With just over two weeks to go until the general election the number one priority for Cook County State's Attorney candidates is front and center: gun crime.
The full interview with each of the candidates on Our Chicago can be viewed Sunday at 8 a.m.
Democrat Eileen O'Neal Burke is a former judge, prosecutor and defense attorney. Bob Fioretti isa former alderman of the 2nd ward who ran for State's Attorney four years ago as a Democrat. He's since become a Republican.
ABC7 talked with the candidates about how each would prosecute gun crimes, the Safe-T Act and pre-trial release, and how to curb juvenile offenders who may be behind business break-ins and thefts.
"We had 764 people shot this summer in Chicago alone," O'Neill Burke said. "The tool is the assault weapons ban. The assault weapons ban bans not just the AK-47s and the AR-15s. It bans a gun with the use of a switch or an extended magazine. We need to enforce the ban."
"Enforce the law to the fullest," Fioretti said. "And make sure that those who have the gun crimes are prosecuted for the gun crimes. If they commit a gun crime during a misdemeanor, it is not a misdemeanor, it is a felony. I would prosecute and make sure we prosecute."
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ABC7 has covered multiple smash-and-grab incidents and business break-ins. Some businesses hit multiple times by people under the age of 18.
"Anybody that has a job eight hours a day, five days a week. You know what? They're too tired to commit a crime. They want self respect" Fioretti said. "They don't want to be selling drugs out on the corner... they don't want to be doing smash and grabs... I'm going to be a very active state's attorney."
O'Neill Burke laid out a potential pilot program for young offenders by partnering with community organizations.
"We are going to put pretrial conditions on them, meaning you get checked in at school at 8 o'clock, you're checked on at noon, and you get checked out at 3:30," she said. "Vast majority of juveniles are arrested between 3:30 and 10 o'clock at night. That's when we're going to keep them busy."
Libertarian candidate Andrew Kopinski planned to join ABC7, but was unable to because of a family matter.