National Guard Troops May Be Considered To Patrol Chicago’s Violent ‘Hotspots’

Police State USA

CHICAGO, IL — As the Windy City continues to be plagued with violence — rampant assaults, rapes, and shootings — Illinois leaders are struggling to find a solution (or press an agenda).  But their preference toward authoritarian tactics becomes quickly evident, as the suggestion of deploying National Guard troops is apparently not off the table.  This extreme measure has been pushed several times in recent years as Chicago’s murder rate has escalated to embarrassing levels.  Will recent acts of violence be the catalyst that these police state advocates need to send in soldiers?

When asked about the possible deployment of the National Guard and Illinois State Police patrols in Chicago, Governor Pat Quinn (D) told reporters, “It has to be done in a coordinated fashion with the local law enforcement, with their full cooperation.”  It would appear that he has not ruled the action out, while not explicitly planning for it.  There is little to suggest that notorious police superintendent Garry McCarthy would object to such plan.  Quinn also made a few remarks calling for making it more difficult for average citizens to get modern semi-automatic rifles and standard-capacity magazines.

A tragic drive-by shooting earlier this week is being used as the crisis that is spurring this talk once again. Gangs have been a problem in Chicago for some time.  Chicago recently surpassed New York City in annual murders and earned its title as the Murder Capital of the U.S., suffering 500 murders in 2012, according to the FBI.  Ironically, the top contenders for this infamous title are also the most restrictive cities in the nation on the civilian ownership and carrying of firearms.  One could objectively conclude that onerous state mandates impede lawful self-defense and empower criminals to victimize defenseless people.

Rather than weakening gangs by cutting out the black-market profit incentives created by the prohibition laws, and empowering citizens to legally defend themselves by backing off with the with their restrictive firearm policies, Illinois politicians always seem to want to go the opposite way.  Less freedom and a more powerful government is their modus operandi.

It was only in July that an Illinois State Representative publicly called for soldiers being sent to Chicago.  Rep. Monique Davis (D), using her faithful argumentum ad filios strategy, stated, “I am requesting with this press conference that Gov. Patrick Quinn order the Illinois National Guard [and] the Illinois State Police to come to Chicago and work with our mayor, Rahm Emanuel, to provide safety for the children, especially, and for all who walk in Chicago. We deserve. We’re important. Our kids are important.”

Illinois has no shortage of leaders who want soldiers to play policeman.  In 2010, Illinois State Representative John Fritchey (D) laid out a plan to deploy 100-person team into Chicago’s “hot spot” areas; the team being partly comprised of National Guard troops. Fritchey, who is now a Cook County Commissioner, said at the time:

“As we speak, National Guard members are working side-by-side with our troops to fight a war halfway around the world… The unfortunate reality is that we have another war that is just as deadly taking place right in our back yard. Is this a drastic call to action? Of course it is. But is it warranted when we are losing residents to gun violence at such an alarming rate? Without question.”

Fritchey’s comparison of Chicago to a warzone was shared by his colleagues, citing that the city’s homicide rate for that year was keeping pace with the casualty rate of U.S. troops occupying Iraq and Afghanistan.

Echoing the call for soldiers in the streets, fellow State Rep. LaShawn Ford (D) touted in 2010,”Enough is enough. We’ve already lost too many lives. We need action now.”

 The fetish for martial law was palpable.  Ford said that deploying armed soldiers on the streets wouldn’t bother him at all.  As NBC Chicago quoted him as saying:

“If they can save even one life, one child, in my community, I would welcome the National Guard with open arms and I am confident that my constituents would as well.”

And the calls for the National Guard went back earlier than that.  In 2008, former Governor and nowconvicted felon Rod Blagojevich (D) had suggested the solution as well.

It would seem that the biggest gun control zealots are also the strongest advocates for sending in soldiers to tackle street crime.  Blinded by their statist ideology, their only conceivable options hinge upon government control or more government control.

As prominent disarmament advocate Paul Helmke put it, while sitting as president of the gun-banning Brady Campaign organization, there are only two solutions to Chicago street crime: more rigid gun control, or military troops in the streets.  Think of the children.  He wrote in an opinion piece in 2010:

If we stopped the illegal trafficking in guns, and strengthened the ability of law enforcement officials to prevent shootings before they happened, then we wouldn’t have to be talking about calling in the National Guard.   Unless we wise up now and do the work needed to prevent a rise in gun violence, then this National Guard suggestion may be a glimpse forward into the future, when troops in our cities are the only option decision makers will think they have for dealing with 20-month-old children dying from gunshots.  – Paul Helmke, “Is National Guard the Answer for Skyrocketing Gun Violence?”

Why oppose National Guard being used to police the streets?  For one thing it is a solution that is designed to treat only the symptoms, not the underlying causes, which I will discuss below. It ignores the reason that Chicago gangs are so powerful in the first place.

Secondly, using soldiers to police domestic streets is a sign of an unhealthy society.  It is a hallmark characteristic of a police state.  Soldiers are not attuned to enforcing laws and dealing with criminals.  Using them in this capacity conditions everyone involved that the military has a role on American streets.  It acclimates the public to living under military occupation, and it conditions the troops to future missions performed on American cities.

A freedom-based alternative to curb Chicago street crime would require an entirely different approach, alien to politicians in Illinois.  It would involve acknowledging that current government policies are enriching and empowering gangs, and giving them incentives to commit violence.  This violence is part of the inherent nature of black markets.   Prohibition laws give criminals a rich opportunity to make large amounts of money by filling the demand for black market goods (namely, drugs).  In turn, powerful organized gangs form and thrive, and fight with each other over turf.  And sadly, the innocent citizens caught in the crossfire are disarmed according to the law — a law that no criminal obeys.

Rather than continuing to punish innocent, non-violent citizens with irresponsible and anti-freedom disarmament laws, government should back off from their ineffectual attempts to control guns.  They need to acknowledge that the only people following their laws are NOT the people who are fighting over gang-turf on the streets.

Sources :

1. Police State USA
2. Image Credit

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