Residents of Illinois will soon be allowed to carry concealed guns after legislators overrode Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto this week. The law’s passage means that all 50 states now allow some form of concealed carry, but after years of horrific gun violence in Chicago, is that a good thing? The panelists on Up with Steve Kornacki, including Rep. Robin Kelly, an Illinois Democrat, discussed what this says about American culture as a whole.
Kelly was elected in a special election earlier this year, and the campaign that included a massive Super PAC ad campaign paid for by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attacking Kelly’s opponent for her extremely pro-gun record. Kelly won her race, but the NRA is still flexing its muscles in preparation for next year’s election, and momentum for new gun regulations in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre faltered.
What happens when there are more guns in more hands? As the Guardian’s Ana Marie Cox points out, more people die, not from murder, but from suicide. It also means the individual states’ widely varying gun rules could cause major enforcement headaches.
Meredith Clark
Meredith Clark is a freelance writer and editor. She was previously a senior news producer for "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," a reporter with MSNBC.com, the digital politics and culture editor at Glamour and a senior news and politics editor at Refinery29. She has written for Vulture, Rolling Stone, Self, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast and Bustle. Recommended
