Chicago would like gang members to only shoot people at night, please

AP Photo/John Minchillo

When Chicago’s old anti-cop mayor was replaced by its new anti-cop Mayor, Brandon Johnson, some were concerned that he wouldn’t do enough to combat the gang violence that has been leaving a trail of bodies around the Windy City for years. Well, fear not. The Mayor and the City Council are working with a local community group called Native Sons to develop a messaging campaign aimed at Chicago’s street gangs. Rather than threatening to lock them up and throw away the key, they are politely asking the gangbangers to restrict their shooting activities to between the hours of 9 pm and 9 am when they are “less likely” to gun down children and innocent bystanders. How did nobody think of this before? As Amber Harding of Outkick puts it, Chicago is literally looking more and more like a scene from the movie The Purge.

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Democratic alderwoman Maria Hadden shared a proposal last week by the community group Native Sons urging Chicagoans not to shoot their firearms between the hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

And you thought The Purge was a fictional movie.

The proposal — called “The People’s Ordinance” — encourages gangs to conduct their shootouts during the hours when children and innocent bystanders are less likely to be caught in the crossfire.

Called “The People’s Ordinance” (as opposed to “ordnance,” which would have been a bit too much on the nose), the initiative is being promoted with signs painted on walls and fences around the city, reminding gangbangers that there are children playing in the area. The signs include the instruction “9 AM – 9 PM NO SHOOTING.”

The ordinance also “encourages” residents of Chicago “not to wear ski masks or to associate with people who make a habit of gunning down other people.” Even I will admit that it sounds like pretty solid advice. Unless, of course, you’re one of the people who are in that “habit” and happen to have a beef with the gang four blocks over from your turf. Sadly, those would be the target audience (no pun intended) for this message.

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The creators of this proposal sort of lifted the veil a bit when explaining it. Tatiana Atkins, co-founder of Native Sons, said that if people know that after 9 pm “the likelihood of them being shot by an unknown and unprovoked assailant is at a higher risk, they will be less likely to be out and about.”

Think about what that means for a moment. They want law-abiding citizens to be more aware that the gangs are roving the streets so they should stay in their homes and hide after 9 pm. Again, this is sounding more and more like the plot of The Purge. This is not a group that wants to improve safety and reduce gang violence. They are surrendering the streets of their city to the gangs and asking them if pretty please they could possibly not shoot so many people during normal business and school hours.

I’m sure the Latin Kings and the Gangster Disciples will be paying close attention to this proposal and voting on it during their next board meetings. The idiocy on display here is simply painful to observe. Setting up new, non-binding rules for gang members might sound stupid to you because the concept of “rules” doesn’t really apply to gang members. That’s why they’re gang members to begin with.

Chicagoans had a mayoral candidate on the ballot who promised to hire a lot more police, prosecute gun crimes in a serious fashion, and take back the streets. They opted to go with “the other guy” because he had the correct melanin content in his skin. So now they are reaping what they themselves sowed. And this crazy ordinance is only the latest symptom of what will likely be even darker days to come.

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