A Chicago anti-violence volunteer who says he brought a loaded handgun to police to get it off the street instead ended up facing a potential decades-long prison sentence — and now former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is calling the case a “complete travesty.” Nakia Smith, 51, is scheduled to go on trial Monday in a case that puts Chicago’s “no questions asked” gun-surrender messaging against the state’s hard line on felons possessing firearms.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Smith was arrested on March 4, 2023, inside the Calumet District police station after officers found a loaded .45-caliber handgun in his coat pocket. He says he was trying to surrender the weapon, while police say his possession of the gun was illegal because he is a convicted felon.
NBC Chicago previously reported that Smith’s trial was postponed and that he faces charges including aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and being an armed habitual criminal. Smith spent seven months in Cook County Jail before posting $15,000 of his $150,000 bail and is now on electronic monitoring.
Duncan, who runs Chicago CRED, has worked with Smith through the violence-prevention organization and says Smith has spent years mentoring young people, tending community gardens and helping prevent shootings. According to Chicago CRED, the organization was founded by Duncan in 2016 to pursue community-based strategies for reducing gun violence in Chicago.
Chicago’s Gun-Surrender Promise Meets Felony Law
The policy confusion sits at the center of the dispute. A public-safety outlook from the Chicago Office of Inspector General describes CPD’s gun turn-in events as “no questions asked” operations offering $100 Visa gift cards for firearms.
But the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the gift cards are limited to scheduled events, while city guidelines say people can surrender a gun at a police station at any time or call 911 or 311. Smith says he called 311 after discovering the weapon in a truck while cleaning out a late man’s home, then chose to take it to police.
Police and Smith also disagree over what happened at the station. The arrest report says he approached the front desk, asked for a supervisor without explaining why and later acknowledged he had a gun; Smith says he planned to hand over his entire coat and did not ask officers about the gift cards.
In a statement to NBC Chicago, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said combating gun violence is a top priority and that charging decisions are based on the evidence and facts. The office also said it considers mitigating factors but would not discuss the specifics of a pending case.
Why The Charge Is So Serious
Under Illinois law, unlawful possession of a firearm by a repeat felony offender is a Class X felony. The state’s Class X sentencing statute sets a standard prison range of six to 30 years, though the final outcome would depend on the charges proved and the court’s decisions.
That is the tension Duncan says could have consequences far beyond Smith’s case: Chicago wants residents to help remove unwanted guns, but a person with a felony record may fear that walking into a police station with one will lead straight to arrest. For a city where distrust of law enforcement remains a major obstacle to violence-prevention work, the mixed message is hard to miss.
Smith’s trial is expected to force a jury to weigh two competing realities — that felons generally cannot possess firearms, and that his stated purpose was to surrender one. Duncan’s defense of Smith does not erase the legal question, but it has turned an ordinary gun case into a broader test of whether Chicago’s public-safety promises feel safe to follow.
