Kiyanna Salter was a 17 year old girl who was taking the bus near 71st and Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago. Two other passengers accidentally bumped into each other somehow, and an argument ensued. Each of those two passengers brandished handguns that they were illegally carrying. One of the two passengers, who police allege was Milton Wardlaw, got off the bus, turned around, and fired one shot into the bus. This bullet struck and killed Kiyanna Salter – and gave Rev. Michael Pfleger another supposed excuse to hop on his anti gun soapox at her funeral:
Existing gun control didn’t prevent Kiyanna Salter’s murder
The criminals on that bus were breaking several longstanding laws as they caused the death of Kiyanna Salter. First, carrying a concealed firearm is a felony in Illinois, but they each chose to carry a handgun concealed on their person. Secondly, it is a misdemeanor to possess a handgun in Chicago, but both of them were armed within city limits. Thirdly, it is a felony to display a gun in a threatening manner, but both of them did just that. Fourthly, it is a felony to recklessly discharge a gun, yet one of them ignored that law too. Being criminals, they chose to ignore these gun control laws.
Additional gun control won’t prevent future killings
As we have seen in Chicago, D.C., Oak Park, and other areas with strict gun control, criminals are willing to ignore the law. Indeed, it is this very willingness to disobey the law that makes them criminals in the first place, and more gun control laws will just be more laws for them to ignore. It simply defies logic to think that a person who is willing to commit murder would be willing to obey a gun control law. Criminals like gun control, as it disarms their victims and gives them a monopoly on force.
Guns are not the problem
Guns simply do not cause violence. Instead, it is the intentional actions of human beings that are to blame for crime. As I write this article, I sit in my home where there are several guns, including a couple home defense shotguns that are stored with their magazines loaded, in a safe yet ready to use manner. My guns pose no danger to me or those around me, as I am not a criminal, and strictly adhere to the rules of gun safety as I exercise my constitutional right to gun ownership. Instead, those firearms will enable my girlfriend and I to defend ourselves should a home invader choose to break in and try to inflict harm. That way, we will not end up like this defenseless couple, which was left at the (non-existent) mercy of a gun ban ignoring criminal.
Unfortunately Pfleger ignores reality
Sadly, Reverend Pfleger missed the above points, and used Kiyanna Salter’s funeral as an opportunity to push his gun control agenda, calling for everyone at the funeral to “never touch a gun”. Rather than blaming inanimate objects for the high crime in Chicago, Pfleger should address the true causes of crime. These include a lack of parental involvement in their children’s lives, poverty, lack of education, and lack of positive role models. Pfleger would also do well to advocate gun safety eduction for children, and stress the importance of self defense for adults, rather than using his pulpit to turn people into future victims.