To the Editor:

As the rush by our president to trash the Second Amendment steams along, let us examine some facts regarding Chicago, his hometown.

Chicago, which has the strictest gun laws in the United States, offers some facts to consider.

The president demonizes firearms while suggesting more laws, directed at honest law-abiding citizens, will make it all stop. Yet Chicago’s 2012 death count at 516 and the city’s history of homicide by firearm will not change by banning firearm accessibility to law-abiding citizens.

Chicago’s murder history tells the story. The homicide tally in previous years — 471 in 2006, 448 in 2007, 513 in 2008, 459 in 2009, 436 in 2010 and 435 in 2011 — speaks volumes.

The people responsible — mostly gang bangers, drug dealers fighting over turf and criminals — have “an over exaggeration of oneself” and “wanton disregard for life.” They ignore all civilized law.

President Barack Obama suggests that increased background checks of honest citizens will reduce that death toll. He suggests that banning “assault” weapons will curtail murders as well.

Yet historical data indicates the previous assault weapons ban law from 1994 to 2004 had no impact at all. That ban driven more by cosmetics than functional features, including pistol grips, bayonet lugs, muzzle brakes, collapsing or folding stocks, did not factor into the killing equation. Show me one instance where a victim was stabbed to death by a bayonet mounted on a rifle.

The criminals and mayhem-driven loonies do not subscribe to any of the laws or controls already in force in Chicago now, or any other restrictions for that matter and will not in the future.

Will more rules and regulations really make a difference? I think not. Perhaps a look at our national deteriorating civility, driven by murder and mayhem movies and video games, needs a good hard look.

John Murphy
Franklin