geb@cadre.UUCP (01/22/85)
Chicago may still be the city that works. A black man pulled a gun on a mugger and shot him dead. Chicago also has a gun law requiring a permit to even possess, let alone carry a handgun, and the man didn't have one, but unlike NYC, Chicago only prosecutes real criminals in these cases and no charges were brought against the man, since it was self-defense. Contrast the attitude of Mayor Koch & Gov. Cuomo. When I lived in Chicago, it was well known that judges would not sentence a citizen for having a handgun, although the police would confiscate it if you were caught with one. The handgun law was applied against criminals mostly. Another Chicago story: the Tribune ran a campaign against handguns in 1980 or so. They devoted a special page to pictures and stories of all people killed by handguns that week. I think they had believed that it would be mostly wives shooting their husbands or kids shooting each other. I was amazed at the percentage (~30%) of those killed with handguns that was comprised of criminals burgarlizing, raping, or robbing citizens, mostly in the black ghettos where a large percentage of citizens are armed. After 3 weeks or so, the campaign disappeared with little fanfare. I surmised it was because after reading that page, it made one more likely to want to have a handgun at home for protection.