More recently, city officials are working on initiatives to address guns. Already, gun shops are banned within city limits, and Chicago has in place byzantine restrictions on handgun ownership to try to prevent illegal sales and transport of guns. But officials here say weaker laws in surrounding suburbs and neighboring states mean that criminals can buy guns fairly easily and bring them back to Chicago.
The January report is “disappointing," Superintendent McCarthy told reporters Tuesday. But "you don’t throw out everything you’re doing because you had a couple of bad days. And unfortunately today’s a bad day, too.”
Mayor Emanuel on Wednesday said he has asked chief executives of the mutual funds Vanguard, BlackRock, and Allianz to divest their companies' portfolios of gun manufacturers Freedom Group, Smith & Wesson, and Sturm, Ruger & Co. because they are lobbying against federal and state proposals to ban assault-style weapons. The action follows similar pleas by Emanuel this month to Bank of America and TD Bank. The mayor also said Chicago and its sister agencies, such as the transit authority and park district, are shedding investments with five pension and retirement funds that invest in the three gun manufacturers.
