http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11385413&BRD=2305&PAG=461&dept_id=478569&rfi=6 ...
Dozens of pistols line the shelves of the glass display cases at Shooters Place in Fallston these days.
If state House of Representatives Bill 2451 becomes law, owner Bob Bernhardy fears legal weapons such as pistols and hunting rifles would be outlawed.
"This would shut me down," Bernhardy said Thursday. "Sixty to 70 percent of my business would be taken away."
The state bill, sponsored by 23 legislators, including state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-23, Pittsburgh, would ban "any semiautomatic pistol or semiautomatic or pump-action rifle that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine," and includes other restrictions.
Bernhardy said the language means that, for example, the Remington 760s that hunters normally use would be banned from use in Pennsylvania.
Frankel said he co-sponsored the bill because the federal Assault Weapons Act of 1994 is set to expire on Sept. 13. For nearly 10 years, that act has outlawed 19 assault weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles.
Frankel said it's looking less and less likely that Congress would renew the law for President Bush's approval before the deadline. Frankel said the bill is stronger than the federal ban and closes some loopholes.
However, Frankel said: "I have no intention of taking any weapons from hunters and people who believe they have to protect themselves in their homes."
He added that seven other states, including California and Maryland, already have instituted their own bans.
"(The bill) would make Pennsylvania more restrictive than California or New Jersey," Bernhardy said.
Gun owners interviewed by The Times on Thursday see the bill as an attempt to squelch the rights of law-abiding citizens who use guns legally.
"Just because you use a gun, it doesn't make you a terrorist," said Lee Hostetter Jr. of Enon Valley. "They're always trying to take guns off us, and we don't do anything wrong."
"Any little thing they would ban, it would just keep going," said Barry Wolfe of Ohioville.
Brendan Schmuck of Patterson Township said people would likely find a way around the new laws.
"You don't think criminals go through background checks, do you?" Schmuck said.
There does seem to be some confusion within the bill.
Bernhardy and others in his store on Thursday pointed to language that requires the owner of a semiautomatic weapon to undergo a background check every year and give state police the right to go into a home whenever they wanted.
Not so, Frankel said. He only wants background checks performed when someone transfers ownership of a firearm to someone else. He also said he believes there's enough leeway in it so that law-abiding citizens won't be affected.
"In my view, this is not about sport," Frankel said.
Rochester police officer Sam Piccinini said there are already enough gun laws on the books to cover "every possible gun infraction that you can think of." The more laws on the books, he added, the more difficult it is for police and prosecutors to figure out which laws apply and which don't.
"(Legislators) keep hammering on an issue they're not going to fix," Piccinini said. "If someone intends to commit a crime, they don't care if they're breaking the law in the first place."
Bill Vidonic can be reached online at [email protected].
©Beaver County Times/Allegheny Times 2004
, I'm sure it's coming.