K-Romulus
Member
This nonsense/misinformation (from a law professor, no less) needs immediate response.
I will be sending a LTE later today. . .
(Philly Inquirer LTE email: [email protected])
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local1/15777140.htm
PA people should already know that all handgun purchases in PA require (1) a background check on the buyer, and (2) registration with the state police.
I will be sending a LTE later today. . .
(Philly Inquirer LTE email: [email protected])
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local1/15777140.htm
Posted on Tue, Oct. 17, 2006
On guns, lawmakers are accountable
By David Kairys
The appearance of several thousand Pennsylvanians at the state legislature a couple weeks ago was unusual, perhaps historic.
They were there to ask the legislature to reconsider laws that make Pennsylvania one of the least-regulated states in the country for buying handguns. Among the people who traveled to Harrisburg were the mayors of nine cities from around the state - and from Trenton and New York City. Pennsylvania has become a source for criminals in surrounding states to buy handguns for use in crimes.
The mayors came because almost anyone without a criminal record can walk into a gun store in Pennsylvania and walk out with as many handguns as his or her credit card or cash can pay for. It can be 10, 25, even 100 handguns. No questions asked, no registration of the handguns or buyer, no responsibility to report them sold, lost or stolen - no problem.
Under federal law, a purchaser can then sell to others without even doing a record check. Pennsylvania has a law that limits this, but it was written in a way that makes it obviously unenforceable. The bottom line in Pennsylvania: A person so inclined can buy handguns and sell them to others indiscriminately without having to worry much about getting caught, prosecuted or convicted.
This is why limiting handgun purchases to one a month is a reform - although it is hard to imagine a legitimate reason for wanting to buy 12 cheap, easily concealed handguns in a year, and 12 more each year.
Nationally, about 60 people die each day from handgun injuries, and three times that number are shot but survive. Numbers of handgun murders vary over time and among the urban areas of the country. Last year, it was Philadelphia's turn on top, with almost one handgun murder a day on average, and it is no better this year. For American cities generally, handguns have been the biggest and most consistent threat to urban safety and public health over the last several decades.
In addition to laws that fail to stem easy access, the state legislature - with surprising votes in favor by some Philadelphia-area legislators - overturned the city's ban on assault weapons and required the Police Department, contrary to its own wishes, to grant a handgun permit to almost anyone of age and without a record. There has been a huge increase in the number of people carrying handguns legally on city streets. Arguments over shoveling snow or insults traded at Delaware Avenue bars now often include one or both participants reaching for a gun - handy and legal in a pocket or car - and someone shot.
The state legislature, supported by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, has taken away the power of local governments to protect the public from gun violence. Philadelphia is supposed to have home rule, but our mayor, City Council and police have been seriously hindered in their ability to protect public safety and health.
Considering the legislature's history on gun control, it is not surprising that it rejected all proposed limits on handguns despite the rally in Harrisburg. The lawmakers were not moved by citizen protests.
But the rally, combined with recent poll results, could signal the possibility for change. About two-thirds of Pennsylvanians polled last month favor stronger regulation of handguns - across the state, not just in Philadelphia, which polled three-fourths in favor.
The biggest obstacles to regulation are the cultural and political dimensions of the debate. Yes, part of the reason for the gun lobby's success in Harrisburg and Washington is ample funds and well-chosen political strategies. But the NRA takes extreme positions that often have little backing - opposing, for example, prohibition of Teflon-coated "cop-killer" bullets that can pierce bullet-proof vests. Besides, remember that lead paint and PCBs were banned despite the efforts of rich, powerful industries and lobbies.
There are more than enough places to look for responsibility. Individuals pull the triggers. Government could substantially limit the flow of handguns to criminals and youth. Handgun manufacturers could limit criminal and youth access since they know or can find out which dealers feed crime - more than half of the guns used in crimes are sold by only 1 percent of the dealers. A range of social and economic factors also play a role.
All of these should be addressed. But what we know for sure is that if you make handguns easily accessible in this country, you get about 60 dead people a day. On average, one from that daily toll dies in Philadelphia, and the victim is often a child.
If legislators find easy access to handguns acceptable in these circumstances, we need to go to their constituents. We should talk to them and, perhaps, together reject the sense of normalcy that for too long has surrounded all this death, suffering and grief.
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David Kairys is a law professor at Temple University.
PA people should already know that all handgun purchases in PA require (1) a background check on the buyer, and (2) registration with the state police.
