Chicago, a city with some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S., continues to be plagued with deadly shootings.

This weekend at least 18 shootings occurred in the Windy City.

Two men were killed and at least 16 other people were wounded in weekend shootings across Chicago. The men, both 29, were shot to death early Sunday in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. They were walking about 1:55 a.m. in the 2400 block of West 47th Place when an eastbound gray Toyota Corolla pulled up and a male shooter got out and opened fire, according to Chicago Police. The shooter then got back inside the vehicle, which drove off heading east toward Western. Last weekend, five people were killed and 24 others wounded in city shootings.

These shootings, which often take place during daytime hours, suggest that stricter gun laws don't always lead to fewer shootings.

After several tragic mass shootings in the U.S., like the most recent one that occurred in a Texas church, the left frequently demands more gun control.

But emotion must be put aside to objectively assess the effectiveness of strict gun laws. The data overwhelmingly demonstrate that stricter gun control does not yield lower crime.

The demographics and population of Houston are very similar to those of Chicago. Both cities are plagued with drugs and human trafficking. Chicago and Houston are America’s third and fourth most populous cities, respectively, each with between 2 and 3 million residents. Non-whites make up 50-60 per cent of the population in both places, and the poverty levels in each city are almost identical at just under 30 percent.

Yet in 2016, there were 302 murders in Houston — fewer than half of Chicago’s 762 murders. A major difference between the two cities:

Texas has relatively lax gun laws and allows concealed carry. Criminals there know that many citizens are well armed for self-protection.

Gun control advocates have good intentions, but good intentions do not always yield positive results. How many more people need to die in Chicago before the well-meaning legislators recognize the facts?