On Tuesday, the Chicago Crime Lab released its annual report, Gun Violence In Chicago, 2016. Chicago homicides rose 58 percent from last year, from 485 in 2015 to 764 in 2016.
The study examines possible causes for the rise. Police investigative stops dropped dramatically, but this “Ferguson Effect”, exacerbated by the Laquan McDonald shooting, didn’t result in a similar rise in places like New York City. The study also says arrests for homicides dropped from 36 percent to 26 percent, but admits to “… Not knowing the definitive cause of Chicago’s sudden and substantial increase in gun violence …”
However, Chicagoist.com claims the study actually blames guns. It makes up factoids that never appear in the study, such as: “the prevalence and increased deadliness of firearms in Chicago it finds jumps off the page”; “guns being used are more lethal than in the past”; “the fact that larger-ammunition, larger-magazine guns are on the rise, even above last year, dovetails with the violent crime increase.”
Chicagoist.com apparently hopes you won’t click through to the actual study—but we encourage you to do so.
