60619 Safe Zone

A recent comment from a Concerned Chatham Resident in the post regarding the shooting at 79th & King Dr.:

State Representative Andre Thapedi came to the WIM meeting yesterday and discussed his House Bill 1966 that creates a "Safe Zone" within the 60619 zip code. He intends to ban "assault weapons" in our community to quell some of this violence. He said that St. Rep. Connie Howard also supports the Bill.

While this may not be the sole solution, we should support what Reprentatives Thapedi and Howard are doing. We should start marching, calling the media, and doing whatever it takes to re-claim our streets.

Kudos ... St. Rep. Andre Thapedi!

You can read more about that bill here.

To be honest I'm not sure this is the answer. The typical cliche you might hear from those who are against gun control is that criminals don't care about the law, they'll break it. If it's in their best interest to break gun prohibitions then that's what they'll do.

At the same time, I'm not sure why anyone would need an "assault weapon". To me I read assault weapons as a machine gun such as the type typically used in the military. The category itself is broad and the bill itself says assualt weapon or .50 caliber rifle.

All the same I believe that if we really want to take back the streets, then gun control can't be an answer. It's an answer now, but we still have shootings in our streets. No one should have any problems with a responsible person owning a gun for the protection of themselves and their property.

Anyway, I think I can appreciate the spirit of this law. Perhaps we can get some of these guns off the street that might be used in the commission of a crime. We can really put some years onto those who use such a weapon in the commission of crime in addition to whatever other charges they may already have beyond the possession of an assault weapon.

To be honest I would really like to see the debate on this one. Does anyone else has an opinion either in favor or against this bill? What would you like to see done in order to curb the incidents of gun violence in our neighborhoods?