LETTER: How illegal guns make it into Chicago

In his Sept. 3 commentary on guns. Review-Journal columnist Victor Joecks claimed that the shootings the previous weekend in Chicago received very little attention. I heard about these shootings on numerous news outlets. His claim that the left doesn’t call for stricter gun laws after these types of shootings is wrong. That Illinois has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation is a testament to how wrong he is about this claim.

These strict gun laws in Illinois came about by the left’s desire for gun control. But despite these strict gun laws, studies show that a significant number of guns recovered in Illinois, particularly in Chicago, originate from the red Republican state of Indiana. The lax gun laws in Indiana allow people in Illinois to circumvent the strict gun laws by going to Indiana to acquire guns.

Also, an average of 250,000 legal guns are stolen from private citizens in home burglaries a year. These guns make their way to the black market and are used in crimes.

There are so many issues associated with guns in America, Mr. Joecks needs to focus on root causes and solutions, not erroneously point a finger at his false claim of inaction of the, quote, “left.” The left doesn’t pick and choose these issues. Most Americans support reasonable gun laws and restrictions; that’s people on both the left and right of the political spectrum.