2020 will go down as one of the worst years in recent memory in terms of crime in Chicago, which is saying a lot. Homicides and shootings are soaring, and carjackings in the city have more than doubled compared to 2019. In one recent case, a man named Shuai Guan was shot and killed even though he handed over the keys to his Jeep. Apparently angered by the fact that the car had a manual and not an automatic transmission, Guan was gunned down in cold blood. His widow, Hongyu Bai, now has to figure out how to tell their 4-year old child that his father isn’t going to be here this Christmas.

The investigation reveals that Guan double-parked to check the mail. Several gunmen pulled up in two stolen cars, demanding his Jeep.

He gave up the keys and the Jeep then backed away.

“No, they didn’t take the car,” Bai said. “They don’t know how to drive the car.”

Mad at that fact, the carjackers fired a single shot, leaving a 4-year-old without a father.

“I don’t know what the police can do,” Bai said.

According to Alderman Patrick Daley Thompson, who represents the neighborhood where Shuai Guan was murdered says the increase in crime is leading more residents to arm up in self-defense.

“I know a lot of my neighbors and friends all are getting concealed carry, and you know, this will be like the Wild West soon – everyone’s going to have it, and people are going to start using it,” Thompson said, “and that’s what the scary point.”

The scary point is people exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in self-defense? It seems to me that the really scary thing is that innocent people are at the mercy of violent criminals, and they know that the Chicago PD isn’t likely to be right there if they’re accosted by a mugger or a carjacker on the streets.

In response to the rise in carjackings, the city’s police department is telling residents to “cooperate with the bad guys and remember your vehicle is just property; it’s not worth risking your safety or life.” That’s no guarantee of survival. Just ask Hongyu Bai or her son.

I can’t trust that the guy trying to rob me at gunpoint isn’t going to shoot me after he gets what he wants. Compliance doesn’t guarantee survival any more than simply carrying a concealed firearm does. Having a firearm for self-defense at least gives you options. It gives you a fighting chance to come home to your spouse and child, instead of being taken to the morgue.

Contrary to what Ald. Thompson says, Chicago won’t be like the Wild West soon. It’s the Wild West right now, and the surge in demand for concealed carry licenses is a reaction to the lawlessness, not a cause. Thompson shouldn’t be afraid of his friends and neighbors obtaining their carry license. He should be ashamed that he and his colleagues haven’t been able or willing to seriously address the growing violence in Chicago.