Every day in the local news, viewers witness a host of tragedies that have hit Chicago every weekend and sometimes every night. Many of the stories featured concern gun violence and the amount of deaths or injuries resulting from it. It has become a problem so synonymous with our city that many people, from neighborhood activists to politicians at Capitol Hill, have expressed their opinions as to what the city and its residents could do to either minimize or eradicate the violence. In late 2013, the state of Illinois passed the Concealed Carry Law which permitted registered gun owners to carry a concealed weapon on their person. Though many pro-gun activists viewed this as a win and an enforcement of their protection under the 2nd Amendment,
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Residents of those impoverish, crime ridden areas are not going to get the protection that is supposed to come with the Law. Instead, they will see an influx of crime because of greater access to the weapons due to the increased circulation.
Another social justice issue that is raised when discussing the Concealed Carry Law is the racial and economic divide of the permit holders. For example, the South and West Side neighborhoods of Englewood, West Englewood and West Garfield have a combined total of 114,933 residents, however only 193 permits have been issued, roughly less than .7 percent of the population. Conversely, 1.24 percent of the affluent Palos Park area’s population has permits (“Data Divulges Racial …show more content…
Many permit holders are, frankly, not in need of protection. Many of them will never set foot in the South and West Side neighborhoods were violence is truly rampant. Many will not be put in a position of a life or death situation where a gun is their only hope of survival. However, many people who live in the crime ridden areas do fear for their lives every day. According to a NBC News Chicago article by Tony Dokoupil, parts of the South and West Sides have murder rates up to 80 percent more than their North Side neighborhood counterparts. The people who live in those neighborhoods are the ones that the Law, in theory, is made for. If the majority of the people who are applying and receiving concealed carry permits are living in safer areas, then what is its effectiveness in curbing the violence? Some crime rates may have fallen, but it does not change the fact that people in the South and West Side neighborhoods are still dealing with the deaths and injuries resulting from gun violence without any means of
Residents of those impoverish, crime ridden areas are not going to get the protection that is supposed to come with the Law. Instead, they will see an influx of crime because of greater access to the weapons due to the increased circulation.
Another social justice issue that is raised when discussing the Concealed Carry Law is the racial and economic divide of the permit holders. For example, the South and West Side neighborhoods of Englewood, West Englewood and West Garfield have a combined total of 114,933 residents, however only 193 permits have been issued, roughly less than .7 percent of the population. Conversely, 1.24 percent of the affluent Palos Park area’s population has permits (“Data Divulges Racial …show more content…
Many permit holders are, frankly, not in need of protection. Many of them will never set foot in the South and West Side neighborhoods were violence is truly rampant. Many will not be put in a position of a life or death situation where a gun is their only hope of survival. However, many people who live in the crime ridden areas do fear for their lives every day. According to a NBC News Chicago article by Tony Dokoupil, parts of the South and West Sides have murder rates up to 80 percent more than their North Side neighborhood counterparts. The people who live in those neighborhoods are the ones that the Law, in theory, is made for. If the majority of the people who are applying and receiving concealed carry permits are living in safer areas, then what is its effectiveness in curbing the violence? Some crime rates may have fallen, but it does not change the fact that people in the South and West Side neighborhoods are still dealing with the deaths and injuries resulting from gun violence without any means of