Pennsylvanians might read Pgh TR Editorial

[alan]

Rendell & guns: Off target again
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

After unsuccessful efforts to ram constitutionally challenging gun-control measures through the Legislature, Gov. Ed Rendell took his crusade to the people on Monday, firing off wild arguments that don't come close to his intended target.

That's assuming his target is gun violence. Or is it Pennsylvania's legally licensed gun owners?

Extolling the need for tougher gun control, Mr. Rendell at a rally in Harrisburg said the choice is between protecting the welfare of police officers and buckling under to the clout of the national gun lobby. What he conveniently sidestepped is Pennsylvania's Constitution.

Article I, Section 21, is clear: "The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned." Of course, Rendell's two-step on matters constitutional isn't anything new.

If the governor is adamant in his convictions -- such as letting municipalities enact tougher gun laws -- let him pursue a constitutional amendment instead of a legislative end around, which is destined to fail.

Why? Because curtailing citizens' right to own guns will not stop criminals from possessing them. Worse, such simplistic thinking puts unarmed citizens in the cross hairs of gun violence.

It was an armed volunteer at an evangelical church in Colorado Sunday who stopped the body count of a gun-wielding lunatic.

Unlike Rendell and his chorus of gun-grabbers, this heroine wasn't shooting blanks.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Found this one on-line at the Waterbury (CT) Republican-American web site:
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2007/12/12/opinion/303732.txt

Bill of Rights saves lives again


Last Wednesday in Omaha, Neb., gun control failed America again. Robert A. Hawkins, a deranged 19-year-old illegally possessing an illicit AK-47 illegally smuggled his weapon past "No concealed weapons allowed" signs at a gun-free shopping mall. As he casually picked off shoppers and mall employees, unarmed security officers only could duck and cover. Police were there within minutes, but by then, he had killed eight, wounded three and committed suicide.

On Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Second Amendment saved lives again. A gunman with a high-powered rifle opened fire at the New Life Church, killing two and wounding two before an armed guard blew him away. Police arrived three minutes later; had the killer been up against an unarmed flock, three minutes might have seemed like an eternity to the 7,000 people on the campus. Police are investigating whether that rampage was connected to one hours earlier in a Denver suburb, where two unarmed people at a missionary center were slain.

Predictably, the Omaha shootings renewed calls for stricter gun laws or outright bans. (Gun-controllers, it must be noted, has been conspicuously silent on the Colorado Springs incident in which gun possession saved countless lives.) But look at all the gun-control laws Mr. Hawkins broke even before he pulled the trigger.

America has more than 200 million guns in circulation, the vast majority belonging to sane, law-abiding citizens who use them between 1 million and 2 million times a year in self-defense, or keep them around for peace of mind. Even if government could ban all guns and then miraculously keep psychos and criminals from getting them illegally, why would it? As Omaha, Virginia Tech and countless of other cases irrefutably prove, prohibitions only ensure the law-abiding are unarmed for the crazies and crooks.

Next spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could decide whether Americans have an individual or collective right to bear arms. When the Second Amendment was written, the Founders believed the individual right was inviolable because it provided the best defense against, among other things, Indian attacks. Manifest Destiny eliminated that threat, but it did not diminish the importance of the individual's right to possess guns. Indeed, modern society is plagued by a new generation of savages against whom the best defense is an armed citizenry.

 

[Mr White]

You gotta love the TR. They do a fairly good job of offsetting all the liberal anti crap spewed forth by the PG.

 

[v35]

What is the "Pgh TR"?

I'd appreciate a link - I'd like to write a letter supporting this editorial.

 

[Mr White]

TR stands for Tribune Review. It's Pittsburgh's thinking man's paper