Another Bloody Weekend in Chicago

67 shot, 11 killed on July 4 long weekend
By Ruth Brown,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 7, 2013 4:33 PM CDT
Another Bloody Weekend in Chicago
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn speaks to the media outside Wrigley Field, pressing his message that guns and alcohol are a "toxic mix."   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

It's been another grim weekend in Chicago, with 67 shot and 11 dead since Wednesday afternoon. One drive-by alone saw eight people shot, one fatally, the Chicago Tribune reports. Among those wounded: a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old boy, who were both shot in parks in separate incidents. The latter has undergone multiple surgeries since being shot in the abdomen on Friday, the AP reports.

Despite the miserable Fourth of July weekend figures, shootings have actually decreased in Chicago this year—there have been fewer in the first half of 2013 than the same period in 2012, the AP reports. Still, Governor Pat Quinn spent much of the weekend pushing for his proposed tightening of the state's concealed weapons ban, which includes limiting people to carrying one gun at a time, and a ban on guns in bars and some restaurants. The weekend's violence "ought to be an alarm bell to all of us that we need strong laws that protect the public safety, especially when it comes to guns," he said. "It's time to end the violence." (More Chicago stories.)

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