Gun Violence Prevention

Gun Ownership is Declining

Gun Ownership is Declining

The loud voices of gun-rights extremists make it seem as though they have the majority of Americans on their side. To the contrary, they represent a smaller and smaller percentage of households in America and in Illinois. The University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC) has been asking this question every two years since 1973: “Do you happen to have in your home (or ... »

Fewer than 1% want concealed carry

Fewer than 1% want concealed carry

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DAILY HERALD (published August 21, 2014) The title of your August 11th story (“Illinois concealed carry process getting easier”) ignores the most important fact contained in that story. Only 84,000 applications for concealed carry permits have been filed in the entire state of Illinois. The Illinois State Police had said they expected to process 300,000 to 400,000 application... »

Not such a bad year

Not such a bad year

Conventional wisdom is that President Obama had a “bad year” in 2013. You hear it on talk shows and read it in newspaper columns. People cite the government shutdown, problems with the Obamacare rollout, and disclosures about the NSA. But was it really a bad year? Consider these facts: 1.  The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) went into effect October 1st, despite the determined effo... »

Good Daily Herald series on FOID cards

Good Daily Herald series on FOID cards

The Daily Herald recently ran an excellent three-part series on Firearms Owners Identification (FOID) Cards. About 10% of people in the suburbs have FOID cards, which means that 90% of us don’t. Even among those who have FOID cards, most are hunters or people who have  a family heirloom or a gun for protection in their home. Most of them support reasonable regulation of privately-owned firea... »

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