The city of Chicago has had a notoriously strict "gun ban" for nearly three decades. But that has failed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Violent crime has been tragically high in Chicago in recent years despite the city government's efforts to prevent private gun ownership.
And yet, in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming the Second Amendment's guarantee of the right to bear arms and striking down Chicago's ban, the city has defiantly "doubled down" and imposed stringent gun control through other means.
"As long as I'm mayor, we will never give up or give in to gun violence that continues to threaten every part of our nation, including Chicago," the city's mayor, Richard Daley, said in announcing a new ordinance, which was later approved by the City Council.
Here are some of the new gun-control rules in Chicago:
* Residents may never have more than one handgun in operating order.
* Residents in houses where children live must keep their guns under lock and key. (That would make a gun useless for defense if a violent criminal broke in, because the owner would not be able to get to the gun rapidly.)
* Before buying a gun, a Chicago resident must undergo hours of classes and training, but he must take the training outside the city because gun-range use is forbidden inside Chicago to anyone except a police officer.
* Even prospective gun owners with no criminal record must be fingerprinted -- as if they were presumed to be criminals.
* Every gun owner in Chicago must register his gun with police.
Ironically, one Chicago resident sharply criticized the new ordinance, pointing out that her daughter was gunned down 10 years after the city's original gun ban took effect. And The Chicago Tribune noted that 11 people in "gun-controlled" Chicago were killed by gunmen in just the two weekends prior to the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the Second Amendment. (Sixty-five more were shot but survived.)
Gun control hasn't worked in Chicago. It seems silly to keep trying to push a failed policy.