CHICAGO – Summertime in Chicago, shootings ring out on the South and West sides as gang members execute drug-fueled vendettas. Bodies pile up, and innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire.
Still, nothing seems to stop the bullets flying from illegal weapons.
Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina on Chicago’s South Side, is trying something new; pressuring the municipalities where he says the illegal guns originate.
He and several co-plaintiffs are now suing the Villages of Riverdale, Lyons and Lincolnwood. Each town is home to a gun store that Pfleger claims is lax with oversight for gun purchases.
He wants the villages to crack down and prevent “straw purchasing” -- buying weapons in bulk, then selling them into the black market at a profit.
“We’re not asking anybody to take away guns from [legal] gun owners,” Pfleger said.
The lawsuit argues that a disproportionate number of crime guns originate from the targeted villages.
However, the heart of the issue is gang violence. And the ATF says gang guns don’t necessarily come from the gun shops in Riverdale, Lyons and Lincolnwood.
“The largest percentage of crime guns used by gang members are coming from Indiana,” Special Agent Thomas Ahern said.
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