By: Matt Rosenberg
Ordinary Chicagoans have had it, and you can’t blame them. They’re sick and tired of being victimized by armed criminals and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Increasingly, Chicagoans are taking matters into their own hands. By shooting back, stabbing back, and defending themselves in any way they can. It’s not going to stop as long as city and county officials let the chaos continue.
Chicago’s 67,000 reported major crimes last year were 41 percent higher than in 2021 and already this year they’re up 58 percent. For the 11th-year running, Chicago led the nation in murders in 2022 – with 697. Crime on public transit is also badly out of hand. Making things worse, major crime arrest rates in Chicago averaged just 5 percent. And 400,000 times in 2021 there were no police to respond to high-priority 911 calls. Time and again Chicago under Mayor Lori Lightfoot has resembled the Wild West. It’s no wonder people are protecting themselves forcefully.
Evidence of growing self-defense in Chicago is widespread.
- A legal concealed carry permit holder held a home burglar at gunpoint in Wrigleyville until police arrived. The unemployed offender had been at large on two felony warrants.
- An 80-year-old man on Chicago’s Northwest side used his legally-registered gun to shoot and wound one of a pair of home invaders. The two had to seek treatment at a local hospital and were later arrested and charged. The victim was badly battered and hospitalized in critical care. Without his weapon he might well have been killed. Readiness is all.
- In Austin on the CTA Green Line a would-be armed robber was shot by an intended victim who had a legally registered gun and a concealed carry permit. The suspect was charged with felony armed robbery and felony armed habitual criminal. That means he had at least two prior weapons convictions. Such offenders are routinely set free with little punishment in progressive Cook County. The lesson here? If the criminal justice system won’t protect you, your legal firearm may.
- A man unloading his car in Albany Park was approached by a suspect who threatened him and indicated he had a gun. The vehicle owner pulled his gun and shot at the interloper – who was not injured but was arrested. Anyone engaged in daily routine activities can become a target.
- A pair of alleged car thieves in downtown Chicago shot at a vehicle’s owner, emerging from a hotel. But he was a concealed carry permit holder and shot back, wounding one. The two fled separately and both were later charged with felonies. One for burglary, the other for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.
- A man and boy pulled up to a parked car in the early morning on the West Side and in an armed robbery attempt, one pointed a weapon at the 56-year-old driver who was smoking a cigarette. A concealed carry permit holder, the would-be victim began to wrest control of the gun from the robber and then pulled his own weapon and shot both aggressors. They were later charged.
- A late-night worker at an insurance office in Rogers Park shot an intruder attempting a burglary, who was later apprehended and charged by police. He had four prior felony convictions.
These vignettes all show Chicagoans more and more willing to defend themselves using weapons. The stories also reveal the bankruptcy of the Cook County court system, of which we’ve written often.
With great fanfare in 2021 Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced $50 million in funding for Chicago violence prevention programs run by nonprofits. Compared to the baseline year of 2019, crime is still a game-changer. Carjackings in 2022 were up 175 percent from 2019. Murders rose 39 percent, shooting incidents 32 percent, and robberies 13 percent. With those results, the city would be better served if its violence prevention grants went to training people in how to defend themselves.
In the end this is about the fundamental rights of citizens to public safety. Safeguarding public order is the first and most basic job of governments. But what we hear now on TV from the city about public safety is lamer than a three-legged dog. “Police advise all residents to stay aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious activities.” Once upon a time that might have sufficed. Not today. Not by a long shot. Think of armed citizens protecting themselves as deputies. It’s what’s happening already.
The United States’ Declaration of Independence accents the “unalienable right” to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The Declaration further provides “that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
That’s supposed to be the bargain, anyway. But we’re being robbed.
In more ways than one.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Unwed births, illiterate children and black-on-black crime: What Chicago’s mayoral candidates ignore
- No, Mayor Lightfoot hasn’t put more cops on the streets. Beat cops are down 19% since she took office.
- Chicago 2022 arrest rates collapse to just 5%
- Five reasons why the latest spin on Chicago’s murder problem is dead wrong
- New CPS data: Mayor Lightfoot, Chicago Teachers Union continue to keep dozens of empty, failing schools open
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
The next natural step for Democrats is to disarm law-abiding citizens and criminalize defending yourself. That is because Democrats believe YOU DESERVE to be robbed, raped, and murdered because of what your ancestors might have done.
It won’t get better until criminals get long jail sentences.
Sam Harris a liberal thinker that gets equal hell from left and right has always been clear: We cannot give up our security to private forces, or to ourselves. We need police. He has a podcast on BLM and police outcomes with minorities that is completely rational. There’s this whole premise from BLM that cops are a threat to black people due to racism. Key fact: 150 Black American citizens killed by white cops. 10,000+ by citizens. In Chicago last year, 2 citizens killed by cops. By the way: One may quibble that the city of Chicago is not the… Read more »
Facts are racist don’t ya know ?
If for some reason you had to drive through the west side some night and were approached at a stoplight by the neighborhood kids, flashing a gun used to be enough (for a long time) to spook them away. Now, based on what I see from local media and websites (HeyJackass among others), there’s a good chance you’ll get involved in a gun battle. Remember: Front sight.
We have no choice now in order to protect ourselves. When seconds count the police are moments away.
Actually you do have a choice.
Pack the U-Haul and move out of Chicago.
Incorrect. Real people rather freely choose. The choice is theirs and no one else’s to make. We the people of the greatest idea ever are powerful beyond measure. Small-thinking criminals committing crimes with guns are not.
Johnny, the 2nd Amendment is instantaneous. Don’t leave home without it!
At this point, the people with concealed carry permits have no choice but to exercise their right to defend themselves when they are victimized by criminals. The government, who is taking our money to fund local law enforcement and our legal system, is in the crime business, too. They take our money ostensibly to serve the public, but we don’t get what we are paying for, and they steal elections so that we can’t rid ourselves of their corruption. How do we protect ourselves from THEM?
A few years ago, when speaking with a Chicago police officer, at that time on the SWAT team, I asked if a certain area was safe. His reply: there are no safe places. Since then, the situation has only worsened. No wonder more and more people are going to the trouble and expense to obtain concealed carry licenses. If this problem continues unabated, and innocent civilians continue to fight back, perhaps there will be a decrease in violent crime. In any case, watch your six. It’s dangerous out there.
It’s only Dangerous in Chicago.
Move out of the city if you want safety & a better life.
Actually, your comment is not entirely truthful, for one often reads of people who were car, jacked, or stuck up, and occasionally murdered. Where? Oh… Skokie, Evanston, Naperville, Aurora… The list could go on.
Those suburbs are still part of a socially & morally bankrupt metropolis. There is still plenty of country and world outside of Chicago. You should check it out sometime and see how much better life is outside of Chicagoland.
There used to be pockets of sanity in the suburbs of Chicago but those are rapidly disappearing.
Good article. If the state can’t protect people, they will protect themselves. We’re returning to days of the old west, unfortunately.
No doubt conceal carry is the answer if you decide to live in or at the moment can’t leave Chicago for a number of reasons. I like the Mossberg pistol grip 12 gauge and I am just a big fan of shotguns in general. Used them in the military back in late 80s and find with a little practice they make perfect self defense weapons because they will inflict a great deal of damage to the target. For pistols a 38 special revolver is around $300 at Buds Guns and its so simple. Point it and pull the trigger. Be… Read more »
You should also purchase concealed carry insurance in the event you ever have to use your weapon.
Absolutely yes. It will pay up to $500K in legal fees when Kim Foxx tries to prosecute you for daring to defend yourself against her beloved criminal scum and – like the acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse is currently enduring – while the family of the vile vermin that he was forced to kill try and sue him in civil court. Suppressed by the media. Google it. Costs approx $400/year. Well worth the cost. BTW -2 is likely on the losing end of your concealed carry use.
Mossy 590 is real nice. I find great reliability in mil spec gear.
I do my best to avoid even using my horn. Sht heads are always triggered by it.
Anyone can leave Chicago if they choose and have the courage to do it.
Nobody is forced to live there.
Until citizens in Illinois wake up and vote the useless, lamé politicians out of office. It’s never going to change.
When one freely chooses to use a firearm to limit the activities of others freely committing crimes, well then that one earns and deserves that freedom. When others however, freely choose to use a firearm to commit crimes, those others neither earn nor deserve any such freedom which might offset that which they freely surrendered for having freely chosen. Real simple. Anyone spot how freedom works yet? This is a basic tenet in the America for which scores of thousands gave their all to preserve, protect and defend. I say they are the ones deserving of our every ounce of… Read more »
The law-abiding citizens must make their voices heard.
Someone states The Mayor has on duty protection. I’d like to suggest a correction. You don’t have a Mayor right now. What you have is an occupant, period. Not even the council tie-breaking function is wholesome. Without a wholesome government, you tell me what is so sacred about those occupying it?
Everyone needs to have their head on a swivel and be prepared to defend yourself with your legally registered gun..
‘More Guns, Less Crime’ by John Lott was the seminal work on this decades ago. It is a simple equation, really. Criminals are basically cowards. They use force to get their way. The proper amount used to repel the attack deters crime pretty much in the first place.
Concealed carry for inner city law abiding citizens is a community line of defense for the police. This is why the people in charge don’t want you to defend yourselves. They want you weak and powerless.
And therefore dependent on them.
‘The man who trades freedom for security deserves neither’
Benjamin Franklin
More guns means less crime everywhere…..except for the inner city. This general rule applies in suburban darien and rural White county. But the exception to the rule is the inner city. It’s not an exaggeration to say that everyone in the inner city is armed up. Every gang banger between 13 and 53 is carrying a gun. And all these people carrying guns means more shootings between these goofballs carrying guns. Your average stupid low IQ criminal carrying a gun already knows that most people in his neighborhood have guns. And he knows that it will result in a gun… Read more »
Making good people defenseless doesn’t make bad people less criminally violent.
I don’t believe the “‘More Guns, Less Crime’” theory only works in areas that already have low crime and high trust. In the inner city with high crime and low trust, more guns result in more crime. Most males between 13 and 53 on the south sides are armed. Using this metric, the south and west sides should be totally safe, because there are lots of guns. But that’s where the argument falls apartment. I agree that good guys should be armed too. But don’t think for a moment that the good guys arming themselves in bad neighborhoods will reduce… Read more »
The FIRST RESPONDER is you with a gun. The police are second responders. Unfortunately if you are defending yourself Kim Foxx will prosecute you not the criminal
The 3rd responder is the CFD hauling you to Swedish Covenant. The 4th responder is a funeral home. The 5th is Rosehill.
Nonprofits are not going to come to the rescue of crime victims. People are taking action to protect themselves
The government is under no legal obligation to protect you unless you are in custody of the government (usually that means an inmate in a federal prison). What this means is your first line of protection is you and when seconds count the Chicago Police Department is minutes away at best.
The Mayor has dozens of police officers personally assigned to protect her. She and other political elites believe that their lives are more valuable than yours and your family’s.
We shouldn’t have to pay for their protection while they trample on our own right to self protection.
Kim Foxx is waiting, desperately waiting to indict some White robbery victim who puts down a black armed robber in self defense. She can’t wait to hold a presser and spout the usual bullshot about racists etc.
This is so true
Is anyone aware of where these guns come from? I have yet to see a thorough report. I just spent 5 minutes looking. This article says 60% of illegal guns come from Indiana. Chicago police seized more than 36,000 guns during a recent five-year span, and there’s no data available. Why? https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/36k-illegal-guns-taken-off-chicago-streets-in-recent-years-trafficking-remains-a-perplexing-problem/ Here’s another report that also claims 60% dating to 2017. https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/mayor/Press%20Room/Press%20Releases/2017/October/GTR2017.pdf Rahm Emanuel’s list of 2016 objectives from the above document are below, and they haven’t aged well. As a matter of fact, everybody involved in the current gun ban has done the exact opposite: 1. Strengthening law… Read more »
Gun Laws Work.
May we respectfully ask for an example, please?
The laws work for the perps. All of them.
No, they don’t. People with a gun kill other people. People who steal a gun or buy an illegal gun, aim it, put their finger on the trigger and pull it, THOSE PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE. Without their participation the gun is useless. Most people with a legal gun are using it to defend themselves from the aforementioned people. Check out the statistics.
Sarcasm.
At a time when Illinois politicians are trying to disarm the citizens this is a trend that proves the political class is wrong .
We all appreciate the illustrative list telling of some of the crime situations of late, many of which we knew about, some maybe not. A bit farther down in the article is the mention of Governor Pritzker’s seeing to it that “$50 million in funding for Chicago violence prevention programs run by nonprofits.” Are we ever to be told, or is there a way to determine, WHO GOT THE MONEY? I mean, EXACTLY who….and EXACTLY what are they thinking they are going to spend $50M on to help prevent violence? Do they apply for the money? Make a proposal for a… Read more »
All very, very valid questions. All with very, very unsatisfactory answers.
It’s very simple, if crime goes down it worked and they’ll get more money. If crime goes up it’s because they didn’t get enough money so they’ll get more money. An added benefit to programs like this is it creates more democratic votes and that’s how they really determine if the program works..
I would have “liked” this more than once if I could; so true.
Non-profits are just a scam. Run by the politically connected and usually just consist of one person
Absolutely!
The money would be better spent on lessons and incentives for birth control, for the folks living off 60 years of generational welfare. As heard on Chris Plante radio,
“It’s not the guns, it’s your Sons”!
Lightfoot and pritzker are living in la la land thinking that crime is going down
Hear no evil see no evil
They both have tons of security which the common citizen does not have
I hope voters will wake up in the mayoral race
Concealed carry should be encouraged, anyone in Chicago that votes against this should have no right to special protection from the police.
Remember when the city and state fought concealed carry and lost? In 2015, Illinois became the last state in the Union to allow concealed carry. Imagine if the 2015 legislature didn’t have the votes to override Gov. Quinn’s veto? How many more victims and death would we see in Chicago’s streets? If every citizen needs to arm him or herself, so be it. Unfortunately, Illinois has made the licensing process difficult and expensive. Living in Chiraq is not safe and won’t be until the citizens elect a take-charge mayor without a woke agenda.
Not getting much serve and protect from the HUGE TAX dollars.
Pay but get nothing. May as well pay the gangs for protection.
And the Second Amendment says “The right of the people to keep and bare arms shall not be infringed.” When law-abiding Chicago residents have the ability to defend themselves without government permission, things will get better. But throwing criminals in jail will help a lot, too.
This is why we need the right to buy and carry guns. But we also need prosecutors who are willing to charge criminals and not the citizens who are defending themselves. This will be a problem, especially if a criminal is killed in the act of committing the crime.
The only hope that Chicago has of being saved is to NOT RE ELECT Lori Lightfoot.. Don’t elect anyone like her. Don’t be fooled by an Eric Adams-like candidate who says all the things you want to hear and then turns into a woke ideologist who just steps over the bodies. Listen hard and do research. Save yourself, your children, your parents, your neighbors, and the City of Chicago. You have to vote for someone who will protect you. Demand it or make their life as miserable as they make yours.
Kim Foxx and Toni Preckwinkle are the other 2/3rds of the problem. And they won reelection resoundingly with no real opposition.
Paul Vallas is the only one with half a brain. The others should go out with the trash
When you have no respect for life – and Democrats do not – this is what results: The Wild, Chaotic City of Chicago. When you add in a (supposed) intellectual justification for violence by the perpetrator based on historic grievances and entitlement, then the “bad guys,” … (meaning the criminals for those of you in Rio Linda) … will receive remedial (again, supposed) help and you best be prepared for a travesty of justice because once within the intellectual 7th ring of evil and corruption of academia AND pandering Democratic politics, there is no assurance that any protection will result… Read more »
When the government can not protect you, you must protect yourself.
With the mass exodus of police officers, stress put upon the highly scrutinized working police and the lack of prosecution for crimes committed, the leadership has allowed crime to run rampant. Of course you need to be prepared to defend yourself. Please vote for either Paul Vallas or Dr. Willie Wilson who are the only two who are capable of change.
I respect Willie Wilson. He knows the mountains that have to be climbed, starting with the reconstruction of the African-American family unit in Chicago. The money that is spent on studies and focus groups should go directly to the most impoverished neighborhoods
I hope Vallas wins and takes Willie as advisor.
Good job to those who fought back. Our prisons are a revolving door. I for one am tired of hearing a perp had many priors. It’s even more insanity that those officials who are soft on crime get re-elected. Lori Lightfoot continues to try out for Americas got talent.
Will we see more of this? People standing up and saying no more? In the insanity in which we now live they will disarm the law abiding citizens. Too many days of shaking my head asking what the hell?
Thanks Matt.
The will to live and survive is strong. Fighting back is simply inevitable. But it’s sad too. Not unlike parents taxes to pay for
Public schools who then pay to put their kids in a private and/or parochial school so they actually
learn.
Spot on Dan. If you pay to send your kids to parochial school you should be exempt from public school taxes.
Only when public schools have to compete for students will we see change occur.
Signs of intelligent life by Chicagoans with conceal/carry permits – signs that the hoi polloi are fighting back against the gangster criminal elements running roughshod in Cook County sanctioned by woke prosecutors and a chief judge who could care less! Just maybe the evidence of this might reveal itself in the mayoral election on Feb. 28th if we get an honest vote count! Vallas or bust – 🇺🇸
The right of a person to defend themselves, when their life is threatened, with lethal force, is the most fundamental natural right in all of nature. Every fish in the sea has a right to kill the fish that is about to eat it. Every animal in the forest has a right to kill the animal that is chasing it. The right to self defense of ones own life is so fundamental that I often wonder why it is our second amendment and not the first. Protecting your life and the life of your family and others from someone wanting… Read more »
I think the right to defend one’s self with a gun was an understood right. When this country was settled many of them had guns. The 2nd amendment was to keep that right and reinforce that it was also to form a militia if need be.
Just wondering if the Green Line intended victim was charged with carrying a weapon on the CTA? I suspect that the prohibition of CCL holders on public transportation to carry on such is illegal, but so far that hasn’t stopped our government from prohibiting. Of course, habitual criminals pay no attention to such restrictions.
Speaking from experience… Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six ~
My father taught me that if you do not feel safe, get out of where you are at ASAP.
OK -1, so you stay have death wish. Stay and die.
Just remember…
When “seconds” count…
The police are “minutes” away…
Or in Chicago, more like “hours” away…
The 2nd Amendment is perpetually active. Exercise your constitutional right and don’t leave home without it.
It is much easier to run for your life and get a better life elsewhere. The criminals run the streets and the cops let them.
Sometime RUN isn’t an option. As a concealed carry holder and always carry if it’s just me my options are 1. Can I run 2. Can I run. 3. Can I run, then it’s one of us is going to die today, I’ve made peace with my god.
Actually it is an option.
Nobody is forced to remain in the city of Chiraq. You have the free will & ability to move. The only thing stopping you is stubbornness/cowardliness/and laziness.
No, it’s intelligence really. All that other rubbish belongs in a landfill. One would freely choose to remain, acting on one’s own free will to do so. Stop characterizing people and things you know nothing about. Thanks.
Actually crime per 100,000 Chicago finishes 10th. Some southern cities have higher rates, just smaller populations. Not that any of it is good.
Growing up in the Chicago of the 50’s, there wasn’t even a statistic or calculation for crime per 100,000.
Disarm the police and the citizens will be forced to exercise their second amendment rights. Imagine instead if the politicians had headed all of this off with lethal force against the BLM vermin protestors. Problem solved.
Oh, another -1. BLM member I assume.