In just a few weeks, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. It was a grueling presidential campaign, culminating in the series of debates Trump had against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
During one of the debates, the topic turned to gun control. While talking about proposed gun legislation and the effect it might have on gun-related violence, Trump said this:
"In Chicago, which has the toughest gun laws in the United States, probably you could say by far, they have more gun violence than any other city."
PolitiFact took a look at Trump's claim to determine its accuracy. Politifact reporter Josh Gillin says that Trump's claim rates MOSTLY FALSE on the Truth-O-Meter. Gillin says that, while Chicago gun violence has been bad in 2016, legislation is more stringent in other cities across the country.
"To be clear, Trump is right when he says there's a lot of gun violence in Chicago," said Gillin. "However, when you look at the laws in place, Chicago does not have the toughest laws on the book. In fact, Trump's home city of New York has a far stronger minimum sentence for a gun charge than Chicago does."
Gillin notes that, up until recently, you couldn't even own a handgun in Chicago. "That decision was overturned by the Supreme Court," said Gillin. "The other thing is that the state of Illinois didn't allow concealed carry up until just a few years ago, and speaking of those gun laws? Those are statewide in Illinois. Local cities are not allowed to have their own laws to follow."
Gillin acknowledges that gun violence is high in Chicago, but the data and the laws on the books don't corroborate most of Donald Trump's claim, leading to a MOSTLY FALSE rating on the Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: Gun laws in Chicago
- PolitiFact ruling
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