Thinking "Out of the Box" = Calls for more gun bans..

Is what I expect from Chicago Mayor Daley's latest endeavor. He has hired Jens Ludwig (of Ludwig/Cook fame) to do a "study" on youth violence in Chicago.

The study will be led by U of C professor Jens Ludwig, who hopes to have “early results” — including new “intervention policies” -- within six to 12 months. The city would then launch a series of pilot programs (read: more gun bans and door to door "voluntary" searches-- ed.)to test those strategies.

Ludwig said interviews with those who have pulled the trigger would be critical. His analysis of Chicago homicides shows that “75 to 80 percent” of both offenders and victims have prior arrest records.

“Really understanding what’s going on with people who are coming out of detention — that’s juvenile and young adults as well — has to be an important part of the story to steer people away from the types of activities that put them at risk of both [shooting] … as well as getting shot,” he said.

Gun violence that has claimed the lives of 20 Chicago Public School students this school year only hammered home the same questions, the mayor said.


So already they're focusing on blaming guns for what is sure to be an unbiased piece of fishwrap research. I guess his claims of "to get to the heart of youth violence and devise “out of the box” strategies to prevent it," are just the usual smoke screens to distract from his real agenda, just like the IACP.