Miasmatic Review

I thought they were illegal?

Shadoglare sent me notice of a story in the Chicago Tribune. Boy, 4, wounded on South Side after gun hidden in oven discharges, cops say.

This whole thing is a tragedy, fortunately it sounds as if the kids are going to be okay. What really gets me about this story is

Smith, a felon, had hidden the revolver in the oven in a home in the 4800 block of South Racine Avenue, Bright said.

First I thought handguns are banned in Chicago. Wait, they are. See how well banning handguns and firearms works from people getting hurt?

Secondly this guy is a felon. Which means that even if he left the city of Chicago to buy a handgun, he can't legally own one in Illinois. That means he bought it... ILLEGALLY! That's right, he probably bought it on the streets. I know he didn't buy one in the store because he can't have a FOID (Firearms Owners Identification) card that you must have in Illinois to even buy a firearm. As soon as he's convicted of a felony they suspend the card and when the background check was run, they would have red flagged this guy.

If the mighty Mayor Daley and the Chicago police can't even keep a felon from obtaining and owning a firearm with in the limited confines of their little kingdom, what makes them think that they can do anything about the rest of the state.

We don't need more gun laws. We need to better enforce the laws that we have. Banning doesn't work.