Illinois assault weapons ban penalizes lawful gun owners

We must look at violent gun crime as a whole before we begin celebrating successes. The opinion piece titled “Illinois ban on assault weapons is working” warrants a response. Stating the ban has fulfilled its promise cannot take place in a silo.

The author and I can agree that today, Illinoisans cannot purchase certain weapons, magazines and switches. We can also agree that any reduction in mass shootings is good news. However, the author only paints a partial picture of how Illinois is (or isn’t) addressing gun violence.

According to the most recent data published by the Pew Research Center, only 3% of firearms murders during the year of the study were committed by individuals using assault weapons and other “non-assault-style” rifles, as compared to 59% of murders that were committed by criminals using handguns. The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer backs up this data. The vast majority of gun crimes in Illinois involve handguns, not assault weapons, and certainly the author, whose life’s work is to prevent gun violence, knows this.

The author also fails to mention how the Protect Illinois Communities Act is silent on the straw purchases that provide the vast majority of weapons used in crimes. The Gun Violence Archive puts Chicago at the very top of the list for mass shootings last year. Gun crime, primarily in Black and Brown communities, continues to destroy neighborhoods and families.

The author is also silent on the fact that Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislators she speaks so highly of have done absolutely nothing to strengthen penalties against those who commit these heinous crimes and refused to extend a law that mandated high-end criminal penalties for the worst of the worst repeat felony gun offenders.

The day before this op-ed was published, a mother and her three daughters were killed in a domestic violence incident in Tinley Park, and a lone gunman shot and killed seven individuals in Joliet before turning the gun on himself. The weapons used in these mass shootings were handguns. On Jan. 26, in broad daylight in the Loop, two CPS students were shot and killed while walking down the street.

On Jan. 31, two more shootings: one of three CPS students in Edgewater, and a second mass shooting with at least six victims in south suburban Dolton. Early Sunday, Feb. 11, a mass shooting in Little Village injured seven people.

If we are to truly address gun crime, we must come at it from every angle, and we absolutely must make sure criminals know they will face stiff penalties, including the certainty of prosecution in Cook County, if they commit gun crimes. Simply passing an “assault weapons” ban that is ignored by criminals who get their guns illegally, yet places new mandates on lawful gun owners, is not the answer.

State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-Woodstock), 32nd District

Let noncitizens vote in Chicago school board elections

We write in response to your recent editorial, “Legislators should move ahead on plan for an elected Chicago school board.” While we appreciated that it was insightful, we respectfully disagree with your stance that non-citizens should be denied the right to vote in Chicago school board elections.

As a city, it is past time we acknowledge and respect the significant role that non-citizen parents play in our education system.

Organizations such as Kids First Chicago, supported by parents and community members, have advocated for allowing any Chicago parent, regardless of immigration status, to vote in school board elections. Their position is supported by most Chicagoans surveyed in a fall 2023 Kids First Chicago poll, which revealed that roughly seven in ten respondents are in favor of this approach.

The momentum for such change is not confined to Chicago. San Francisco has already set a precedent by winning a court ruling that grants non-citizen parents the right to vote in school board elections. The issue has gained traction in Springfield as well, with a bill currently in the Senate, although further changes to the state constitution and Chicago voting laws may be required.

The importance of this issue has been recognized by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who campaigned on and included in his transition report a commitment to collaborate with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state legislators to extend voting rights in school board elections to noncitizens.

The involvement of noncitizens in local school councils, in which they are already permitted to vote and serve, exemplifies the positive impact of inclusive electoral practices. Extending these rights to Chicago school board elections is a rational and necessary step toward ensuring that all families have a voice in decisions that directly affect their children, schools and communities.

The rationale for allowing noncitizen parents to participate in school board elections is simple: their children are enrolled in our schools, and they contribute to the tax base that funds these schools. These families have a vested interest in the quality of education and deserve a say in decisions that affect their children’s future.

Hal Woods, chief of policy, and Jessica Cañas, senior manager of community partnerships, Kids First Chicago

About those lead pipes …

I have lived in Galewood for a decade now, and over these 10 years I have seen the city’s water department repair at least a dozen main water pipes that were leaking on residents’ parkways (including my own). Because the city has a plan to eventually replace all the lead water pipes, wouldn’t it make sense to replace the lead pipes while they are repairing the leaks? The parkways have already been dug up and all the equipment and crews are there. It would be more cost effective and efficient. Just a thought.

Michael DiDominicis, Galewood

Trump knows something about dodging bills

What irony that Donald J. Trump is demanding our NATO allies “pay their bills.” Yes, that very Donald J. Trump whose penchant for dodging his own debts for decades and decades is well-established.

“Do as I say, not as I do” comes to forehead-smashing mind!

Dwain Thomas, River North