Florida and Illinois occupy very different territory when it comes to gun laws, and new crime figures from major American cities provide a striking comparison between the two states.
According to a Major Cities Chiefs Association report comparing the first six months of 2026 with the same period in 2025, Chicago recorded 211 homicides through the first half of this year.
By comparison, Miami, Orlando and Tampa recorded a combined 29 homicides during the same period.
That means Chicago alone had more than seven times as many homicides as those three Florida cities combined.
The year-over-year numbers add another dimension. Chicago recorded 199 homicides during the first six months of 2025, meaning the total increased by 12 in 2026. Miami, Orlando and Tampa collectively went in the opposite direction, moving from 30 homicides during the first half of 2025 to 29 during the first half of 2026.
The comparison is notable because Illinois receives strong ratings from gun-control organizations for its firearms restrictions.
Everytown and Giffords both rank Illinois highly for its gun laws. Chicago also has extensive firearms regulations, while Cook County, which includes Chicago, maintains additional weapons restrictions.
Based solely on the homicide totals in the Major Cities Chiefs Association report, however, those differences in gun policy did not translate into fewer homicides in Chicago than in the three Florida cities examined.
Florida presents an almost opposite policy environment.
Giffords and Everytown give Florida low marks for its gun laws, reflecting the state’s comparatively permissive approach to firearms. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation allowing permitless concealed carry in April 2023, a policy frequently described as “constitutional carry.”
Florida has also faced continuing legal battles over restrictions applying to younger gun owners. An appeals court struck down the state’s prohibition on adults under 21 purchasing firearms, though Florida’s firearms laws and the litigation surrounding them have involved distinctions between purchasing, possessing and carrying guns.
The contrast creates an obvious temptation to treat the latest homicide figures as a simple verdict on gun policy. The numbers themselves do not establish that conclusion. Chicago is considerably larger than Miami, Orlando or Tampa individually, and raw homicide totals do not account for population differences, demographics, policing practices, gang activity, economic conditions or numerous other factors that can influence violent crime.
Still, the raw figures present an uncomfortable data point for anyone arguing that stricter gun laws automatically produce lower homicide totals.
In the first six months of 2026, Chicago had 211 homicides. Miami, Orlando and Tampa, operating under Florida’s substantially less restrictive statewide gun laws, had 29 combined.
And while Chicago’s total increased from the comparable period a year earlier, the combined figure for the three Florida cities declined slightly.
