Gov. Pritzker hits back on Twitter against Texas governor after Abbott slammed Chicago

"Do better. You have 19 kids and two teachers who deserve our best."

Photo by Richard Tao on Unsplash

(CHICAGO) Chicago keeps getting mentioned by politicians amid the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. They cite Chicago crime as the reason why tougher firearms restrictions won't work.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott brought up Chicago during a press briefing on Wednesday regarding the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde this Tuesday.

Abbott cites states with tougher firearm laws

According to CNN, Abbott referred to Chicago, New York, and California gun laws, "There are, quote, real gun laws in Chicago. There are, quote, real gun laws in New York. There are 'real' gun laws in California. I hate to say this, but there are more people who were shot every weekend in Chicago than there are in schools in Texas."

Abbott also stated, "if you're looking for a real solution, Chicago teaches that what you're talking about is not a real solution. Our job is to come up with real solutions that we can implement."

Pritzker fired back

Gov. Pritzker was having none of it. He took to Twitter on Wednesday with a series of four tweets. The first tweet stated, "Shame on you, @GovAbbott," and it linked to a report from NBC Chicago with the headline, "Majority of Guns Used in Chicago Crimes Come From Outside Illinois: Report"

His second tweet of the thread stated, "Don’t feed into the false narrative about Chicago and Illinois – it’s an excuse that politicians like you hide behind to stop the federal legislation we need to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people."

He then went on to say, "You are lying about Chicago and what actually perpetuates gun violence. The majority of guns used in Chicago shootings come from states with lax gun laws."

And finally, he ended the thread with, "Do better. You have 19 kids and two teachers who deserve our best."

Chicago, the punching bag

Chicago has been a bit of a punching bag lately, not just to outsiders, but at the GOP gubernatorial debate as well. Candidate Darren Bailey disparaged the city as, "a crime-ridden, corrupt, dysfunctional hellhole."

Some love for Chicago

Axios defended Chicago today with an article titled, "Chicago is no hellhole to us," in which the publication pointed out the following positives:

• Chicago is the 10th most popular place to move in the nation.
• Last fall, the city was voted the "best big city" by Condé Nast Traveler readers.
• Chicago does not fall in the top 10 cities for per capita murder and gun homicide rates, but comes in 26th. (Which is, of course, still too high.)

Also, Axios pointed out that the bashing of Chicago doesn't make much sense for a gubernatorial candidate when you remember that almost a quarter of the state population lives in the city, and three-quarters of it live in the entire metro area.

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