of high-crime areas whose needs are not being met by elected public officials.” The city complied with the ruling by setting up strict rules for keeping handguns in the home: owners had to undergo background checks, take a safety course, and register with police.
The next game changer came in December 2012, when the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that there was no legal reason that gun possession should be limited to the home. “A Chicagoan is a good deal more likely to be attacked on a sidewalk in a rough neighborhood than in his apartment on the 35th floor of the Park Tower,” Judge Richard Posner wrote. Under orders from the court, the Illinois General Assembly passed a conceal-and-carry law last July. Anyone who wants to carry is now required to undergo 16 hours of training and a criminal background check.
Gun-control advocates said the new law was hastily written and does little to ensure firearms won’t end up in the hands of criminals or the mentally ill. “The NRA has done this magnificent job of convincing America that you need a gun to be safe,” Reverend Pfleger says. “So we jump to make guns available, but we have not worked to make gun owners responsible.”