After a man drove a truck onto a Manhattan bike path on Halloween and killed eight people, President Trump tweeted he had ordered Homeland Security to increase its “Extreme Vetting Program.”

Credit: Evan Vucci/AP

When asked on Tuesday if Trump would increase extreme vetting of gun owners after twenty-six year old Devin Kelley carried out a mass shooting on a Texas church resulting in the deaths of 26 people, Trump attacked… Chicago:



”I mean, you look at the city with the strongest gun laws in our nation, is Chicago, and Chicago is a disaster. It’s a total disaster.”

Except Chicago doesn’t have the “strongest gun laws in our nation.”

The city’s handgun ban was struck down in 2010. In 2013, the city council reluctantly voted to end the city’s gun registry law after the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Illinois’ concealed carry ban.

However, Chicago has taken steps for stricter provisions when purchasing a firearm. Illinois residents who own or purchase a firearm must have a Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card.

Surrounding states like Indiana don’t require such a card for gun purchases. No permit or license is required in the Hoosier state.

Although Chicago’s gun crime is devastating, the majority of the guns used in Chicago’s crimes are purchased from outside of the city (21% of which have been traced back to Indiana alone).

New York City has far tougher gun laws than Chicago, but you won’t hear gun advocates talk about it. Why? Because gun crime is dropping.

In 2013, New York City passed the NY SAFE Act. Provisions of the Act include requiring handgun permit holders must be re-certified every five years and universal background checks on all firearm purchases.

In April, CompStat found in the first three months of 2017 the city saw a 22% drop in shootings overall and a 62% drop in homicides at housing projects.

New York had 998 shootings last year, the first time shootings dropped below 1,000 in decades (Chicago had 4,300 shootings during the same time period).

What Trump and his minions fail to grasp is that Chicago is an argument for national gun safety reform… not less.

Credit: National Association of Parliamentarians