Advocacy Proposal
- Maggie Hollerman
- May 5, 2021
- 5 min read
Introduction
Issue: Gun violence in Chicago
This could then be expanded to other cities and adapted to what each community needs
Some of the actions I want to take:
relocating/raising funds for mental health services in order to prevent and treat trauma caused by gun violence
Ban certain guns (for example: assault rifles should be banned)
While these type of guns are not the typical type of gun used in shootings in Chicago, there are many incidents (I know of at train stations near me there have been several incidences of people with assault rifles on the train platforms) and can be helpful in curbing gun violence
For reference her is an example of this happening by a train station not too far from where I live: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/man-arrested-for-toting-assault-rifle-at-north-side-cta-stop-police/20846/
Make it harder to get guns
This would include combating the number of illegal guns in Chicago
According to a news article from the Clarion Ledger, Mississippi is the third largest source of guns in Chicago (only Illinois and Indiana have higher numbers)
As explained in the article, Mississippi has very laxed gun laws and does not have gun registration and does not require background checks before you can purchase a gun, making it an easy place to illegally obtain guns from
Because of this, one of the things I would want to focus on is also fighting for stricter gun laws in Mississippi
According to this source, as of 2010, Mississippi has the highest murder rate in the country, meaning there is a gun violence pandemic in Mississippi that needs to be addressed
Gun buyback programs
These have been done in the past and I saw something about one that happened recently, however, these are not widely advertised and therefore don’t get the results they would get if they were more widely publicized
I also think these programs should be less associated with the police since there is so much distrust of the police in many communities across chicago. Instead these programs should be run by other community based organizations that are trusted by neighborhoods and then given to the police/government to be destroyed afterwards
“Recent research frames gun buybacks in a more favorable light. On their own, buybacks might not be effective if the goal is to use them to directly reduce violent crime. But research shows buybacks can help if they’re part of a broader effort to reduce gun violence.”
I want the target audiences to be:
Chicago citizens
Mississippi citizens
Chicago’s mayor (Lori Lightfoot)
Nonprofits and other community based organizations across chicago who want to combat gun violence
The governor of Illinois (JB Pritker)
A representative of Mississippi (Bennie Thompson)
Nonprofits and other community based organizations across Mississippi who want to combat gun violence
newspapers/broadcast news in Mississippi and Chicago
President Joe Biden
Background
This issue is currently very prevalent
According to this news article, gun violence in Chicago is on the rise
Additionally, as summer approaches and as our country begins to reopen after over a year in lockdown, violence will likely continue to rise
Actions currently being taken and what we can do to make change:
As of 2020, almost $2 billion was spent on police according to https://www.citybureau.org/newswire/2020/10/16/chicagos-budget-crisis-explained
60% of COVID-19 funds from the federal government was used on police according to this article
However, it is clear that over-policing Chicago is not a response to violence that is effective
As stated in this article, black and brown youth who have contact with the police are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system again and policing does not result in dramatically lower rates of crime
According to an article by the ACLU, nation wide, only about 5% of arrests are for violent crimes that actually threaten public safety, while the other 95% are for minor offenses like marjunia possession and traffic stops
Audience
Chicago citizens
Since this issue directly affects the citizens of Chicago, they are an important audience
They are also important in making the movement possible since we will need lots of support
Mississippi citizens
While they are not directly affected by gun violence in Chicago, they have similar issues
I’m also not sure of how many people know about how many guns come into Chicago illegally from Mississippi, so those who don’t know may see things differently once they learn about that
for both of these groups of citizens (Chicago and Mississippi), I specially want to target the youth since in recent times, the youth have been the ones most passionate about this change.
Chicago’s mayor (Lori Lightfoot)
While she is currently seen in a very negative light in Chicago, taking actions like the ones I have outlined could save her in the next election (in a little under 2 years)
Nonprofits and other community based organizations across chicago who want to combat gun violence
The non profits in chicago are committed to making the neighborhoods better and typically have good relationships with the people in the neighborhood
Nonprofits and other community based organizations will also be important when planning events such as gun buybacks because people in the community typically trust other community members more than the police and/or other government officials
The governor of Illinois (JB Pritker)
JB Pritiker and Lori Lightfoot typically work together on key issues like this, so if we have more luck convincing him, he could also have a big impact on the changes we see within Chicago
Other important government officials from Mississippi and Illinois
From Illinois:
senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth
Representatives: Bobby Rush, Jesus Garcia, Mike Quigley, Danny K. Davis, Jan Schakowsky
From Mississippi
Representatives: Bennie Thompson
Nonprofits and other community based organizations across Mississippi who want to combat gun violence
newspapers/broadcast news in Mississippi and Chicago
I want to target the media because they can put pressure on the politicians to make changes and can spread the word about this issue and about our movement
We would want to specifically target media sources with the least amount of bias in their reporting
Ex: The Washington Post, NPR, etc
More info can be found here
President Joe Biden
Joe Biden can also put pressure on other politicians to make change and he has the ability to make laws and has the ability to inform others on the issue
Essentially with my movement, I want to curb gun violence in Chicago with a few key steps.
Defund policing so more money can be put into the community for mental health resources, job training and opportunities, education, etc
Have community based organizations organize gun buyback programs with police departments. I also want to make sure the members of the community who participate in the gun buyback program know that the organizations involved in it want to help the community. The programs will be run by the community based organizations and the guns will be collected by them and then brought to the police to be destroyed. People will get money for bringing in guns and there will be no questions asked
These programs also need to be more advertised with signs around the neighborhood, news coverage, etc
Make it harder to get guns. This part actually has two main goals
Ban assault rifles in the state of Illinois (and hopefully across the nation, but that is outside of the scope of this project)
Increase gun laws in Mississippi which is where many illegal guns come from
The main goal is to impose gun registrations required in Mississippi so that the guns can be tracked and found before they are used in violent crimes
Call on government officials (mayors, senators, governors, etc) to demand stricter gun laws and less policing in neighborhoods of color
I plan to create a script that people can use to call and email government officials about the issues at hand.
Additionally, I want to make sure we are asking the community members if there is anything they feel is necessary so they are not left out of this conversation.
Other resources used:
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