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McCarthy Renews Call for Stricter Gun Laws

By Darryl Holliday | February 19, 2013 5:46pm
 Police said a recovered an assualt rifle has been on display in each of the weekly news conferences on citywide gun recovery, many are recovered fully loaded.
Police said a recovered an assualt rifle has been on display in each of the weekly news conferences on citywide gun recovery, many are recovered fully loaded.
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DNAinfo/Darryl Holliday

DOUGLAS — Days after a third student from Clemente High School was fatally shot, Superintendent Garry McCarthy addressed illegal gun use in his weekly gun recovery tour.

Nearly 1,000 guns have been recovered citywide since Jan. 1, McCarthy said as he once again urged stricter gun laws be put in place in Chicago.

Following last Friday's crossfire shooting of 18-year-old Frances Colon, the third Clemente student killed in the last three months, the weekly gun tour comes during a time when many wonder what police will do to quell the violence.

There are "too many examples of criminals not being held accountable for their actions," McCarthy said.

A board displaying four men, all examples of shootings that could have been prevented under mandatory maximum sentencing law, stood beside him as a diagram to his point.

 Following the third Clemente student killed in three months, Chicago's top cop renewed call for stricter gun laws Tuesday afternoon.
Following the third Clemente student killed in three months, Chicago's top cop renewed call for stricter gun laws Tuesday afternoon.
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DNAinfo/Darryl Holliday

One of those men, Kelvin Jemison, was sentenced to three years after being arrested in October 2010. He was paroled in April 2012 and shot to death last month by another man, Anthony T. Robinson, who also would still be in prison under stricter gun laws.

"They slip through and don't end up with mandatory maximum sentencing," McCarthy said. "Incarceration is temporary — I'm sure Kelvin's parents wish he was incarcerated right now. I can guarantee that."

McCarthy's main points along the weekly tour have been implementation mandatory maximum sentencing as well as mandatory reporting of loss/theft of guns to reduce the number of straw purchases.

Illinois currently does not require gun owners report loss/theft of their firearms.

McCarthy said he won't offer the same vow he made to Hadiya Pendleton's family that the three Clemente cases will be solved but said he's confident Chicago police will catch Frances Colon's killer.

"We do have a lot of leads in the case — it's very active and vibrant," he said. "A lot of calls from the community are coming in just like in Hadiya's case.

"[Frances Colon's] case is high-profile," he added. "It looks like the case will break quickly."

Last year, Chicago recovered nine times as many guns as New York City and three times as many as Los Angeles.