The City of Chicago is asking residents for tips on how to "get illegal guns" off the streets and they're using Twitter to take responses.
The initiative is part of Chicago Ideas Week, an annual forum for innovators, artists, scientists and others to share ideas and inspire action.
Those who think they know how to cut off the flow of illegal guns into Chicago are being asked to tweet them with the hashtag (hash)whatifchicago.
The best submitted ideas will be debated at an Oct. 11 panel discussion.
I have some suggestions, what if Chicago allowed concealed carry? What if Chicago didn't make it so difficult to own a legal firearm, so that law abiding citizens can actually protect themselves? What if Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel realized his pro-gun control agenda only turns law abiding citizens into crime victims and emboldens violent criminals?
The fact is, concealed carry is now permitted in every state but Illinois. Every state outside of Illinois has seen their violent crime rates drop as a result. This is what happens when the government allows the people to protect themselves.
Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that violent crime is down for the fifth straight year in a row, with violent crime across the country declining 4 percent compared to 2010.
The FBI also said Monday that the number of reported property crimes went down 0.8 percent, the ninth straight year-to-year decline.
The bureau says murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault all went down in 2011.
Violent crime decreased in all four regions: 4.9 percent in the Midwest; 4.7 percent in the West; 4.5 percent in the South and 0.8 percent in the Northeast.