I once sat in on a Illinois Senate Judiciary Committee meeting at the Statehouse here in Springfield and I remember seeing a good-looking young Senator from Chicago. I figured he was heavy into gun control and I wanted to share my perspective with him, but I demured. I'm much better expressing myself in writing and not a very confident speaker. This is what I would have said to him, though.
Chicago has something like 600 homicides per year. I've seen estimates that say about half of these murders are over drug turf disputes. This is what any rational society would label prohibition-related violence. Mike Gray, in his book, "Drug Crazy," says the gangland map of Chicago these days is almost an exact copy of Al Capone's Chicago.
I think a coalition between people who want to keep their guns and people who want safer streets could be formed around a campaign to promote drug policy reform with the intent to end prohibition. Deadly turf wars and a raft of other social ills would vanish if people got their drugs at clinics or pharmacies or other regulated venues. This would take pressure off of legitimate gun owners.
In today's world, spectacular acts of violence like the VT massacre grab our attention, but the majority of gun deaths in this country continue to be from prohibition-related turf battles that get practically no attention whatsoever.
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