Mayor Daley Jokingly Threatens To Shoot Reporter To Prove Effectiveness Of City's Gun Ban

Richard M. Daley, the longtime Chicago mayor, held a press conference Thursday in which he discussed, among other things, the fate of the city's controversial handgun ban. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to overturn the ban with a ruling in McDonald v. Chicago, which should come down in June.

Daley outlined plans of how the city would restrict gun ownership if the ban were reversed, including measures like mandatory firearm training, fingerprint registration and regular background checks for gun owners.

But he also had some choice words for opponents of the measure.

First, he took on the Supreme Court. He told reporters that the ruling wasn't certain yet, and that he was hopeful that their minds could still be changed, with a pretty ominous comment.

"You have to have confidence in the Supreme Court. Maybe they'll see the light of day. Maybe one of them will have an incident and they'll change their mind overnight," Daley said.

(Scroll down to see NBC Chicago video of Mayor Daley's comments.)

Then, Chicago Reader reporter Mick Dumke raised the question: if the handgun ban is so valuable, why is the city is suffering from an epidemic of gun violence?

Daley responded by -- no joke -- threatening to shoot Dumke in the rear end to prove how effective the gun ban has been. WBEZ recorded the mayor's explanation:

"It's been very effective," he said, grabbing the gun off the table in front of him. "If I put this up your -- your butt, you'll find out how effective it is. If we put a round up your, ha ha."

Click here for WBEZ's audio recording of the comment.

Dumke, who wrote about the exchange for the Reader, reports that the mayor continued on an unrelated tirade about weapons, effectively dodging the question and amusing the press corps:

"Next will be hand grenades, right? We'll say that hand grenades are OK. I mean, how far can you go in regards to mass weapons? To me, any gun taken off saves thousands of lives in America. I really believe that, I don't care what people tell me. You have to thank the police officers for seizing all these weapons. We lead the country in seizing weapons. This is unbelievable."

I had to agree.

Watch Mayor Daley talk about the Supreme Court gun ban case:

Comments

[Reyn Mansson]

09:04 AM on 05/23/2010

There probably are few big cities that have as many people carrying guns with them every day as where I live, San Antonio, TX. Yet we don't have 5 times the national average murder rate that the highly restrictive Chicago does. If the simple ownership of guns killed people Texas would be the leader in gun deaths, but it's not. People kill people, no access to guns just increases the victim pool.

[MARYHOBE]

06:31 PM on 05/22/2010

Guns, America, are murdering your children! Thousands of them die every year. And if some fool out there tells me guns don't kill, people do, I'll scream! America hates pedophilia, but guns cause more harm and death than all the pedophiles on earth. The difference between killing a man with your hands or a knife and killing him with a gun has been studied by criminologists and psychology. The time between emotion and execution are so short with a gun, and that is one of many findings that have never been addressed by NRA. Personally, I believe Americans have given up in face of the virulence of the minority that support this barbarity. And while I spent the time to write these lines, another couple of children have been cut down with a gun.

[Thirdpower]

06:52 PM on 05/22/2010

"The time between emotion and execution are so short with a gun"

Really? Now provide the studies.

Chicago has 5x the murder rate of the rest of the state and has bans on most types of firearms. Why doesn't the rest of the state, where firearms are common, have the same problems?

[JimInHouston]

07:53 PM on 05/22/2010

Great depth of feeling!!

Mighty shallow in knowledge.

Please keep going, so we can dissect your rants at leisure. If you're smart, you might even read what we write and LEARN.

[MARYHOBE]

09:00 PM on 05/22/2010

Levels of gun violence increase with number of guns per capita. The number of guns in Canada decreased and the violence decreased. You call it rants and I call it sympathy for your dead kids.

[W Santiago]

03:21 PM on 05/22/2010

For some reason I cannot find any hard facts about how effective this ban is. There are little records beyond 2005 for such things. Maybe I'm just Googling wrong, but banning weapons to reduce violence against the public has almost never worked. Could someone, with hard numbers (i.e. from reliable sources), repost a link for me to look into?

[Thirdpower]

05:30 PM on 05/22/2010

W:

One of the best sources is the FBI Uniform Crime Report, Illinois Uniform Crime Report and the Chicago 'Clear Path' website with its Index Crime Statistics. To many links to post but these will get you a good Google search.

Unfortunately, Illinois remains in non-compliance with FBI reporting standards so comparisons are difficult. Not intentional. Not at all.

[W Santiago]

07:22 PM on 05/22/2010

Thanks. I always love it when people make claims that you cannot refute because they have all the data.

[MARYHOBE]

06:16 PM on 05/22/2010

You want hard facts on guns and gun violence, just have to check any western nation on this planet and see the level of violent crime compared to US. The more guns a society has per capita, the more violent crime.

[Thirdpower]

06:50 PM on 05/22/2010

Why limit it to 'Western Nations'? Are you ra.cis't?

[JimInHouston]

07:56 PM on 05/22/2010

Actually, that's completely false. Why don't you dig a little deeper?

Here, let me help. This will give you links to several studies:

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvinco.html

[MountainBiker818]

12:02 PM on 05/22/2010

Mayor Daley, another right-wing teabagging racist that encourages violence.
 
What are wrong with all these republiKKKans and their violence????

[Bonaboman]

09:01 AM on 05/22/2010

I'm impressed with how the truly "expressing a point of view HP" differs from true news. The headline indicates the mayor was just joking around - kinda like Rahm's father just joking around with the King David Hotel.

[Rooster Coburn]

02:51 AM on 05/22/2010

So hows that gun ban workin' out for ya "King" Richard?

[KimTN]

11:19 PM on 05/21/2010

Mayor Daley is a disgrace to the City of Chicago, just as father was.

[47th]

07:29 AM on 05/22/2010

Amen!

[MARYHOBE]

06:47 PM on 05/22/2010

I do not have a problem with Mayor Daley's crude remarks, what I find obscene and crude is America's love affair with guns.

[jmengr]

10:48 PM on 05/21/2010

Daly's key words were "I don't care what anybody tells me."

[djcrsn]

04:42 PM on 05/23/2010

jm--that "don't bother me with facts" is common with the hoplophobes

[berrycooda]

05:19 PM on 05/21/2010

Hasn't Chicago had a gun ban for a long time and what good has it done....
Only the criminals have them and this gun ban hasn't stopped them from using them, be it up somebody's butt or in the
head or heart where most of them end up as a fatality.
Maybe if citizens were allowed to carry a weapon, the punks would think twice about their actions. They can kill someone, but are cowards when they think it might happen to them.
It isn't a joke to even insinuate how it would feel to get shot in the "butt"...not a laughing matter what is going on in Chgo.
Too many people at the butt of a gun that is in the hands of a criminal. Citizens who carry guns aren't committing the crimes and shooting innocent people.

[tissa]

06:20 PM on 05/21/2010

blah, blah blah blah blah blah...yeah because all criminals by guns in IL, please stop your stupidity...and read about how any felon or criminal or mentally unstable person can buy a gun at a gunshows all over....
http://www.bradycampaign.org/legislation/backgroundchecks

[Thirdpower]

07:58 PM on 05/21/2010

'All over'? Your source being a dedicated anti-gun group.

It's illegal to transport handguns across state lines except through a licensed FFL.
It's illegal to purchase a firearm in order to give it to a prohibited person.

What is a laughing matter is the Mayor of Chicago's antics.

[jmengr]

10:50 PM on 05/21/2010

blah, blah blah blah blah blah...and did you know that at most 3% of guns used in crimes come from gun shows. Quit listening to the Brady Bunch liars and find some real facts.

[MARYHOBE]

06:39 PM on 05/22/2010

Drive for a couple of hours and buy all the guns you can carry and it is perfectly legal. Stop fooling yourselves, there is no gun ban anywhere in the US. You have to cross the border to see what a gun free society looks like.

[Thirdpower]

06:54 PM on 05/22/2010

"there is no gun ban anywhere in the US"

So handguns are legal in Chicago?

"You have to cross the border to see what a gun free society looks like."

Yep, Mexico is such a wonderful place.

[HC32]

01:12 PM on 05/21/2010

What's sad is that everybody is so used to his stupid rants that nobody cares what he says anymore. The guy thinks he's the greatest gift Chicago has ever had. HAHAHAHA

[tissa]

01:09 PM on 05/21/2010

I am really disgusted by the comments here with these rantings over the 2nd ammendment....what is your problem if things are tougher here for people to buy guns? Do you want felons to buy them? Nobody is repealing the 2nd ammendment here...take a chill pill.
Also, in neighboring states you can buy guns at gunshows without a background check, and that is where the bad guys are getting a lot of their guns. This is not about Illinois law at the end of the day.

Also for people spewing out false facts....Illinois crime is down by 10% and that is a fact..read your newspaper it was in there the other day....Every big city has problems, and this one is no different, but Miami with 1/3 of our population has more murders than Chicago at this point..
perspective is good sometimes...

[ALRIGHTALREADY]

01:46 PM on 05/21/2010

PSST .............THE FELONS ARE HAVING NO PROBLEMS and at the end of the day if law abiding citizens were allowed to carry guns, the brazen gangbangers would be thinking twice ,,,, and in Chicago, the second amendment was trashed years ago

[tissa]

06:08 PM on 05/21/2010

Law abiding citizens can have guns. I am talking about making it the most difficult we can for felons. Challenging gangbangers is not a good idea, that's what police are for....I am done conversing with illogical people...

[Eris23Skidoo]

01:52 AM on 05/22/2010

You wanna take on the gangs, fine. We have too many teabaggers anyway. Have a nice funeral.

[Thirdpower]

03:32 PM on 05/21/2010

I used the Illinois UCR and Chicago crime reports. Not the paper.

Daley is spending millions of taxpayer dollars to keep the 2A from being incorporated into the states. Do your research before you post.

[tissa]

06:11 PM on 05/21/2010

Another right wing dumb***, My source is the Chicago Police Chief and the FBI, are you somehow more knowledgable than them? They say it is DOWN 11%. This is also the same statistics hospitals are having, they count the gunshot wounds.
READ, its good for the soul. Moron.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/chicago-crime-rate-down-jody-weis.html

[Thirdpower]

11:16 AM on 05/21/2010

Nationally, the murder numbers/rate dropped from 16928/5.6 to 16272/5.4 from '07 to '08.

Illinois had a population of 12.85 million w/ a increased murder rate of 6.1/100K (790) in comparison to 5.9/100K last year.

Chicago had 22% of the population of Illinois yet accounted for 64.5% of murders w/ a per capita rate of 18/100K. an increase in murders both raw and per capita.

Cook County had 41% of the population of Illinois yet accounted for 73.9% of murders(584) w/ a per capita rate of 11.1/100K. It had a population drop yet an increase in murders due exclusively to Chicago.

The Cook County murders in raw number/per capita increased 11.9 and 11/1% respectively while arrest numbers and rates decreased compared to '07.

If Chicago were to fall into Lake Michigan, the Illinois murder rate would drop to 2.8 .

Were the rest of Cook County to follow suit, the rate would drop to 2.72 .

Then there's the % of murders by types of weapons used, 2008:

Nationally: 66.9

Chicago: 80.8

The only 'joke' is Mayor Daley.

[tissa]

06:17 PM on 05/21/2010

Crime down in Chicago by 11 % according to the FBI and chicago police....right wingers are dumb.

[Thirdpower]

07:54 PM on 05/21/2010

Look at the dates. All numbers as provided by the Illinois State Uniform Crime Report.

Since you can't refute the fact that Chicago has 5x the murder rate of the rest of the state, you can only resort to unsupported insults.

[jmengr]

10:59 PM on 05/21/2010

I'm no right winger, but I know of real data that shoots your position full of holes (figuratively speaking). The gun bigots make their case strictly through visceral anecdotal stories, junk research, and misrepresentation of real research.

[Roy in Canada]

11:06 AM on 05/21/2010

I`m sure that if the reporter threatened to shove the rifle up the Mayor`s butt, Daley`s ARMED security escorts would have jumped all over him....Just why do the people of Chicago continue to vote in this dictator?.....

[HC32]

01:13 PM on 05/21/2010

Because the entire city consel has 57 democrats on it, 1 Repub, and 2 vacancies. That pretty much says it all.

[shoelessjim]

08:15 AM on 05/22/2010

the 'city consel' (sic) has a total of 50 members. 49 democrats and 1 republican. no vacancies.

the problem isn't that all but one are democrats, it's that many have been appointed by da mayor himself. also, there are about 38 more aldermen than we need. if there were perhaps a dozen aldermen, they'd be more powerful and more accountable, instead of agreeing with everything he said and did. and woe to any who dare disagree with him -- they might face a well-funded challenge next time they are up for re-election.

[ALRIGHTALREADY]

10:20 AM on 05/21/2010

I put it to any, that not one life has been saved, but many more lost with Chicago's ban on guns as all the bad guys have them and they know that

[Eris23Skidoo]

02:12 AM on 05/22/2010

ALL of the bad guys have them? What, do you give speeches at commencement for bad-guy school and hand them each a gun personally? What do YOU know?

[Lakesideboy]

09:48 AM on 05/21/2010

I've never known such a buffoon in my life and he's been the mayor of Chicago for way, way too long. What family rules a city for over 50 years without some sort of unsavory connection (yes world, you know what I mean).
Check out the latest article/expose in the Chicago Reader newspaper about his misuse of TIF funds.
And we as Chicago residents are doing nothing about it......shame.

[steamboars]

04:55 PM on 05/21/2010

Chicagoans don't care about it as long as it stays in the "projects".

[47th]

07:40 AM on 05/22/2010

The Reader story about TIFs shed a lot of light on what a rotten crook Daley is.