From the Inquirer, it appears one of our stalwarts against gun control in the Pennsylvania General Assembly might be switching sides:
After a face-to-face meeting with Cappelli last month, Thomas said the lawmaker had agreed to become a spokesman for some of the Legislative Black Caucus’ gun-control bills, 33 of which are stalled in committee.
Specifically, Cappelli agreed to support House Bill 1746, which would allow the city to enact its own gun laws in consultation with the U.S. and state attorneys general, Thomas said.
Needless to say, this is not a welcome development. I have to drive through Philadelphia on my way to see Bitter.  The city, given the chance, will ban concealed carry within city limits. I do not favor weakening our state’s preemption laws. The Pennsylvania Constitution applies in Philadelphia, as it does in every other city in Pennsylvania. If we let Philadelphia infringe on it, other cities are sure to demand the ability to do the same. That would create the patchwork of local regulations that preemption was created to avoid.
Another reason not to let up.
Not every pro-gun politician feels it in their heart, they simply say what they need to in order to get elected/appointed/etc.
There’s always the risk that if the Philadelphia politicians manage to sway enough suburban reps, the rural reps will agree to let Philadelphia have its own gun laws in order to make the issue go away. What they don’t realize is that it will never go away. If Philadelphia gets to set its own guns laws, when they don’t work, they will blame the lack of them in the rest of the state for their failure.
Gun control is one of those things, it’s just too easy for politicians to do, instead of solving the real problem. It’s a great way to pass blame to someone else. Politicians who use it as such will never admit it’s a failure, because then they’d actually have to do something. Philadelphia won’t get exempted from preemption, then go away happy. Every city that’s been allowed to go its own way has ended up trying to foist its failed gun control schemes on the rest of the state, or on the rest of the country.
Also, I worry that many other municipalities run by GFW’s will move to change their own gun laws.
Yeah, give an inch “they” will take a yard. Look no further than San Fran, which just outlawed the use of self-defense firearms in the home. J. Jackson in Chicago, arguing that the Chicago gun laws are “undermined” by other independent counties. mobile.chicagotribune.com/detail.jsp?key=45892&rc=null&p=2
DC is currently blaming MD for gun-running, even though MD has handgun registration and a one-handgun law. Phila. will be next to complain, no matter what concession it wins from our side.