* Sigh…

The latest attempt to crack down on gun crimes amid a persistent surge of Chicago street violence stalled at the Capitol on Thursday, caught in the vortex of the historic gridlock that’s sowed deep distrust between Democrats who control the General Assembly and Republicans loyal to Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Passing a gun bill is often difficult due to differing regional attitudes toward firearms, but the complex one under consideration also drew complaints that it was too soft on drug criminals or too hard on minorities.

Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told lawmakers the measure would give officers an extra tool in the fight against gun crimes. The city’s top cop was able to dodge political embarrassment when the bill cleared a committee by a single vote, but any hope backers had for quick passage out of the Illinois Senate was dashed amid an overall lack of support.

Democrats quickly pointed the finger at Republicans, accusing them of acting at the behest of Rauner, who they continue to blame for last week’s squelching of a so-called grand bargain designed to end the budget impasse.

* Sun-Times…

Rauner’s administration, however, would only say the bill is under review.

Raoul said he was confused about the opposition – noting it was Rauner’s executive order that prompted the creation of the commission in order to reduce the state’s prison population. Figures from December show the prison population has dropped by 9.1 percent since Rauner took office.

“If you’re going to hold some people in prison longer, you’ve got to do something to decrease the population of the people who really shouldn’t be there as long as they are. Some of them shouldn’t be there at all,” Raoul said. […]

Republicans voted no on the bill, saying they support increased sentencing for repeat gun offenders but wanted a “clean bill” — without the other reforms attached, despite them coming from Rauner’s created commission.

* CBS 2…

The proposed reforms scare Eric Wilkins. He is a paraplegic who was shot in 1999, and fears tougher gun penalties could trap black men carrying guns for protection.

“My father was cab driver, and he had been robbed and shot multiple times. He always told us, ‘it’s better to be caught with it than without it,’” he said.

State Senator Kwame Raoul, who’s a state sponsor of the bill, flatly rejected the point of view Wilkins expressed. He said as a father of a 19-year-old, citizens must do everything they can to confront the city’s gun problem.

“And for those who say, ‘these are people who are just illegally carrying weapons, they haven’t shot anybody yet,’ I’d prefer not to wait until they shoot somebody,” he said.

* ABC 7…

Valerie Weaver is a mother in mourning, who said her 20-year-old daughter Wilteeah Jones and her unborn granddaughter, who was to be named Maleah, would probably still be alive if there were stricter gun laws for repeat offenders. She believes that when the person who killed her family pulled the trigger, it was not the first time.

“I don’t think that’s the first killing he did, and it might not be the last. Until these laws are enforced there are going to be killings in Chicago,” Weaver said.

Jones and her 20-year-old boyfriend Malek Bingham were among the seven people killed in Chicago in February on the deadliest day of 2017.

“They chased my baby down, a 9-month pregnant woman, and chased her down and killed her like nobody loved her. We loved her and miss her so much,” Weaver said.

* Tribune editorial…

While gun violence is chaotic by nature, there are recognizable patterns. When the University of Chicago Crime Lab looked at 2016’s increase in bloodshed, it found that about 80 percent of homicide victims had a prior arrest, and almost 30 percent had a prior gun arrest. Yes, the victims. The Chicago Police Department used an algorithm to create a strategic subject list of about 1,400 gang members most at risk to shoot someone or become a victim. It’s this world of endemic criminal activity that lawmakers have the opportunity to disrupt.

The point of the legislation is to focus on some of the predictable circumstances in which shootings occur — gang rivalries, drug dealing, arguments — and try to make it less likely guns are involved by raising the cost of being arrested while armed. The most tragic scenarios put a gun in the hands of gang members who recklessly sprays bullets at rivals and hit innocent people: On one Saturday evening last month, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes and 12-year-old Kanari Gentry Bowers were shot in the head by random gunfire during separate incidents. Both girls died. […]

A 2013 gun violence bill foundered in Springfield because opponents worried that long sentences would hurt crime-ridden communities by warehousing young men in prison instead of rehabilitating them. This bill deals with that issue by giving judges flexibility and includes other components to attract broader lawmaker support. Sometimes, though, larding up the bill also puts it at risk of toppling.

As lawmakers move forward, we hope they keep their focus on combating Chicago’s crisis of gun violence. Passing this bill will help.

Sounds like we need a new editorial on the GOP’s objections.