Police focus on seizing guns to combat Chicago gang murders

[Yahoo! News]

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The focus on rounding up illegal guns, rather than low-level drug offenders, is an increasing priority for law enforcement in Chicago as murders - almost all of them with firearms and mostly related to gangs - have risen to 304 so far this year, compared with 258 in the same period last year. Of the 10 biggest U.S. cities, only Philadelphia's murder rate outstrips Chicago's. According to 2013 data, there were 15.2 murders per 100,000 people in Chicago, compared with an average of 7.5 per 100,000 people in all cities with populations higher than 1 million. Police say fragmented drug-dealing gangs, a high bar for charging felons, and insufficiently tough sentences for illegal gun possession have made it difficult to combat homicides in Chicago.

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