Chicago’s crime rate continues to rise, and Governor Pat Quinn is having it no longer. The city of Chicago has one of the United States’ strictest and restrictive gun laws. Chicago is now facing the fact that these crimes are being committed with illegally obtained weapons.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is struggling to get ahold of and put a stop to this madness that is taking Chicago by storm. The Chicago Police Department hasn’t even made a dent in this criminal and gang violence.

Citizens have started blaming Police Chief Garry McCarthy for the police not being able to get a handle on the crimes and violence.

Quinn has come out stating that he is, “. . . ready to call in the forces if Mayor Emanuel says he needs extra help.”

Quinn is very open minded to bringing in the National Guard to end the violence. Can you say martial law? When was the last time that bringing in more guns to end gun violence ever actually worked? If Emanuel and McCarthy can’t get a handle and put a stop to the gun violence in the city, I believe Quinn will send in the troops. If that happens, Chicago better brace itself for an all-out war.

The city will not take a liking to armed forces being moved into the city to deal with the rising crime rate. This is the time that other options should be considered and not just resort to bringing in the “big guns.”

Questions surrounding the possible National Guard move have begun to pop up all over. Some of the questions are ones that the common citizen should be asking themselves and thinking about critically.

The questions are as such: so what if the Illinois National Guard is called to state active duty? How many troops would be activated for this duty? Will the troops be issued their individual weapons? If so, will they receive ammunition for those individual weapons? What happens if a gunshot from a guard weapon is determined to have killed an innocent? Will the state stand behind the person who fired that shot, if one can be identified, so that he or she will not stand naked before justice?

The National Guard being moved into Chicago’s limits could be possibly the worst decision Quinn has made thus far. The threat, or possible force, of more and larger guns will keep criminals on their feet and ready to fight.

If Chicago wants to avoid this, the police had better start doing their jobs and putting an end to the violence. Martial law is the worst outcome because of all the violence that would be a result.