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Health & Fitness

Wild Wild West Chicago - Gang Members, Drug Dealers Shoot it Out Every Day - Innocents Die

New York City's Low Gun Murder Rate versus Chicago's Daily Carnage - New York Puts "The Bad Guys" Behind Bars, Chicago Does Not

One of the latest casualties in the gun homicide epidemic in Chicago is Hadiya Pendleton, an innocent 15-year-old girl with a life of promise. Hadiya had just returned from performing at President's Obama's Inauguration.  She was mortally wounded, shot in the back, most likely by a gang member thug that believed she and her friends were rivals, this occurring at a time that she was about a mile from the president's Chicago residence.

I was stunned to read that there are an estimated 100,000 gang members in Chicago, a recipe for disaster.

I was also shocked to see an evening news broadcast story which noted the stunning dichotomy between Chicago and New York City on the gun murder front.  While New York enjoys a record low homicide rate, Chicago is setting new highs, multiple shootings being the norm every day.  The reason for the disparity seems to be explained in the extent to which those found with illegal guns are prosecuted and incarcerated.

In New York City, such individuals generally serve several years in prison.  In Chicago, the criminal is likely to serve no prison time and a large proportion of cases are dismissed.

Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, but all the laws one can imagine will mean nothing if laws are not enforced and the bad actors sent to jail.  What is Chicago, one of the murder capitals of the world, waiting for as more and more of its most valuable resource, its children, are being slaughtered?

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