Shootings and murders were up sharply during the first half of 2015 in Chicago, home of some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation.
According to data from the Chicago Police Department, through the end of June there have been 13 more murders, 20 more shootings and 24 more shooting victims than in the first half of 2014. And surprisingly, rather than blaming so-called “lax gun laws” as usual, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy seems to have actually found one of the causes—a revolving-door justice system.
McCarthy told CBS Chicago that at least eight people have been arrested twice this year for illegal possession of firearms. “Five of them are already back on the street as we speak,” he said. “Three out of four people that we arrested in the first quarter are on the street right now, who we’ve arrested with firearms.”
