Fortunately, deaths from gunshot wounds were only 715, albeit an increase over previous years.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the number of people shot in the Windy City from New Years Day of this year until December 1st was a whopping 3,862. This number includes every reported shooting regardless of whether the person succumbed from their injuries or not.
Thankfully, the number who died from gunshot wounds is significantly lower, 715.
The numbers have increased substantially over the year prior, when, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, the city saw a total of 2151 reported shootings throughout the city in 2019. This was a 10% reduction from shootings in 2018 when 2381 people had been shot. Homicides were also lower in 2019 when they only saw 503 cases and 550 in 2018.
What is clear is that violent crime in Chicago was declining before Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in May of 2019. However, just a few months into her term, violent crime began to skyrocket at alarming rates.
Lightfoot and other Democratic leaders place the blame on the pandemic of 2020. While that may be a contributing factor, there are plenty of indications that would reasonably conclude there are many factors present that far outweigh the pandemic.
One factor is the number of guns that are in the street in Chicago. Chicago has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation. However, instead of focusing on doing something to combat gun violence, Lightfoot instead called for more gun laws in the city.
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