By Larry Keane
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a new executive order creating a taxpayer-funded, stand-alone Department of Gun Violence Reduction after a violent crime-filled Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend left eight dead and 40 wounded. That includes 14 victims who were shot during a Juneteenth celebration in Princeton Park.
Chicagoans aren’t getting a serious response from elected officials. Instead, they are resorting to familiar responses of blaming firearms, firearm manufacturers, lawful gun owners, other states, historical grievances and political opponents for the criminal violence on their streets the city has for decades failed to seriously address. Blame shifting and deflecting responsibility will not make Chicagoans safe.
The new department will carry a $100 million annual budget and move existing violence reduction programs under one umbrella. Mayor Johnson said the idea would “ensure” those efforts are aligned. But Chicago does not suffer from a shortage of gun control offices, slogans or taxpayer-funded programs. It suffers from a dearth of effective leadership and shortage of consequences for violent criminals.
Table of contents
Mismatched Numbers & Spin
Mayor Johnson and other city officials have leaned on claims that crime in the Windy City is down. While there are categories where Chicago has improved from pandemic-era peaks and 2025 saw a lower homicide total than recent years, it is misleading to use selective improvement as a shield against the ongoing reality facing Chicago residents.
Through May, Chicago Police Department data showed an increase in shootings and shooting victims, with 167 homicides year-to-date (YTD) — up six percent compared with the same period in 2025. The Juneteenth/Father’s Day weekend violent crime rose 105 percent from last year’s total, subsiding after rainy weather moved into the region early Sunday morning.
An independent Chicago crime tracker shows a clearer picture of 181 people shot and killed, 680 shot and wounded, 861 total shot and 207 total homicides YTD — figures that are outpacing 2025’s. That is a public safety problem and not a public relations issue.
Mayor Johnson acknowledged the Juneteenth criminal violence. But acknowledgement is not enough. Residents need to know whether offenders are being arrested, whether prosecutors are bringing meaningful charges, whether repeat violent criminals are being incarcerated and whether city leaders are willing to use every lawful tool available to restore order.
Shuffling Chairs Isn’t a Strategy
Department supporters argue it would coordinate violence prevention, stabilize funding and consolidate programs already scattered across city government. But Chicago already has offices, programs and spending streams devoted to this issue, to the tune of over $3 billion this year. The proposed new department would replace the mayor’s Office of Community Safety, one of several city entities already assigned some role in addressing criminal violence.
The timing only sharpens the question. Mayor Johnson endorsed a $100 million taxpayer-funded proposal while Chicago faces severe budget pressures and a long-running pension crisis. He also renewed his broader political messaging about criminal violence as a “public health” and investment problem, while the city continues debating whether it has the basic enforcement tools it needs.
President Donald Trump responded to Chicago’s weekend violence by renewing his call for Illinois and Chicago officials to seek and accept federal help. Mayor Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker have repeatedly rejected the prospect of National Guard involvement, with Mayor Johnson previously describing such federal action as a “federalized occupation.”
Washington, D.C., on the other hand, offers a useful comparison. After receiving federal help, official Metropolitan Police Department data show D.C. YTD homicides are down 39 percent, robberies down 21 percent, property crime down 25 percent and total crime down 22 percent.
Independent analysis from the Niskanen Center found the National Guard deployment in D.C. produced a roughly 24 percent reduction in opportunistic property crime. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser even thanked President Trump for the federal resources used to make the city safer.
Chicago should be studying what works, not preemptively ruling out help while residents bury loved ones.
Chicago’s Failed Gun Control
Chicago’s officials have long treated lawful gun ownership and the firearm industry as the problem. The city’s former handgun ban, challenged in the landmark McDonald v. Chicago case, did not make Chicago safe. It denied law-abiding residents the ability to exercise constitutional rights while criminals continued to illegally obtained and criminally misuse firearms.
That is the central failure in Chicago’s gun control narrative. Criminals do not obey firearm bans, purchase restrictions or tearful political speeches. They traffic, steal, illegally possess and criminally misuse firearms. The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that among prisoners who possessed a firearm during their offense, 90 percent did not obtain it from a retail source.
Mayor Johnson’s framing burdens the lawful while failing to deter the lawless. It tells Chicagoans that the problem is an object, an industry or a political opponent when the problem is violent criminals who have learned the city’s system too often fails to stop them.
Chicago residents do not need another office designed to make gun control politics look busy. They need cops to do their jobs, prosecutors and judges who are tough on criminals and illegal firearm trafficking cases, accountability for repeat offenders, support for police, cooperation with willing federal partners and respect for the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.
The next test for Mayor Johnson is simple. Will he keep choosing bureaucracy and blame, or will he finally choose public safety? Sadly, for Chicago residents the answer is predictable.
Larry Keane is Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.
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What do the Chicago leaders have in their heads? Rocks or sawdust? They want to penalize law-abiding taxpaying citizens merely for wanting to defend themselves in their own homes from gang bangers and other assorted rats. Makes a lot of sense, thinking that the move will prevent crime? They must be stark raving NUTS—eligible for being given a life sentence in a mental institution! Then again, there must be enough
delusional voters who agree with them and their absurd form of “thinking.”
The problem is the criminals man. Not southern states not Republicans. It is the people who grow up learning how to work the system then when that isn’t enough for them they turn to crime. Keep the criminals locked up and make them work their ass off instead of slapping their hand and telling them what they done was bad so don’t do it again.
Kris, you must be a Conservative. No elected Liberal politician would share such a conclusion, labeling you a “terrorist.” Too many criminals should
be executed, but instead are given sentences of a few years in prison, bail, and/or community service, but only if they “apologize.” Some of these rats even become judges and/or prosecutors who are determined to punish law-abiding citizens. It has become a “no-win” situation for voters, and a waste of time and energy to drive to the polling locations.
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Benny Johnson
The Benny Show
@bennyjohnson
Juneteenth weekend in Chicago:
-40 people shot
-8 people dead
-1 mass shooting with 13 shot including children
Everyone involved was black, no police were involved.
No protests from BLM, no outrage from Democrat Politicians, and no wall to wall media coverage.
Total silence.
Let me get this straight… You have a black holiday that anyone with a brain would be celebrating instead of turning to crime followed by one of the most confusing days in black households across the nation and you didn’t think crime and gun violence and murder was to ensue?
I am shocked, stunned, amazed!
Chicago and the state of Illinois are getting everything they voted for. Hack politicians with deeply rooted communist ideologies. The more time passes by that state/ city continues their trajectory even further to the left. The chief race hustler (Obama) has a strong hold in that city what else cab be said? You reap what you sow.
JB Pritzker, is a JOKE!
So is Gavin Newsom and a few other Liberal rats who prey on the voting population.
There is a small amount of people responsible for the majority of these actions. Remove them and the numbers will decline.
You don’t need millions of dollars to figure it out.
Tell it to the voters who installed them in office!!!
Big cities like Chicago have tough gun laws but they are rendered useless by second hand unvetted guns flooding into Chicago via the “Iron Pipeline” as verified by the FBI. Two independent Chicago studies showed that the average crime gun had been through many hands and had come in from Southern States that have lax gun laws.
One must realize that crime was much lower in the big cities until Tricky Dick Nixon let cheap Chinese State subsidized manufactured goods flow into the U.S. This destroyed high paying Union jobs and the Republicans refused to fund job retraining which in turn has resulted in 4 generations of people who never had a decent high paying jobs. When you mix in this poverty with drugs and gangs and the easy availability of second hand unvetted guns the toxic mix is mass violence and murder. This is not rocket science.
To further inflame the violence Republicans have refused to pass tough Federal Gun Laws like all the other civilized countries have. With no vetting of second hand guns any criminal or nut case can buy all the firepower they want. The much lower homicide and mass murder rates of civilized countries show that tough gun control does indeed work and work well.
And the Paranoia of the Far Right refuses to accept the fact that all gun laws do not result in complete gun bans as Europe is still awash in firearms that are legally vetted and registered. And in some Asian countries you can even buy a “new” machine gun. The paranoia of the Far Right cannot accept the truth gun control facts.
The Far Right and the Republicans have no plan on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and maniacs and because of their paranoia no human life loses can be too high not to sacrifice on the depraved altar of zero gun control including the deaths of 1,500 children a year.
Yes, crime rates in Chicago have significantly decreased in 2025, with notable reductions in violent crimes, including homicides and shootings.
Overview of Crime Trends
Overall Decline: Chicago has experienced a substantial drop in crime rates across various categories in 2025. Reports indicate that violent crime is down by at least 22% compared to previous years, with homicides decreasing by 32% year-to-date compared to 2024
.
Homicide Statistics: As of October 2025, there have been 359 homicides, a significant reduction from 497 during the same period in 2024. This trend suggests that the city is on track to record fewer than 500 homicides for the entire year, marking the lowest total since 2019
.
Shooting Incidents: The number of shootings has also decreased dramatically, with reports indicating a 37% drop in shooting incidents compared to the previous year
Community and Policing Strategies: The decline in crime has been attributed to various factors, including enhanced policing strategies, community intervention programs, and broader socioeconomic improvements. Mayor Brandon Johnson has emphasized the city’s commitment to reducing violence through resource allocation and community engagement
.
National Context: The crime decline in Chicago aligns with a national trend of decreasing violent crime rates, indicating that the city’s improvements are part of a broader pattern observed across the United States
.
Conclusion
The data from 2025 shows a clear trend of decreasing crime in Chicago, particularly in violent crime categories. This decline is a positive development for the city, reflecting ongoing efforts to improve public safety and community well-being.
WHAT “Data?” Offer some evidence! ! !
Google it there are at least 6 accredited studies.
Still waiting to see my original post
Call Roto-Rooter.
:^I
well if crime is down and your doing such a great job why make another new dept to slow gun violence???