The "ban our way to safety" approach adopted by Illinois Democrats has made it impossible for lawful residents to purchase commonly-owned arms, and those guns that are allowed for sale can't be possessed without a state-issued permission slip (and only after waiting 72 hours after they've been purchased). 

Violent criminals, on the other hand, have little trouble getting ahold of guns and bringing them places where they're not allowed, as evidenced by two recent incidents detailed by the website CWB Chicago.

The first incident involves a 23-year-old who's been charged with attempted murder and attempted armed robbery after allegedly shooting a 17-year-old on a Blue Line train. Public transportation is a "gun-free zone" in the Windy City, but according to prosecutors that didn't matter to Malik Washington. 

Prosecutors said Washington approached a 17-year-old boy on the train, displayed a gun, and warned, “Don’t move. This is a robbery.”

When the boy refused to cooperate, Washington fired multiple rounds as the victim ran for his life. Bullets struck the teen in the left arm and left armpit.

Judge James Murphy III detained Washington on charges of attempted murder and attempted armed robbery. Murphy noted that Washington is accused of running past the fallen boy’s body to make his escape.

Washington was on pretrial release for allegedly possessing a pistol during a traffic stop on April 16, 2023. He is also accused of robbing a 19-year-old victim in the 7700 block of South Racine in April 2024.

Washington is far from the only suspect who was on pre-trial release when they were charged with another crime this year. CWB Chicago highlighted the recent arrest of a man of shooting at a group of people and injuring two of them earlier this month. 

Dalvin Mullin is the fifth person accused of shooting or trying to shoot someone in Chicago this year while on felony pretrial release. Those individuals are accused of killing or trying to kill 18 people, including 9 Chicago police officers. 

Mullen, 27, and two accomplices drove to the 700 block of North Spaulding in Humboldt Park around 6:21 p.m. on May 7, prosecutors said. Mullen and at least one of the other men proceeded to fire shots into a crowd in an alley, striking one victim in the back and another in the hand, according to the allegations.

Mullen was on pretrial release at the time of the shooting for allegedly possessing a machine gun early last year. Judge Maryam Ahmad initially detained him in that case, but Judge Ursula Walowski released him in August, according to court records.

Prosecutors asked Walowski to revoke Mullen’s pretrial release on April 8 after he picked up a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. He remained on the streets and the case was dropped a couple of weeks later.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker routinely point the finger at lawful gun owners and the firearms industry when it comes to crime in the city, but as these cases show, there's a huge problem with the Cook County criminal justice system and the recent "reforms" to Illinois' criminal justice statutes. It's become much more difficult to keep individuals behind bars until trial, even if they pose a threat to the community or are a flight risk, and the result is plain to see: suspects arrested and charged with a crime who quickly bond out and are back on the streets to commit further offenses in no time at all. 

A ban on "assault weapons" or "large capacity" magazines won't fix this problem. Requiring gun owners to possess a FOID card or forcing them to wait 72 hours to pick up a gun won't address the real issue. Prohibiting them from lawfully carrying a firearm on a train or bus won't make them safer, anymore than suing Glock will. 

These laws (and lawsuits) only make it harder for good folks to protect themselves against the violent predators that the revolving door of justice continually spits back onto the streets. Illinois' gun control laws aren't just a failure. They're a danger to public safety in and of themselves.