Sweating bullets in Chicago

"I love our freedoms dearly, and each one is worth protecting. But the Fourth might have to take a back seat in Chicago until we get control of the city once again. Otherwise, this summer the good folks of Chicago will be sweating bullets once again." 

As an American, I am ashamed. Okay, I will go one step deeper. As a human being, I am ashamed. What we have allowed to go on in Chicago defies any logical explanation. As we all know by now, Chicago is not a war zone - it is far worse. And to the poor people who are stuck there, watching and listening to this non-stop carnage, the carnage which goes on each and every weekend, the city, the state, and the country have said one thing to them -tough toenails, sucks being you.

I am not going to go into the statistics again. How many dead, how many wounded. It really does serve no purpose. The shock value seems to have worn off. For us that is. For the people who are trapped in the combat zones of Chicago, they look forward to weekends with dread and fear. Then to wrap in some summer time temperatures, everyone knows the cauldron starts to boil over.

What do we do, ban guns in the city? Been there, done that. Guns, like drugs, always seem to find a way into areas where they are illegal or highly regulated. Should we just accept the fact that parts of  the city are lost, and suggest to those who live there, they should leave? That won't work, as many impoverished folks who live in those neighborhoods do so only because they have no other choice. Or should we try something radical and very controversial? 

No hate mail, please! This is something I put forward only because nothing else has worked. To save human life, to stop the carnage, we might have to relax the Fourth Amendment in Chicago. I know - ouch. But there are way, way, way too many illegal guns being carried by youths and hoodlums in that city. So here is my solution to save Chicago:

• Initiate "Broken Window" policing. Every law, no matter how minor, is enforced.
• Initiate "Stop and Frisk" - Police will have the right to stop anyone and check for weapons. I know, I know - this is a "third rail" for our Constitutional rights.
• Initiate mandatory sentences. Get caught with an unregistered gun of any type, one year in jail. Commit any crime with a gun, minimum of five years with no parole. Shoot someone without a fatal result, 20 years with no parole. Shoot someone with lethal results, life with no parole. 

I invite any of my civil libertarian friends, please feel free to weigh in. This is a problem which will not go away. I don't care what color, race, creed or faith people are who are killing each other. It has to stop. It is 2018 and this is the United States of America. 

I love our freedoms dearly, and each one is worth protecting. But the Fourth might have to take a back seat in Chicago until we get control of the city once again. Otherwise, this summer the good folks of Chicago will be sweating bullets once again.