CHATSWORTH, Ill., Dec. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association:

This week's revelation that Chicago's murder rate outpaces that of New York City comes as no surprise. Chicago's distinction as the nation's murder capitol is the unmistakable result of misplaced law-enforcement priorities.

According to the Chicago Police Department, better than 3/4 of murder perpetrators have previous criminal records. More alarmingly, those reports indicate that about 2/3 of murder victims had criminal records at the time they were killed.

With convicted criminals killing, or being killed at a rate far greater than the general population, one would think that Illinois' politicians and law-enforcement officials would seek to improve the state's criminal rehabilitation system. Unfortunately, they have chosen to focus their attention, and our tax dollars, on making life miserable for the law-abiding Illinois firearm owner.

While this year's murder tally was rising, Mayor Richard Daley's taxpayer financed army of high-priced lobbyists was browbeating the legislature - pressuring representatives to enact legislation that would put an end to hunting and destroy the shooting sports. One could only imagine the positive effect that their lobbying might
have on enacting meaningful prison reform.

While dozens of Chicago detectives were attempting to entice licensed gun dealers into making unlawful gun sales, the department's own evidence custodians were funneling confiscated guns to criminals - right out of police headquarters. Rather than make a clean breast of it, Police Superintendent Hillard has obstinately refused to respond to legislative inquiries into the scandal.

While Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine diligently authored county ordinances that, according to one of his staffers, were designed to run local gun shops out of business, his prosecutors let notorious gunrunner Tyrus McCants off the hook with little more than 30 hours of community service.

While street thugs terrorized the good citizens of Illinois, the General Assembly killed a proposal allowing law-abiding citizens to carry firearms for their own defense. More troubling, the legislature also shot down a proposal designed to protect battered women. Under that proposal, women holding restraining orders could carry concealed firearms to protect themselves against violently abusive men. Apparently the legislature feels that if a woman needs more than a piece of paper to protect her, she is just out of luck.

It is time to direct the state's law enforcement and criminal justice efforts away from battering the law-abiding citizen's constitutionally-protected right to possess firearms, and towards the deterrence, prosecution, and rehabilitation of those inclined to commit crime. Until such is done, Chicago will continue to claim the title of the nation's murder capitol.

[b]ArmaLiter[/b]

The Daley/Devine combine will again blame suburban gunshops for "flooding Chicago with guns". This takes the voters eyes off their own incompetence. No one ever seems to ask why the suburbs, the source of the evil guns, are not as crime-ridden as Chicago. One would think that if the guns were the problem, the places where they are "easily available" would be the places with the most murders.