Sickened by the rampant gun violence that saturated the city in the last week, and claimed many youth victims in the last three years, clergy, anti-violence advocates and college students vowed to continue the fight for stiffer firearm laws.
Sickened by the rampant gun violence that saturated the city in the last week, and claimed many youth victims in the last three years, clergy, anti-violence advocates and college students vowed to continue the fight for stiffer firearm laws.
Led by the Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Catholic Church, nearly four-dozen students from Howard University in Washington, D.C. spent their spring break in Chicago advocating for Blair’s Bill, legislation first introduced in June 2007 by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-1st. Pfleger, who lost a son to gun violence years ago, said the surge in violence “ought to rattle and wake us up” because the children suffer the most.
The measure, named after slain Julian High School student Blair Holt who was shot and killed in May 2007 while riding a Chicago Transit Authority bus home from school, would require a driver’s license, fingerprinting and a social security number for all handgun purchases.
“Blair’s Bill will implement a nationwide program of licensing and will assist law enforcement in tracking the flow of guns and require those who possess them to be trained in gun safety. If we can have vehicle identification numbers for every auto in this nation, why can’t we have gun identification numbers for all handguns manufactured in this nation,” said Rush.
Ronald Holt, a Chicago police officer and Blair’s father, said too many guns end up in the wrong hands. Tougher legislation is long overdue.
“Anyone can become a victim of gun violence. The bottom line is to keep the guns off the streets and out of the hands of dangerous individuals. The ban on assault weapons needs to be reinstated,” said Holt, who participated with Pfleger and the students in a demonstration downtown at federal plaza. Pfleger said he wanted to make it clear they are not opposing the Second Amendment, they just want tight control on gun purchases and subsequent sales of the same firearms.
“We certainly aren’t trying to change the constitution and the rights of American citizens, but there has to be a better way to monitor and manage the firearm industry. There aren’t enough checks and balances in place for when someone buys a gun. And when the guns end up in the wrong hands, it’s hard to pinpoint who’s liable for crimes the guns were used in,” said Pfleger.
The reverend agreed with Rush regarding identification numbers needed for firearms, and with Holt about the assault weapons ban.
“If you can’t change the title to a car without a VIN, you clearly shouldn’t be able to have guns changing from one hand to another, multiple times, without the same kind of clearances,” Pfleger said. “We will also urge President Obama to reinstate the ban on assault weapons.”
The battle will be long but everyone must join together to turn it around, he said.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender
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