Chicago Teen's Death Could Be Case of Mistaken Identity

Yet another Monday brings with it stories of another bloody weekend in Chicago. The Tribune has two particularly wrenching stories:

• In the first, an 18-year-old was shot dead on Saturday while coming home from a neighborhood festival. He was killed less than a block from a police station, in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity (neither Daquan Boyd nor the friend he was with, who was also shot, belong to a gang). Boyd was one of six people to die in the city between Friday night and early yesterday morning.

• But last night brought with it another shooting, not fatal, of a 7-year-old boy who was struck by two stray bullets while putting away his bike. The Tribune reports that a group of people had been arguing with the driver of a car nearby; one of them fired a gun, hitting Tyvion Jackson on his left side. He is expected to make a full recovery.

But in the face of mounting gun deaths comes a change from Springfield: Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday signed into law a bill that he says is "going to help all of us be safe." Effectively immediately, Illinois becomes the eighth state in the country to require that its gun owners contact police (within 72 hours) if their guns have been lost or stolen. As of Jan. 1, private sellers will have to check the background of a would-be buyer. (More Illinois stories.)