Drizzt
Member
State-Wide Coalition Points Out Need for Modest Handgun Purchase Limits to Reduce Illegal Handgun Trafficking
11/1/2005 12:49:00 PM
To: State Desk
Contact: Diane Edbril of Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns, 610-246-2000
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Gun violence prevention advocates joined with elected officials and others today to call on lawmakers in the General Assembly to support legislation that would reduce the flow of handguns onto the illegal street market.
Members of the statewide PATH Coalition, for Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns, held a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg, to discuss the heavy toll being paid every day that the Commonwealth fails to prevent handguns from flooding onto the street and into the hands of felons and youth who should not have access to them.
"Handgun violence takes hundreds of Pennsylvanians' lives each year, and the Commonwealth ranks sixth highest among all American states for child homicide victims killed with handguns," said Diane Edbril, Executive Director of CeaseFire PA, the state-wide gun violence prevention group and PATH member. "The medical expenses alone of caring for firearms assault victims cost the state over thirty million dollars each year, and that number is on the rise. We are facing a public health crisis of major proportions, and now is the time to take preventive action, to reduce unlawful access to handguns by felons and children before those weapons can be used to kill or maim."
According to Mark Harrell, Director of Men United for a Better Philadelphia, "One Handgun per Month will be an important tool in the struggle to reduce gun violence in our communities. Without a way to stop the straw purchasers responsible for the flood of handguns onto the streets, all our other efforts to strengthen communities, and enhance educational and job opportunities will be that much more difficult. Preventing illegal handgun trafficking is one of the many ways we must work with youth and others to find ways to bring peace and prosperity to us all."
A bill sponsored by State Senator Leanna Washington, the Handgun Trafficking Reduction Act, S. 1002, today joins a similar bill that was introduced earlier this year in the House by Representative John Myers. "The PATH Coalition is thrilled to have bills pending in both houses of the General Assembly," said CeaseFire PA's Edbril. "Now our focus is on the individual members of these bodies, and their leadership, to show them how modest handgun purchase limits will benefit all Pennsylvanians without impacting adversely on legitimate gun owners."
The PATH Coalition is comprised of faith, advocacy and community groups, law enforcement agencies and public health organizations, as well as national groups seeking to reduce gun violence. Bryan Miller, of States United to Prevent Gun Violence, said, "Illegal handgun trafficking is not just a problem for people in Philadelphia, but for hardworking people across the state and even beyond its borders into other states as well. We are pleased to be working with the PATH Coalition on this important legislation." Chad Ramsey, of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, pointed to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed One Handgun per Month to be an effective tool to combat illegal handgun trafficking when Virginia passed it over ten years ago.
The PATH coalition invites all Pennsylvanians to learn more about illegal handgun trafficking, straw purchasers, and ways to slow them down by visiting the CeaseFire PA website, www.ceasefirepa.org, or the soon to be launched site, http://www.PATHcoalition.org, or by contacting any of the following PATH member organizations:
-- Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence -- [email protected]
-- CeaseFire PA -- [email protected]
-- Men United for a Better Philadelphia -- [email protected]
-- Million Mom March Chapters of PA -- [email protected]
-- Physicians for Social Responsibility -- [email protected]
-- Safe Schools, Safer Communities -- [email protected]
-- States United to Prevent Gun Violence -- [email protected]
-- Veterans for Peace -- [email protected]
http://www.usnewswire.com/
funny how they try to present themselves as so moderate and 'middle-of-the-road' until you see the PATH Member Organizations....
11/1/2005 12:49:00 PM
To: State Desk
Contact: Diane Edbril of Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns, 610-246-2000
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Gun violence prevention advocates joined with elected officials and others today to call on lawmakers in the General Assembly to support legislation that would reduce the flow of handguns onto the illegal street market.
Members of the statewide PATH Coalition, for Pennsylvanians Against Trafficking Handguns, held a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg, to discuss the heavy toll being paid every day that the Commonwealth fails to prevent handguns from flooding onto the street and into the hands of felons and youth who should not have access to them.
"Handgun violence takes hundreds of Pennsylvanians' lives each year, and the Commonwealth ranks sixth highest among all American states for child homicide victims killed with handguns," said Diane Edbril, Executive Director of CeaseFire PA, the state-wide gun violence prevention group and PATH member. "The medical expenses alone of caring for firearms assault victims cost the state over thirty million dollars each year, and that number is on the rise. We are facing a public health crisis of major proportions, and now is the time to take preventive action, to reduce unlawful access to handguns by felons and children before those weapons can be used to kill or maim."
According to Mark Harrell, Director of Men United for a Better Philadelphia, "One Handgun per Month will be an important tool in the struggle to reduce gun violence in our communities. Without a way to stop the straw purchasers responsible for the flood of handguns onto the streets, all our other efforts to strengthen communities, and enhance educational and job opportunities will be that much more difficult. Preventing illegal handgun trafficking is one of the many ways we must work with youth and others to find ways to bring peace and prosperity to us all."
A bill sponsored by State Senator Leanna Washington, the Handgun Trafficking Reduction Act, S. 1002, today joins a similar bill that was introduced earlier this year in the House by Representative John Myers. "The PATH Coalition is thrilled to have bills pending in both houses of the General Assembly," said CeaseFire PA's Edbril. "Now our focus is on the individual members of these bodies, and their leadership, to show them how modest handgun purchase limits will benefit all Pennsylvanians without impacting adversely on legitimate gun owners."
The PATH Coalition is comprised of faith, advocacy and community groups, law enforcement agencies and public health organizations, as well as national groups seeking to reduce gun violence. Bryan Miller, of States United to Prevent Gun Violence, said, "Illegal handgun trafficking is not just a problem for people in Philadelphia, but for hardworking people across the state and even beyond its borders into other states as well. We are pleased to be working with the PATH Coalition on this important legislation." Chad Ramsey, of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, pointed to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed One Handgun per Month to be an effective tool to combat illegal handgun trafficking when Virginia passed it over ten years ago.
The PATH coalition invites all Pennsylvanians to learn more about illegal handgun trafficking, straw purchasers, and ways to slow them down by visiting the CeaseFire PA website, www.ceasefirepa.org, or the soon to be launched site, http://www.PATHcoalition.org, or by contacting any of the following PATH member organizations:
-- Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence -- [email protected]
-- CeaseFire PA -- [email protected]
-- Men United for a Better Philadelphia -- [email protected]
-- Million Mom March Chapters of PA -- [email protected]
-- Physicians for Social Responsibility -- [email protected]
-- Safe Schools, Safer Communities -- [email protected]
-- States United to Prevent Gun Violence -- [email protected]
-- Veterans for Peace -- [email protected]
http://www.usnewswire.com/
funny how they try to present themselves as so moderate and 'middle-of-the-road' until you see the PATH Member Organizations....
