DanP's op-ed in Philadelphia Inquirer today

[dgg9]

And the letter to the editor stands as a strong rebuke to the Inquirer's own editorial piece, where -- incredibly -- they slammed the Philly DA for not knuckling under to the lawless Mayor. The Inquirer wanted the DA to flout the law in order to present a "unified front."

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/17895734.html

Posted on Fri, Apr. 18, 2008

Editorial: City's Gun-Control Stand
Where's the D.A.?

As expected, the National Rifle Association sprinted into court and got a temporary hold yesterday on the five gun-control laws enacted in Philadelphia.
Unexpected, however, was District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham's announcing that she wouldn't prosecute anyone charged under the new ordinances.

Call it selective prosecution.

Fed up with the daily shootings in Philadelphia, the City Council passed - and Mayor Nutter promptly signed - ordinances last week that limit handgun purchases, target gun trafficking, and subject gun ownership to much-needed greater oversight by the Police Department.

Kudos to Council and the mayor for their strong stand. Too bad Abraham refused to stand by them.

Abraham believes the new laws are unconstitutional. She may be right. But with all due respect to wannabe Judge Abraham, she should enforce the laws on the books, not interpret them.

Nutter rightly says he'll deal with the legal fallout. The mayor and Council are well-aware of a 1996 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that says only the state General Assembly has the power to regulate firearms.

Nutter also is aware of the 392 murders in the city last year - many committed with stolen handguns. He doesn't plan to fiddle while lawmakers in Harrisburg look the other way.

Nutter is outraged by the shootings, and frankly, so are many others in the city and the suburbs - including gun owners. Polls show the public favors reasonable gun-control measures.

Council's unanimous passage of the gun laws was intended to highlight the inaction in Harrisburg. Last month, state lawmakers rejected a measure requiring owners to report lost and stolen guns.

Despite the setback, and the city efforts, the best chances for gun-control reform remain in the state capitals.

New Jersey passed its anti-trafficking gun-reporting law, and nearly a dozen states are at work on similar proposals. All told, dozens of gun-safety reforms are being promoted in nearly half the states.

The fight for better gun-control laws should continue in Harrisburg. That's the best way for gun-plagued communities across the state to get help.

Indeed, the district attorney has been a valuable ally in the fight for better gun-control measures in Pennsylvania. But it would've been more helpful for Abraham to back the city ordinances in order to present a unified front.

Emphasis added. The Inquirer has penned many disgraceful op-eds. This is arguably the worst in many years.

[RocketFoot]

Great Job Dan! Good read...

[doug]

Well done dan.. (and sebastian)

[1blindref]

Well said/written Dan!
Thank you for voicing every legal, law abiding, gun owner citizens view.

[billamj]

Bravo Dan! An excellent read and one that should be sent to each and every member of city council and the mayor's office personally. They really do need to wake up.

[GunLawyer001]

That was a well-written and thoughtful piece, Dan.

As for the Inquirer, as usual they gloss over the cost to the citizens who would be prosecuted under these pre-empted laws. The DA and the cops and the mayor would "deal with the fallout" using other people's tax money to pay for their lawyers, and their time would just be part of their regular work day. The citizens, on the other hand, would have to dip into savings or borrow money or sell the family car to raise the cash to defend themselves for owning an AR-15 or not reporting a stolen gun fast enough, and their time in court would be INSTEAD of being at work. And if the citizen is convicted, he has a criminal record that isn't exactly a resumé enhancer.

So for the sake of looking like they're "doing something", the Philly government is willing to roll the dice with other people's lives.

Yes, Sodom on the Delaware has a crime problem. Did I miss the part where they proposed to crack down on the drug dealers, arrest the repeat juvenile offenders, and hold parents accountable for the evil that their unsupervised brats commit?

Gun shows have at least 2 guns per person, yet I don't hear stories of rampant crime at gun shows. Maybe it's the people, after all?

[danp]

Thanks guys, I am very very happy with the piece and that the Philadelphia Inquirer published it.

With that said I would like to thank two people:

1. Bitter from The Bitch Girls Blog
2. Sebastian from Snowflakes in Hell Blog

They wrote the majority of this piece on my behalf and really deserve the credit for taking a message and putting it on paper. Bitter was also responsible for using her super-powers to get it placed.

They're two great, intelligent people who use their talents to do a lot of work for gun owners. I personally wait for the day when we get Bitter into this Commonwealth permanently.

Hopefully over time we can get more op-eds in the Philadelphia area. We really need to educate Philadelphia's non-gun owners about the fact that they are being hoodwinked by an elaborate dog-and-pony show of politics that will not make them safer.

[rwilson452]

Great job Dan, Bitter, and Sebastian,

Not only the civil suits but if I have right some poor Philly LEO could be charged under Sect 5301. I understand that is a M2 penalty. that has a MAX of 2 years. With a 2 year max I think that would make the officer a prohibited person. Good bye LEO work.

[awkx]

Excellent editorial!

Originally Posted by dgg9

FAIL. State preemption is law. The city's ordinances are *not* law, because they were passed without lawful authority.

[GunLawyer001]

Originally Posted by awkx

Excellent editorial!

FAIL. State preemption is law. The city's ordinances are *not* law, because they were passed without lawful authority.

Yeah, there's something creepy about the schizophrenic argument that (a) Abraham must do her job and blindly enforce the laws which were duly passed by the city council and signed by the mayor, and (b) Philadelphia's city council and mayor can ignore the state preemption law because they have a good reason.