Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley fights for gun control despite Supreme Court ruling on McDonald case

It is “outrageous,” according to Pratt, because D.C. and Chicago have consistently had some of the highest crime rates in the country despite their gun bans. In Chicago for instance, the crime rate reached its apex in 1992 — a full 10 years after the gun ban was implemented. That year, the murder rate was 34 per 100,000. In 2004, Chicago experienced a year with the lowest murder rate since 1965, but it was still above the national average.

So why does Chicago struggle with crime even though it has outright banned guns since the early 1980s?

“Chicago is surrounded by states with weak gun laws,” Daniel Vice, senior attorney for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told the Daily Caller. According to Vice, all evidence shows guns laws reduce crime rates.

When pressed by TheDC to explain why Chicago might have a high murder rate while simultaneously having a ban on guns, Vice responded: “Chicago doesn’t have a wall around it.”

Mayor Daley, who promised in his press conference to “stand up and fight” to get guns off the streets, probably wishes it did though. “We are a country of laws, not a nation of guns,” he said.

While Daley continues to fight for gun control laws, others will pursue the fight for gun rights — possibly challenging laws in New York City next.

Pratt, for one, is not convinced of Daley’s argument.  “Mayor Daley is really an embarrassment,” he told TheDC. “He is lecturing us on the need for Draconian gun laws, but the rest of the country has lower violence rate. The mayor needs to shut up and listen to rest of the country and apply those lessons.”

Daley’s Chicago office has not yet responded to requests by TheDC to comment.