Chicago gun violence costs $2.5 billion a year: Report

[davepc]

The social costs of gun violence in Chicago total about $2.5 billion each year, according to a report released Tuesday by an academic group formed to research effective ways to reduce violent crime.

"Gun Violence among School-Age Youth in Chicago," the first report from the University of Chicago Crime Lab, used interviews, focus groups, police data and social research to characterize factors underlying Chicago's escalating murder rate.

Expanding upon previous research that every crime-related gunshot wound causes around $1 million in social costs, the report's four authors calculated the annual cost of gun violence at $2.5 billion, or $2,500 per Chicago household.

The cost reflects in part the repellent effect of violence upon city populations, pushing more people into outlying communities, said Crime Lab director Jens Ludwig, a professor of social service administration, law, and public policy at the university.

"Every city is trying very hard to encourage families to live in the city to support the tax base so that we can improve city services for everyone in the community," Ludwig said. "But gun violence winds up making that much more difficult."

...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-gun-violence-costs-web,0,4345360.story

[jeepnstein]

1. It's Gang Violence, not Gun Violence...

Some folks would prefer to ignore the real root of the problem.

Gangs, whether they're Crips, 88r's, Outlaw Bikers, that's the problem.

[derby378]

2. Great way to reframe it

The question: "Would you rather die from being shot to death with an AK or beaten to death with a billiards cue?" The only rational answer: "Neither. I choose to live."

[doc03]

4. I can blow your ass away with a cheap single shot

12 ga. Automatic AKs are illegal to own unless you have a special permit to own an automatic weapon and have been since 1934. It's the lack of enforcement of existing laws not the need for additional laws.

[derby378]

5. No argument here (n/t)

[jeepnstein]

6. I'm not re-framing anything.

If you've ever dealt with any of these folks you'd know exactly what I'm talking about. They immerse themselves in a culture that is foreign to anything "normal" people would even consider. Life is so meaningless and cheap that killing becomes easy. No matter your ethnicity, you can find a gang that will take you in and be your "family".

It's true they're not the most resourceful bunch and generally get their guns from local sources. I'm waiting for the day when a gang figures out they can buy AK's cheaply in Africa. If they can import cocaine by the hundreds of kilos, they can ship arms. They'd make the current Mexican mess look like a family trip to Disney.

[doc03]

3. School age kids are not permitted to legally purchase a

firearm so why restrict the rights of us law abiding citizens? It's the lack of enforcement of existing laws!

[DonP]

7. A fraud so obvious ...

Our total city budget for a year is around $7.5 billion or so. According to this "study" funded by the Joyce Foundation, and supported by Daley, one third of our entire budget goes to paying for gun violence.

[jeepnstein]

8. They're just being crafty.

If they said "gang" instead of "gun", the numbers would be about the same. You have to look at the cost of Police, of the courts, incarceration, probation, and medical expenses. They just choose to ignore the obvious root of the problem because it would be a lot of work to root out the gangs.

[jmg257]

11. The actual cost of the gun wound is small, they strectch it to include

people leaving the city, businesses hurting, and other negative social impacts.


"While the most tangible costs, such as the treatment of gunshot wounds, garner the most attention, in financial terms these are a surprisingly small part of the full social costs arising from such violence. Every crime-related gunshot wound imposes costs on society on the order of $1 million, according to previous research by Crime Lab members Philip Cook of Duke University and Crime Lab codirector Jens Ludwig of the University of Chicago (Cook and Ludwig, 2000; Ludwig and Cook, 2001)."
...

"Businesses are more likely to close early in higher-crime neighborhoods (Hamermesh, 1999). Even more importantly, high crime rates deter business investment, particularly the creation, growth, or relocation of service-related establishments that would be a valuable source of employment to lower-skilled workers (Greenbaum and Tita, 2004). "

[DonP]

12. I'm sure the 10.5% sales tax has nothing to do with people and business leaving the city

Or or the $3.50 per hour rate at a parking meter (quarters only).

In Daley's world anyone leaving must be going because of guns and gun violence. Couldn't have anything to do with the no-bid multi-million $ crooked contracts he's giving to his buddies. Or the crumbling school system that he snakes money away from every year for things like his $40 million hired trucks program for people that didn't own any trucks.

It's just easier to show up for the next "take back the night" march" with a bunch of ministers and citizens then go home to your gated and guarded community.

[slackmaster]

9. They could just as easily have called it "drug violence"

Yes, it's a fraud.

[jmg257]

10. From their report...90% homicide offenders have prior arrest records...

"In recent years, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has reported that roughly 45 percent of homicides in Chicago are related to gang altercations or narcotics. The CPD also reports that 90 percent of all homicide offenders and nearly three-quarters of homicide victims have prior arrest records, which suggests that involvement with gangs, drugs, guns, or other illegal activities is associated with an increased risk of violence and victimization as well as offending."

http://crimelab.uchicago.edu/gun_violence/report.shtml


Hmmm... 90% have arrest records...so WHY do the rest of us need to have our rights re:guns infringed again?

[gorfle]

15. Read that again: 90% OF HOMICIDE OFFENDERS HAVE PRIOR ARREST RECORDS

The CPD also reports that 90 percent of all homicide offenders and nearly three-quarters of homicide victims have prior arrest records, which suggests that involvement with gangs, drugs, guns, or other illegal activities is associated with an increased risk of violence and victimization as well as offending."

This is a THUG PROBLEM not a GUN PROBLEM.

[FudaFuda]

13. City of Chicago should like, ban handguns or something

.

[spin]

14. Wow, finally a great idea!!!

Since the early 1970s, Chicago and its suburban municipalities have taken a national lead in enacting firearms control legislation. Citizens' groups such as the Committee for Handgun Control, formed in 1973 and renamed Illinois Citizens for Handgun Control in 1982, have worked together with city politicians and police to pass some of the nation's toughest gun control laws. Mayor Richard J. Daley was outspoken in his stand against gun rights activists, testifying before U.S. House subcommittees on gun violence in 1972 and creating a special court to process gun crimes. In response to rising gun violence by the end of the 1970s, several Chicago aldermen began exploring the idea of a freeze on handgun registration.

In 1981 the suburb of Morton Grove became the first municipality in the United States to ban the sale, transportation, and ownership of handguns. When a federal judge upheld the ban, the village attracted national attention. The National Rifle Association began a campaign in many states to push for legislation that would preempt gun regulations by municipal governments. The campaign was unsuccessful in Illinois. In 1982, Mayor Jane Byrne and the city council began to hold hearings on an ordinance proposed by alderman Ed Burke banning the further sale and registration of handguns in Chicago. Receiving strong support from Byrne and her allies, and coming in the wake of the assassination attempts on President Reagan and Pope John Paul II, the ordinance passed. All residents who purchased and registered their handguns prior to January 1982 were allowed to keep their weapons. Chicago became the first major city to enact a handgun freeze in United States history. underlining mine
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/557.html

[FudaFuda]

16. Yup. That's gun control for ya.

Worthless, but makes gun haters feel better.

[Furyataurus]

17. Why can't

the anti-gun/gun grabbers etc.... just leave and form their OWN party??????