Police Seize More Than 1,000 Guns in 8 Weeks of 2013

In just eight weeks of 2013, Chicago Police have taken more than 1,080 weapons off the city's streets, they said.

The department held a news conference in Englewood on Monday to discuss anti-gun violence efforts in the city, as well as display some of the weapons that have so far been seized. Local gun laws, and those throughout the country, have been under fire for several months in the wake of the tragic Newtown, CT, and a record-breaking homicide toll in Chicago.

Murders in Chicago reached 42 at the end of January, which is the highest toll since 2002. Among those incidents was a Jan. 8 shooting in the 1300 block of North Sedgwick Street in Old Town, just south of Lincoln Park's border, which left a 31-year-old man dead and a 20-year-old man seriously injured.

READ: Coalition Analyzes Mass Shootings as Chicago's Homicides Soar

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Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Monday that the recent gun crackdown is a step in the right direction in combating the city's violence.

“We must confront the damaging effect that firearms are having on our communities,” he said, in a news release. “It is vital that we proactively keep guns from the hands of criminals and we will continue to work with the community, clergy and elected officials to make our city a safer place to live, work and play."

He cited recent arrests, including one in the department's sixth district in which officers executed a search at the home of a convicted felon and gang member.

There, they not only found bulk quantities of heroin and cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $167,000 and a stolen .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to reports.

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