By Nancy Thorner -
A Chicago friend asked my opinion about what Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said May 20, 2021 on ABC News, when she was asked about gun violence in Chicago.
“We're going to fight a losing battle when people can drive across the border to Indiana and other states and literally buy military grade weapons without any significant kind of background check and bring those weapons back to the streets of Chicago,” Lightfoot said.
Upon hearing what my friend knew was a falsehood and scapegoating, what the Left does 24/7, she blew a gasket, further letting me know what happened when she bought a gun at a gun store in Indiana. That store sent the gun to a gun store in Illinois, which did the background check.
"I could not pick up my gun from the Illinois gun store until they called me and told me the background check was completed. It took about three weeks."
Curious, I searched for a published article that would clarify what my friend heard Mayor Lightfoot claim.
It didn't take me long to locate the source of Lightfoot's comment. Check out the article at the 1:25 mark to hear for yourself: Mayor Lightfoot satisfied with her performance in face of challenges from COVID, violence CPD.
The gun claim by Mayor Lightfoot was made when facing reporters on the occasion of her second year in office and facing several critical issues, including the lingering pandemic and the high number of shootings.
Even so, Lightfoot said she was very satisfied with her performance under difficult circumstances.
A reporter then asked: "But those accomplishments have are largely overshadowed by gun violence and crimes. Homicides are up 17 percent year to year, and the number of shootings are up 34 percent over the same period a year ago. So far this year, 108 juveniles have been shot and carjackings have more than doubled."
It was then Mayor Lightfoot made her inaccurate comment about guns, as noted earlier in this article, about buying guns in Indiana to bring back to the streets of Chicago.
Federal Gun Law
Desiring additional conformation that Mayor Lightfoot's comment was off base and misleading, I checked with a friend who is an authority on guns. He e-mailed back the following in response:
“Federal law prohibits bringing a handgun purchased in another state across state lines. If you buy from an FFL dealer in Indiana, it must be shipped to an FFL in Illinois. A dealer usually won't break the law because he would lose his license. But of course, private parties, black market gun traffickers, will. They're criminals, and, by definition, don't obey the law, and don't get background checks. Thus, more gun laws won't change anything.”
This article, Gun Transfer Laws Buying Out of State, clarifies the facts about buying out-of-state guns to bring back to Illinois.
What lies ahead?
With gun violence out of control, and with Mayor Lightfoot at a loss to stem gun violence, the start of this summer's kick-off with Memorial Day weekend doesn't bode well for the City of Chicago.
