While the number of people getting shot in Chicago has started to decrease, over the past 13 years, shootings have steadily become deadlier. The number of people who died after being shot grew from 354 in 2010 to 559 in 2023. The likelihood of dying after being shot rose from almost 13% to 19% in the same time frame. Proportionally, fewer Chicagoans are surviving, especially within Black and brown communities in the city’s South and West Sides. About a dozen residents and violence prevention workers said everyone, from the community to the government, needs to work together to provide more resources to areas affected by gun violence, The Trace reports. More funding is necessary, they said, to provide young people with the tools to make them less likely to carry a gun. Urgent measures also need to be taken to stem the supply of guns that are still coming in, despite Illinois’ relatively tough laws.
In recent years, community violence intervention groups have received significantly more funding. Many new services, including street outreach, intervention, cognitive behavior therapy, employment opportunities, and trauma training, are available today. Teny Gross of Nonviolence Chicago said other necessary components include police reform, toughening gun laws across the U.S. and funding alternative programming for young people. He added that law enforcement doesn’t always track crime guns to their suppliers. As an economist, Jens Ludwig, the director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, views the issue in terms of supply and demand. On the supply side, he said, the government could better regulate high-capacity magazines and switches, devices that can make a semiautomatic weapon fire like one that’s fully automatic. On the demand side, he added, governments and organizations can use tools, like prosecution, to deter people from using these devices. President Biden is establishing a task force that will assess the threat of emerging gun technology like conversion devices and 3D-printed guns.
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