Is Buying Back the Guns a Solution for Chicago? 

For the last 20 years, Chicago has seen an unending wave of violence. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, between 2001 – 2020, more people were killed in the Windy City than in the combined military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, I genuinely believe, is working diligently to curb the crime in Chicago. However, she needs help from the community. Unfortunately, some of her ideas await failure. This weekend was another of violence. Sixty people were shot.  

 

The most recent “Buy Back the Guns” funded with a $1 million reward fund is a guaranteed loser. The guns turned in are probably not the guns you want to find.  The bad guys turn in the guns for the money to buy another.  How much would you pay Al Capone for his weapons?  And do you think he would turn them in? If you say yes, I got a great bridge for you and a cheap condo for you in Miami overlooking the beach.

 

“We are setting up a structure for people to provide tips — anonymous if you so desire — to point us to the presence of illegal firearms. So if they are in a house, down the block, in a car, in a secret stash, we are calling on our residents to overcome your fears, to no longer be hesitant to report the presence of illegal firearms,” Lightfoot said.

I resent the taxpayer dollars being used for a shallow campaign.  Instead, let’s put some teeth in another drive.  How about taking the same buyback campaign and hire the Nation of Islam to curtail the crime.  How about focusing on six communities with high crime rates –  South Shore, Englewood, Chatham, Lawndale, Roseland, and Garfield Park. Let it be a trial.  

 

I suggested this solution on a WVON radio program last week with Perri Small, and it was met with the Jews will scream.  My answer, but the Jews aren’t being killed.  Why can’t we have Black men patrolling our communities for safety?  What’s wrong with that?  It is natural, and it has been proven to work.  At this point, do we have anything to lose? We are not asking for religion. We are asking for safety measures.  

The Nation of Islam is known not to take prisoners but to be appreciated in the Black community with uncanny respect, and they use no weapons. The next certain mayor of New York, Mr. Eric Adams, says he will make New York safe and, in doing so, will be a role model for the nation.  In TV interviews, he proclaims loudly that without safety, the city cannot prosper. Adams is commanding as he chats about solutions to the crime issue.    He is a former top cop and, as a teen, was harassed unnecessarily by the police with a negative experience that shaped his career. As he has made national news, he stands at the forefront of America’s crime issue, saying that the solution is not top-down but bottom-up. Bottom-up is the apparent factor that Lightfoot overlooks.  

The carjacking murder of Mr. Keith Cooper, killed in Hyde Park, was a strike too close to home. I regularly shop at the Kenwood Plaza. In addition, I shop periodically and often see Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle in the CVS  Drug Store and the Hyde Park fruit and vegetable store.  

 

The teen Frank Harris charged with the murder is 17 years old and has been in Kids Mad City‘s crime prevention program. He also wore a bracelet monitor. Mr. Cooper is an ex-marine with a tour of duty twice in Vietnam who went about his daily activity when attacked.  The two teens were six blocks from the former home of President Barack Obama. They went to change clothes at the synagogue directly across the street from the Obama home.  

We are not coping with the crime; we adjust to it as our daily lives are aborted.  I was a loud supporter of Lightfoot’s candidacy, to the point of much argument. I am disappointed in her service.  Listening is a vital part of leadership.  The leading question on the street is who does she listen to.  Those who served on the transition team and those who have experience in the criminal matter are only not heard, too; they are ignored.  She used people for her political gain; many of those ministers and community activists could be helpful at this time. Instead, it appears that the “latte liberals” have the floor, many of whom are not native Chicagoans.  

 

Another bright idea for Chicago’s crime issue is to have the ex-police chiefs come together as a  brain trust and extreme focus on the crime predicament. I bet together they would come up with successful strategies. For example, the collective brains of Eddie Johnson, Gary McCarthy, Charlie Beck, and Terry Hillard could address solutions for David Brown.  To bring in experts is a standard corporate business approach to problem-solving that is proven.  Utilize experience that exists in a think tank formula.  Also, how about talking to retired police officers, particularly those who serve in the gang units. They know much.  

 

Meanwhile, pay attention to the next likely mayor of New York, Eric Adams. He may have a solution for America’s urban crime. He is talking the talk as he walks the walk to city hall.    

 

Meanwhile, the Chi-town talk speculates about the next mayor of Chicago. John Kass, the former Tribune political columnist, writes in his first independent blog that Arnie Duncan is likely to throw his hat in the race.