This editorial understands the problems with the Lost and Stolen initiatives happening around the state. York is the latest city to consider an ordinance.
Category: Pennsylvania
Screwed Again
I take the Pennsylvania Turnpike to work and back every day. Tomorrow, I will begin paying the Ed Rendell Approved higher rate for turnpike tolls so Philadelphia can continue to grossly mismanage its public transit system. Previously, I paid $1.25 each way, which comes out to $2.50 a day, or 625 dollars a year. Now I will be paying $1.56 each way, or $3.12 a day, which comes out to $780 dollars a year. That doesn’t cover non-communiting use of the Turnpike system either.
Thanks Ed Rendell, I really appreciate the $155 dollar a year tax increase. Meanwhile, people who don’t have to drive on the Turkpike, get to drive on roads my income and sales tax dollars pay for.
Reading Passes Lost & Stolen
Reading, Pennsylvania has passed its own Lost and Stolen ordinance, in addition now to Philadelphia, Allentown, Pottsville, York, and Pittsburgh, in defiance of statewide preemption.
Making a straw purchase of a gun already is a violation of Pennsylvania law, but it is a difficult law to enforce because it is nearly impossible to prove that a buyer obtained a weapon for someone who is not permitted to have one.
The reporting law is much easier to enforce. A gun is seized by police after the commission of a crime and traced back to the original buyer, who either reported it missing or faces some difficult questions from police and prosecutors.
So the media freely admits this law is means to lower the states burden of proof. Anyone who fails to report is automatically assumed to be guilty of straw purchasing, rather than someone who might now have known about the law, or who might not have discovered the gun had gone missing, or in the midst of a stressful burglary investigation, forgot to mention it to police. We are going to have a hell of a fight on our hands this legislative session to keep a lid on this, but we must. The state doesn’t get to deal with this issue by making assumptions of guilt. This is not how a free society is supposed to operate, and it’s a shame the media isn’t reporting this side of the story.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Encourages Law Breaking
They are taking the Mayor of Pittsburgh to task because he won’t sign an illegal law:
For all the mayor’s good words to council, that statement to state lawmakers would have been stronger if the city’s highest elected official had affixed his signature to it. That would have been real leadership.
Is real leadership being demonstrated by Philadelphia? A city that’s running out money to such a degree that they are closing fire stations and cutting back on other essential services, but yet has the money to fight for worthless gun control measures in Pennsylvania’s courts with almost no chance of prevailing? That’s the kind of leadership you want to see out of Pittsburgh? I think Mayor Ravenstahl has demonstrated leadership, which the Post-Gazette wouldn’t apparently recognized if they were slapped in the face with it.
Gun Nutty Pittsburgh
Allegheny County, which is home to Pittsburgh, issues more licenses to carry than any other county in the state:
About one in 20 people in Allegheny County has a permit to carry a concealed firearm, state police records show. With 60,000 licensed gun owners, the county has more than any county in the state. Statewide, more than 800,000 people can carry a concealed weapon.
That figure for the whole state is a lot higher than previously reported. Could be wrong, or it could be we’ve had an increase in the number of people seeking licenses.
Stay Classy Ed
I can’t believe we elected this guy … twice.
Music to My Ears
The Inquirer is lamenting the loss of Philadelphia political power:
Philadelphia is quickly losing clout in Harrisburg, and considering the city’s budget crisis, it couldn’t happen at a worse time.
First, after Democratic voting last week, Carbon County State Rep. Keith McCall is all but certain to assume the title of House speaker come January – a title held by Philadelphians for the last five years.
For gun owners, Keith McCall is an NRA A+ rated Democrat from Carbon County. Our previous speaker was actually Philadelphia Republican Dennis O’Brein, who was also an A rated guy on our issue, but it’s good that the seat doesn’t appear to be going to a big city Dem.
They also lament the loss of Vince Fumo’s top Democratic spot in the Senate Appropriations committee to an Allegeny County Dem. Fumo did not run for re-election because he is currently under a 139 count indictment by the feds for fraud and various other malfeasance. The Democrats did gain one house seat in Pennsylvania’s House, increasing their lead to a whopping two seats. But the departure of Fumo and the Philadelphia political machine from important positions is something to feel good about.
Stay Classy, Chris King
Chris King, my local state representative who was just defeated by a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic year, apparently has just closed up his office.
The door to the district office of state Rep. Chris King, D-142, on Wood Lane in Middletown was locked late Thursday morning. Calls to the office received a message referring calls to the Middletown office of state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, at 215-945-2800.
House offices are required to transition on November 30th according to state law. Most state reps will keep their offices open to serve constituents as close to that date as possible. Says Frank Farry, who defeated King on November 4th:
“We’re diligently working to get our office open as soon as possible,†Farry said. “I’ve already spent several days in Harrisburg trying to get the necessary approvals. I’m disappointed Rep. King chose to close his office within a few days of the election instead of remaining open until the Nov. 30 deadline. He committed to me [that] we would have a transition between our two offices, but that obviously is not going to occur.â€
I hope no one needs any constituent services in the next few weeks.
And The Gun Owner Was Racist
This article in The New York Times focuses on my local district, and of course the gun owner has to be the racist one:
Early on Election Day morning in the Philadelphia suburb of Levittown, Pa., Joe Sinitski, 48, stood in a long line inside a school gymnasium, inching his way toward three blue-curtained voting machines. He wore jeans, a sweatshirt and a National Rifle Association baseball cap. He said he would vote for Barack Obama, a choice that some months earlier he could not have imagined.
[…]
“For a long time, I couldn’t ignore the fact that he was black, if you know what I mean,†Mr. Sinitski, the heating and air-conditioning technician, told me. “I’m not proud of that, but I was raised to think that there aren’t good black people out there. I could see that he was highly intelligent, and that matters to me, but my instinct was still to go with the white guy.â€
But he voted Obama anyway. As much as I want to blast the New York Times for pointing this out, it’s a fact that many of the NRA members in this area are working class tradesman and Union members. It’s also a fact that many of them reflexively and habitually vote Democrat. In this area, it makes my job very difficult, because I have to appeal to them to vote on the gun issue. I’ve had difficulty getting cooperation with clubs, because, if you can believe this, supporting NRA endorsed candidates is controversial, because here they are pretty much universally Republican. In a place like Texas, this might not be so appalling, but here, Democrats running at the federal level, and in the Southeast at the state level, are typically reflexively anti-gun. I can bet you that Joe the Racist here voted for Patrick Murphy too.
If you want to understand why Pennsylvania, which has a per-capita gun ownership rate that is close to Texas, and who issues 1 million hunting licenses per year, and 600,000 concealed carry licenses, can consistently vote for anti-gun Democrats at the federal level, I give you Joe Sinitski. It’s not pretty, but it’s the truth, and it makes the life of gun rights activists in this state very difficult. Particularly in my area.
From the Rally
Here’s some video from the “Victory in Pennsylvania” rally we attended on Saturday afternoon in Upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was attended by 7000 people, according to media reports. That’s not bad, considering how small the venue is. The Sportsmen’s coalition were given prime spots. Showing here are Tom Manion, candidate for Congress for PA’s 8th district, Attorney General Tom Corbett, Governor Jane Swift, Governor Linda Lingle, Senator Arlen Specter, Senator Lindsey Graham, John, Cindy & Megan McCain. You will notice in the crowd, there are hand made signs mentioning guns, and several sportsmen’s signs. These are the advantages of getting active, and showing up early to help make signs. The orange sign that says “I will keep my guns and my money! Obama can keep the change!” is one we made. It had prime placement for media coverage. Rallies are 100% political theater. The speeches are mostly talking points and “Go Team!”. But you can make a real difference by getting involved. McCain might be ducking bringing up the Second Amendment, but it’s right there in the audience, for the media to see, thanks to Bucks County Sportsmen.