Questions about Opposing Gun-Control, Please Read and Answer

[chemist308]

Please no flames for this. I'm feeling particularly jaded today and to the point that I don't think we do nearly enough to stop gun control. I think some us do a lot and a lot of us do nothing but post here and other forums, which is really nothing for that end. So I've decided to ask some questions of all of us in hopes of proving myself wrong.

Have you written your newspapers, local TV stations or networks to express outrage over anti-gun statements or articles lately?

Do you know who your rep for state house, rep for federal house, senator for state senate and senator for federal senate all are? If you write them on a regular basis--do you?--you probably do know.

Are you a registered voter who actually hits the polls?

If you answered no to any of these questions, why? My reason used to be that I wasn't concerned and figured no matter what I would alway have the guns I owned since I didn't own any semi-autos or high capacity battle rifles.
Lately I know I'm pressed for time, and when I really don't have the time I've now got about 5 letters stored on my computer that I can change around a bit to fit whatever bill or anti-gun remark I'm writing against. Also the GOA has pre-written letters on some topics--I do use those from time to time.

Learning about the new AWB was the trigger that woke me up. When I started smelling the coffee I did some research and found out that was actually mild compared to stuff currently proposed at the state level... The fastest way to help gun control happen is to stay part of the silent majority. And if you're a member of the NRA or GOA, that's really good but they sometimes tell you about these bills sometimes and remind you vote and write your reps, and ecourage you to write the media.

One last question for those who have answered no. I'm in no position to judge because I would have answered no all of those questions 4 months ago. But my question is will you change that? Speaking up like that made a difference for PA HB760 (gun registration and sneaky attempt to do away with ccw).

 

[chetth]

My letter

To: PA House Judiciary Committee
Re: Hearings on Gun Violence

Opposition to Unconstitutional Gun Laws
Support for initiative that may actually help

Hon. Thomas R. Caltagirone
106 Irvis Office Bldg.
P.O. Box 202127
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2127

Hon. Ron Marsico
218 Ryan Office Bldg.
P.O. Box 202105
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2105

cc: Hon. Senator Vincent J. Hughes
4601 Market Street
First Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19139-4616

cc: Hon. Michael Gerber?20 East 11th Avenue?Conshohocken, PA 19428 ?
Sirs,

I would like to comment on your Informational Meetings on gun violence, which you have been holding at various locations around the state. On March 23rd I attended the Dixon House (1920 S. 20th Street, Philadelphia) hearing and would like to address my comments to the Judiciary Committee.*

What all the community activists at the meeting said in common is one-on-one street level intervention helps to keep people out of trouble.* The Committee is studying gun control laws.* Those two things don't line up and more gun laws will not help; only infringe on the rights of (honest) citizens and violate the PA constitution. The activists speaking at the meeting all focused on people to people interventions and not really on guns. General themes were more serious “carrot and stick” deterrence needs to make some behaviors unacceptable, and the “at-risk” need to be made aware of their options. All the speakers had positive suggestions for how to engage community problems and offenders.

Cheryl Weiss stressed success through a variety of interventions and that violent offenders repeat when reentering the community.

Rennie Meyo stated that his successes with the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network (PAAN) came by direct intervention of local PAAN activists standing on street corners to intervene and disrupt the cycle of violence. He said the result of this ‘on the street presence’ was ‘no break-ins, no crime’ and that people disrupted the cycle.

Overseer Ernest McNear made eloquent descriptions of his successes that cited employment and advocacy as the keys to reducing violence. Police need to “lock serious offenders up” and that some are “still criminals” when they arrive back in their community after short absences.

Superintendent John Frangipani cited proactive early interventions, made possible by smaller schools; high schools limited to about 700 students, as making a difference. He also said “coming together with others: in the community (linking school programs with other initiatives) and currency and relevancy of the education curricula as building hope in students.

Police Inspector Stephen Johnson’s positive initiatives included teaming with local community organizations and employment as the strongest was to resolve problems. He also addressed poor or inadequate parenting skills and was very specific that “we cannot arrest our way out of this problem”.

Police Captain Kevin Bethel focused on the need for strong community partnership. The captain did mention guns and said 231 handguns had been confiscated this year, but he also said at the same time “Those being arrested were being released back on the street” (nullifying the effect of confiscations and most laws in general - comment mine). Finally he cited parental responsibility.

Finally the last invited speaker (Ken Crain), a former law officer, discussed the fact that more laws and enforcement will not help if the legal system does not put 100% the real problem cases away hard.* He cited a case where his gun was stolen and recovered from a criminal who was not prosecuted for the crime of having a stolen gun and who had skipped his bond when arrested.

All of the speakers identified activities or initiative that would or had shown positive results. These activities are hard, and take real time and money before they show results, but they are the right thing(s) to do. Passing laws that criminals will ignore is to ignore real solutions. Such laws infringe on the rights of the law abiding and do not promote any of the possible solutions identified by the speakers at Dixon House.

I would like to cite the CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA and then list the currently proposed laws, all of which violate that constitution. Proposing these laws is questioning the right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State and is unconstitutional in and of itself.
Article 1
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
That the general, great and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized and unalterably established, WE DECLARE THAT -
Right to Bear Arms - Section 21.
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.
All of the following House Bills are patently unconstitutional and none will reduce crime. They will however potentially make millions of law abiding citizens into criminals and unhappy constituents. Criminals do not follow exiting laws and will not register or comply with these suggested laws.
• HB018, Local Preemption/surrenders state authority to local jurisdiction
• HR020: Trigger locks (inhibits self defense)
• HR021: Minimum bail for brandishing or use (inhibits self defense)
• HB022: limit handgun purchases (questions citizen’s rights)
• HR023: Local Preemption, Allows one gun a month restrictions (questions)
• HB024: Allows the State Police to keep a Registry (registration)
• HB025: Local Preemption surrenders state authority
• HB030: Weapons ban (questions citizen’s right)
• HB277: Trigger locks and database t (firearm registration)
• HB291: ban and forfeiture of most handguns (the right of citizens...)
• HB760: registration and storage (questions citizen’s rights)
• HB957: outlaw possession & use of handguns using specific ammunition. (questions citizen’s rights)

Please stop considering unconstitutional laws that will not help the problems in the communities you visited and instead, allocate resources that may actually help solve those problems.




Respectfully,

<Signed>




Plymouth Meeting, PA







Opposition to Unconstitutional Gun Laws
Support for initiative that may actually help

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Well, I have been writing letters on all sorts of stuff for over 20 years. Firearms are not my only passion. Some have been to newspapers, some to representatives, both federal and state. I have voted in every election I was eligible for since Nov. 1976 except for two when I was sick with the flu and bedridden. Oh yeah, I make phone calls too.

I agree with you that there are too many people who do nothing more than beef about the way things are and do not bother to expend the energy to try and make a difference. I do not condone that sort of attitude, but recognize that it exists, and is evident in all sorts of endeavours, not just political activism. I belong to a number of organizations, social, business, and religious, and it is always a small number of people who do all the work, while the majority demands to be entertained, catered to, served, or whatever.

It would be nice if some of the people here who seem to have inordinate amounts of time and energy to post their opinions and theories would invest even a little of that in contacting their representatives and media, but I don't think it is going to happen any time soon. This is not an indictment of everyone else here, just an observation of human nature in general. If you are one of those people, and feel guilty, get off your duff, and write a real letter instead of another post here. If you aren't, then I am not complaining about you.