Is Chicago proof that gun laws don't work? | The Tylt

Chicago does have some of the more restrictive gun ordinances in the country. Gun shops and civilian gun ranges are banned, as are assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. But more than 15,000 of the guns traced by the police in the last decade came from just outside the city limits in neighboring towns that permit gun stores. 

Gun control advocates argue Chicago's laws can't make up for the easy access to guns in the rest of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Gun violence is a collective national problem, not a local one that can be reduced to debates over a single city's gun laws.

People who've studied violence in Chicago say the laws actually do work to an extent, and the violence would be much worse if restrictions weren't in place. But there are other aspects to gun violence, including poverty, racism, and unemployment. 

End the racial and economic violence, and the demand for retributive physical violence falls as well.

Others say stricter laws are not the answer.