By Blake Haas

CHICAGO – During a recent trip to Chicago, Illinois’ Senior Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) had a close call with gunfire on Lakeshore Drive.

Durbin was returning from dinner with his wife and another couple when a vehicle pulled up next to them and fired a weapon out of the window into the air.

“And we hear this pop pop pop sound. My wife said, ‘is something hitting the roof of the car, or what’s going on?’ The driver said ‘no. The car next to us rolled down their window and shot a gun in the air, right next to us.’ Luckily for us, he shot it in the air and didn’t point it at us. He sped up in traffic and did it again a little further up the line.”

Speaking with WJBC’s Scott Miller, the Democratic Whip said this is a perfect example of the violence that has erupted in the city of Chicago.

“What it reflects is the madness that is going on in the streets of America, particularly in the city I love and represent – Chicago. There are so many damn guns out there; that teenagers and people who have no business owning a gun have easy access to them and use them for their entertainment or for some terrible retribution of gang activity.

It’s just friggin’ out of control. I look at it from my perspective and say, ‘Durbin, what’s your role, what are you going to do, what’s the right thing to do. What’s the right thing to do?’ I can think of a dozen things to do. Some of them are long-term, some mediate, and some short-term. I’m limited in legislation. There’s very little I can do in this Congress that is stalled with a 50-50 Senate.”

There were no injuries reported in the gunfire, but Durbin said he called 911 during the incident.

On Monday, state leaders launched a Public Safety and Violence Prevention task force designed to end gun violence across the state.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].