Gun supporters in Harrisburg: Crime is Philadelphia’s problem
By Michael Vitez
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
About 100 gun owners from around Pennsylvania roamed the capitol today, encouraging legislators to oppose any new laws limiting their right to own and bear arms.
The men were steadfast: crime is Philadelphia's problem, caused by Philadelphians, and any new laws to restrict the sale of guns won't solve it. There is only one solution, they said, crack down on criminals, enforce laws that already exist, and end what one gun supporter called "Philadelphia's catch and release program. It works with fish, but not with criminals," said Dennis Pavlik, director of legislative affairs for Firearms Owners Against Crime in Presto, in Allegheny County.
The gun supporters see this as a bedrock, basic, fundamental constitutional issue, and they are passionate. "Tell these legislators we expect them to exercise their oath of office and uphold our freedoms," Kim Stolfer, who organized today's pro-gun effort, told his troops before sending them out to buttonhole legislators.
These folks recited statistic after statistic:
"The highest rate of crime occurs in cities with the toughest gun laws," said John Brinson, chairman of the Lehigh Valley Firearms Coalition. "Citizens don't have guns. That means criminals have free reign to do what they want."
"It's a fact that when you allow people to carry concealed weapons, crime goes down, because criminals don't know who's carrying a gun," said Mike Cancel, a gun owner from Washington, Pa.
He and many others were extremely hostile toward Philadelphia, and resented efforts to abate Philadelphia's problems by forcing stricter laws on the state.
"It's their children that they didn't raise right, who don't know who their father is - it's strictly a Philadephia problem. The children are out of control. We have tons of laws alrady. The laws are not being enforced."
The gun owners also said they didn't accept any argument that if guns were restricted and limited, that streets would be safer. They contended the criminals would still have guns, and they wouldn't. "When the bad guys don't have one anymore, I'll turn mine in," he said.
Cancel, 53, an engineer, contended passionately that the second admentment is essential, that America is spiraling out of control, and it is vital that citizens possess firearms in order to fight tryanny foreign and domestic. "As the world continues to deteriorate, and we don't know what's going to happen next, do we want future generations the option to defend themselves? The population has to have parity against the standing military, man for man."
Cancel also claimed that "the judicial system is more of a problem than the guns on the street," and "70 percent of all crime is committed by repeat offenders."
Another gun owner wore a t-shirt: The Second Amendment: the original homeland security."
Most legislators they came to see were actually in session, debating the proposed gun restrictions and other matters, but they did find Rep Dave Reed of Indiana County in his office. After a long-winded argument, Reed interrupted and told the genetleman, "You're preaching to the choir. I'm an NRA member. I'm already with you."
Daryl Metcalfe, a house member from Butler, issued a statement opposing some of the main proposals being considered by the Comminttee on the Whole, including limiting gun sales to one a month, and a ban on semi-automatic firearms. Metcalfe said guns were not the problem.
"This cultural problem is the breakdown of the family and the subsequent absence of positive parental influences and supervision in children's lives," he said. "....Absent fathers, financial hardship and lack of meaningful parental influence and availability in children's lives are a disastrous formula for social unrest and violence."
Stolfer, a postal worker from Bridgeville, in the Pittsburgh area, organized the pro gun effort. He said he's a former U.S. Marine who became a vocal gun-supporter after a school-shooting in Stockton, California. He was outraged to find the shooter had been set free on a plea bargain. He believed that had law enforcement officials done their job, and incarcerated the killer, the Stockton tragedy would have never occurred. "How many lives would have been spared if judges had done their jobs and enforced the laws on the books?" Stolfer asked.
Stolfer contended there is immense opposition -- though perhaps silent -- to any new restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns. He said if the legislators passed the anti-gun laws proposed by Philadelphia legislators, "they'll have tens of thousands of gun owners standing in the street. And the protest will pale in comparison to today."
Only perhaps 100 gun owners came Tuesday to defend their rights, he said, but should these law pass, two million gun owners in Pennsylvania would speak out.
