Beren
Moderator Emeritus
Rendell alarmed by gun violence
Spate of homicides spurs governor to create statewide commission
Friday, April 01, 2005
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- As a former mayor and district attorney in Philadelphia, Ed Rendell is no stranger to people getting shot and killed in urban violence.
But the governor and other state officials have been shocked by the spate of gun-related killings and violence that erupted in several cities around Pennsylvania in the first three months of this year:
87 homicides in Philadelphia as of March 29, with 72 of the victims killed by guns. In the weekend of March 11 to 13 alone, 11 people died, nine by gunshot.
19 homicides in Allegheny County so far, with 16 of them involving guns, including a Carrick High School youth slain one afternoon while sitting in a car near his school.
Five people shot and killed in a span of six days in March in the small central Pennsylvania city of York.
So Rendell yesterday named a 21-member Commission to Address Gun Violence and wants a report no later than May 16 "with specific administrative, statutory and regulatory changes'' aimed at getting guns out of the hands of youths, stopping trafficking in illegal guns and other measures to curb gun violence.
"We must do more to prevent senseless violence that has been claiming innocent lives in our communities and neighborhoods,'' he said. He wants the panel to "provide sensible legislation that balances our responsibility to protect our citizens with their constitutional right to own guns as law-abiding citizens and sportsmen.''
The commission, which includes U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., Pittsburgh Deputy Police Chief William Mullen and state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, will hold its first meeting today in Harrisburg.
"We have to look at what we can do with legislation as well as with interventions in schools and families,'' Frankel said yesterday. "The number of incidents of murders, violence and crimes committed with weapons has been alarming to me for a long time.
"How do these weapons get into the hands of children? People are out there buying weapons with impunity from gun dealers and then selling them on the street to juveniles or convicted felons.''
He suggested a law requiring gun owners to report within 48 hours that a gun has been stolen. Too often, he said, a gun used in a crime is traced back to its former owner, who claims it was stolen some time in the past, when in fact the adult owner may have sold it to a juvenile, known as a "straw purchase.''
State Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, criticized Rendell for refusing to hire 90 additional state troopers this year even though the Republican-controlled Legislature included money for them in the budget.
The governor "should immediately end his obstruction of [state police] resources,'' he said. "I hope this commission is not merely an attempt to cover up that the governor has chosen to aid and abet escalating criminal violence by blocking deployment of police resources.''
York Mayor John Brenner, who is on the task force, said Rendell called the Pennsylvania League of Cities at its meeting last month to ask for advice in reducing gun violence.
"We certainly want to be pro-active and do everything we can to prevent these incidents of gun violence from occurring,'' he said. He's especially concerned, he said, because all the gun incidents in York last month involved shooters age 30 and younger.
Brenner said he hopes the state can provide more funding for police overtime and manpower. He supports the task force but said there are some cases where violence probably can't be prevented.
In one York shooting, a man walked down his front steps shooting guns held in both hands at a sheriff who had tried to serve a warrant on him. The man kept shooting even though his own mother moved in between him and the sheriff. The sheriff was wounded and is recovering, but the assailant was killed by police, Brenner said.
"I don't know how a city anywhere could prevent something like that,'' he said.
In addition to forming the commission, Rendell also is assigning 20 state troopers to a federal task force on interstate gun trafficking, set up through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Eight troopers will come from Philadelphia, six from Pittsburgh, three from Harrisburg and three from Reading.
(Harrisburg Bureau Chief Tom Barnes can be reached at [email protected] or 717-787-4254.)
Spate of homicides spurs governor to create statewide commission
Friday, April 01, 2005
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- As a former mayor and district attorney in Philadelphia, Ed Rendell is no stranger to people getting shot and killed in urban violence.
But the governor and other state officials have been shocked by the spate of gun-related killings and violence that erupted in several cities around Pennsylvania in the first three months of this year:
87 homicides in Philadelphia as of March 29, with 72 of the victims killed by guns. In the weekend of March 11 to 13 alone, 11 people died, nine by gunshot.
19 homicides in Allegheny County so far, with 16 of them involving guns, including a Carrick High School youth slain one afternoon while sitting in a car near his school.
Five people shot and killed in a span of six days in March in the small central Pennsylvania city of York.
So Rendell yesterday named a 21-member Commission to Address Gun Violence and wants a report no later than May 16 "with specific administrative, statutory and regulatory changes'' aimed at getting guns out of the hands of youths, stopping trafficking in illegal guns and other measures to curb gun violence.
"We must do more to prevent senseless violence that has been claiming innocent lives in our communities and neighborhoods,'' he said. He wants the panel to "provide sensible legislation that balances our responsibility to protect our citizens with their constitutional right to own guns as law-abiding citizens and sportsmen.''
The commission, which includes U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., Pittsburgh Deputy Police Chief William Mullen and state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, will hold its first meeting today in Harrisburg.
"We have to look at what we can do with legislation as well as with interventions in schools and families,'' Frankel said yesterday. "The number of incidents of murders, violence and crimes committed with weapons has been alarming to me for a long time.
"How do these weapons get into the hands of children? People are out there buying weapons with impunity from gun dealers and then selling them on the street to juveniles or convicted felons.''
He suggested a law requiring gun owners to report within 48 hours that a gun has been stolen. Too often, he said, a gun used in a crime is traced back to its former owner, who claims it was stolen some time in the past, when in fact the adult owner may have sold it to a juvenile, known as a "straw purchase.''
State Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, criticized Rendell for refusing to hire 90 additional state troopers this year even though the Republican-controlled Legislature included money for them in the budget.
The governor "should immediately end his obstruction of [state police] resources,'' he said. "I hope this commission is not merely an attempt to cover up that the governor has chosen to aid and abet escalating criminal violence by blocking deployment of police resources.''
York Mayor John Brenner, who is on the task force, said Rendell called the Pennsylvania League of Cities at its meeting last month to ask for advice in reducing gun violence.
"We certainly want to be pro-active and do everything we can to prevent these incidents of gun violence from occurring,'' he said. He's especially concerned, he said, because all the gun incidents in York last month involved shooters age 30 and younger.
Brenner said he hopes the state can provide more funding for police overtime and manpower. He supports the task force but said there are some cases where violence probably can't be prevented.
In one York shooting, a man walked down his front steps shooting guns held in both hands at a sheriff who had tried to serve a warrant on him. The man kept shooting even though his own mother moved in between him and the sheriff. The sheriff was wounded and is recovering, but the assailant was killed by police, Brenner said.
"I don't know how a city anywhere could prevent something like that,'' he said.
In addition to forming the commission, Rendell also is assigning 20 state troopers to a federal task force on interstate gun trafficking, set up through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Eight troopers will come from Philadelphia, six from Pittsburgh, three from Harrisburg and three from Reading.
(Harrisburg Bureau Chief Tom Barnes can be reached at [email protected] or 717-787-4254.)
Let's see some sources, buddy!
