Who is kidding who?
President Trump has been saying for years he could stop the violence in Chicago. He indicates Chicago and Cook County are staffed by a bunch of political namby pambys who do nothing. But who is really fooling who?
The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), which regulates firearms at the federal level, requires that citizens and legal residents must be at least 18 years of age to purchase shotguns or rifles and ammunition. All other firearms - handguns, for example - can only be sold to people 21 and older.
State or local officials may implement higher age restrictions but are not allowed to lower the federal minimum.
Fugitives, people deemed a danger to society and patients involuntarily committed to mental institutions are among those who may not purchase firearms. People with prior felony convictions that include a prison sentence exceeding one year, or misdemeanors carrying sentences of more than two years, are also prohibited from purchasing firearms.
Federal law also blocks the sale of guns to people who have been found guilty of unlawfully possessing or using controlled substances within the past year.
A large part if not the majority of the violence on the streets of Chicago is committed by those under 21.
How many federal gun prosecutions have come through the system in the last two years? How active has the Federal Prosecutors office been in this area in the last two years?
If Cook County Courts cannot come up with a way to keep these miscreants in jail cells where they can wait a trial, how about Mr. Trump stepping up and directing the ATF and the federal prosecutor to step up and fix things?
Oh. Wait. That would mean funding and staffing, which the feds probably cannot afford after spending $2 trillion of funny paper to stimulate us.
Dennis A. Pyzyna
Arlington Heights