Chicago’s Total Shootings

In a recent column in the Chicago Tribune and echoing points I made last week, John Kass makes an interesting observation about Chicago’s homicide rate:

Murders don’t tell the true story of violence. The true number is the shootings. And by shootings, I don’t mean people firing guns into the air.

I mean people pulling triggers to send bullets to penetrate human bodies.

In 2014, there were just shy of 3,000 shootings in Chicago, 2,988 to be precise.

So far this year, there have been more than 4,100 people shot, and we’ve got almost a month of homicides and shootings to go.

Factor in the brilliant advances in emergency medical technology, and dedicated Chicago Fire Department paramedics and the fine work of hospital emergency rooms and trauma centers, and you can make a terrible argument.

It is the argument that Chicago violence now is as bad or worse than it was in the early 1990s, when in each of three years more than 900 people were slain.

Because with more than 4,000 shootings this year, it’s reasonable to assume the 2016 homicide total would be well more than 700 by this point if it weren’t for modern medical techniques and the paramedics.

I don’t think there’s any question about it. And, as Mr. Kass notes, the problem isn’t guns. The problem is street gangs with guns. Rejecting that is just self-excusing claptrap.

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