Chicago Mayor Daley offers to shoot reporter to prove gun ban works

Who are we to criticize a politician's choice of words?  It's a tough job.  You have to be expressive to get your message out.

Is the best way to demonstrate the benefits of gun control by picking up a rifle and offering to shoot a reporter?

Leave that to the PR experts.  What do we know?

But that apparently was Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's strategy.

At a news conference to discuss Chicago's gun ban and the Supreme Court's pending ruling on the issue, a reporter from the Chicago Reader asked him if the ban was effective.

"Since guns are readily available in Chicago even with a ban in place, do you really think it’s been effective?" asked Mick Dumke.

“Oh!” Daley said. “It’s been very effective!”

He grabbed a rifle, held it up, and looked right at me. He was chuckling but there was no smile.

“If I put this up your—ha!—your butt—ha ha!—you’ll find out how effective this is!”

“If I put a round up your—ha ha!”

Dumke said the room became "very, very quiet" before reporters realized he was joking.

Daley's press flak said the mayor didn't regret the remarks but said by offering to place the gun in the reporter's rear end "could admittedly be considered a less-than-ideal example."

-- Jimmy Orr

Photo: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (before offering to shoot a reporter). Credit: Associated Press

We think Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item are more effective than shooting people. But that's just us.  Follow us @latimestot  Or Like our Facebook page right here.