Concealed carry permit holder kills 13, wounds more.

[spin]

125. Let's examine the drug gang problem further. ...

National Youth Gang Survey Analysis
Measuring the Extent of Gang Problems

Estimated Number of Gangs
Respondents provided information regarding the number of active gangs in their jurisdictions during each survey year.

Over the past decade, annual estimates of the number of gangs have averaged around 25,000 nationally.
Following a yearly decline from 1996 to a low in 2003, annual estimates steadily increased through 2011.
The most recent estimate of nearly 30,000 gangs represents a 12 percent increase from 2006 and is the highest annual estimate since 1997.
http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Measuring-the-Extent-of-Gang-Problems#estimatednumbergangs

National Youth Gang Survey Analysis

Gang-Related Offenses

Gang-Related Crime
Respondents provided information regarding gang-related crimes in their jurisdictions. The figure presents the percentage of agencies reporting an increase from 2010 to 2011.

Among agencies reporting a gang problem, approximately half also reported an increase in nonlethal gang-related violent crime (48 percent) and gang-related property crime (51 percent) from 2010 to 2011.
Around one-third (33 percent) of the agencies reported an increase in drug offenses.
Across all gang-related crimes, most frequently, no significant change was reported from the preceding year (results not shown in figure).
http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Gang-Related-Offenses#crime

I like to use Chicago as a good example of drug gang violence. Chicago is fairly unique in that for many years it had extremely strong gun laws. It was almost impossible for an honest, law abiding citizen to own a handgun (the firearm most commonly used for crime).

August 23, 2012 7:19 PM

Mexican drug cartels fight turf battles in Chicago
By Armen Keteyian

***snip***

Riley is special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Office in Chicago and in four neighboring state

Daily turf battles over drugs and distribution, he said, are turning parts of this Midwest city into a Mexican border town.

***snip***

As it stands now, at least three major Mexican cartels are battling over control of billions of dollars of marijuana, cocaine and -- increasingly -- heroin in this city. That includes the ultra-violent Zetas and the powerful Sinaloa cartel, run by its shadowy leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

***snip***

More than ever, Chicago's problem is turning into a Midwest problem. Cartel operations are also spreading to Milwaukee, St. Louis and Detroit
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57499523/mexican-drug-cartels-fight-turf-battles-in-chicago/

Network of drug gangs likely responsible for most of city`s violence

Posted: Jun 17, 2013 9:25 PM EDT Updated: Jul 08, 2013 5:06 PM EDT
By Mike Flannery, FOX 32 News Political Editor - bio | email

Fewer than 2,000 utterly ruthless, well-armed bad guys may be causing a majority of Chicago's homicides. They're shooting and killing each other, motivated in part by profits from illegal drug sales, according to a veteran criminologist who has worked closely with the Chicago Police Department.

When they began rounding up 41 leaders of a notorious gang last week that allegedly grossed $11 million a year running open-air heroin and cocaine markets on the West Side, it was hailed as a law enforcement landmark, the first use of a new Illinois law designed to target a small cadre of the most violent criminals.

"There's probably 1,500 to 2,000 that are in a network of individuals that are continuously interacting in a negative way and at risk of shooting someone or being shot themselves," Professor Dennis P. Rosenbaum says.

Though he sometimes speaks like the UIC college professor he is, Dennis Rosenbaum has worked closely with the Chicago Police to understand the city's bloody-minded drug gangs. Rising to rule a gang requires an utter ruthlessness, emulated by the wannabe's in gang-dominated neighborhoods, especially in warmer weather when more residents are outside, watching.
Read more: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/22615476/bloody-minded-drug-gangs-likely-responsible-for-most-of-citys-violence#ixzz2f9y1JXKG

I notice that you tend to concentrate on gun homicides more than gun violence. In Chicago many of the gun violence incidents involve drive-by shootings. Gang members are not known for their ability to target shoot so frequently many innocent bystanders are wounded or killed.

Chicago Suffered One Shooting Every 3.6 Hours In 2012
February 15, 2013 - 3:15 PM

According to police data reported by the Sun Times, Chicago experienced a shooting every 3.57 hours in 2012.

The Sun Times reports that the number of murders in the city of Chicago for 2012 was 506, or more than one per day and nearly 10 per week.

The number of shootings however, was almost five times the number of homicides with police reporting 2,460 for the year.

There were 366 days in 2012 or 8,784 hours. That means that Chicago experienced a shooting every 3.57 hours.

- See more at: http://cnsnews.com/blog/gregory-gwyn-williams-jr/chicago-suffered-one-shooting-every-36-hours-2012#sthash.xpqkltfC.dpuf

I also noticed that you avoided addressing my solutions to the problem of gun violence in our nation.

I advocate attempting to pass a national requirement for universal background checks on the sale of all firearms in our nation. I also wish to see major improvements to our NICS background check system which would include better financing and a requirement that the states input the names of violent crimes and those legally adjudged as having severe mental problems on a timely basis. The BATF is mismanaged, underfunded and understaffed. Fixing the BATF is also one of my priorities. I would also like to see stronger efforts made to curtail the straw purchase and smuggling of firearms and increased penalties for these activities.