Know your enemy: New professional hired to take your firearms rights away

[WhiteFeather]

Read about the pressure the anti-gun forces are getting ready to launch next year against US in trying our taking our rights away- notice again NO focus on criminals, only guns are the problem.

Why do they want to pass another law that the criminals don’t care if they break, how many laws will it take? A better question to ask them IF the existing laws are not doing their stated purposes, are they for repealing existing firearms laws because they are not working…… so that they can pass new ones that will solve the problem - watch them freak over that question……

http://www.ceasefirepa.org/node/49

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - December 13, 2007 - CeaseFire PA, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing gun violence, announced the hiring of a new executive director with extensive campaign experience to direct a growing statewide coalition that supports stronger handgun laws for Pennsylvania.

According to Phil Goldsmith, President of CeaseFire PA, the organization is hiring Joe Grace, an attorney, former journalist and communications professional, to serve as the organization's fulltime executive director. He will assume his position on January 14, 2008.

"We're hiring Joe Grace because it's time for CeaseFirePA to take its growing coalition in support of stronger handgun laws to the next level," Goldsmith said. "As CeaseFire PA takes its campaign to communities across Pennsylvania, it needs an experienced campaign strategist who understands what it takes to achieve results. Joe is that person and we're pleased to welcome him aboard."
Joe succeeds Diane Edbril, who has served as part-time executive director.

"Diane has done a wonderful job. But our growth requires a full-time individual at the helm. I am delighted she will continue on a part-time basis to work with Joe as we further our mission to make communities safer," Goldsmith said.

Grace served for the last two and half years as communications director for Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street. In that role he interacted with mayors from across Pennsylvania on the issue of growing violence caused by illegal handguns, and with the national coalition of mayors focused on reducing gun violence headed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

Prior to his work in Philadelphia, Grace served as campaign manager for a number of winning political campaigns, including several nationally targeted races for U.S. congressional seats. He served as a deputy campaign manager in the successful Rendell for Governor campaign in 2002. Grace, an attorney and former prosecutor, was also an award-winning journalist whose work was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

"I'm honored to join an organization like CeaseFire PA and I support its mission to prevent handgun violence in Pennsylvania," Grace said. "We need stricter handgun laws to protect our police officers who put themselves in harm's way to protect us, and to protect the public as well. This campaign is winnable. As Governor Rendell recently said, we need our legislators to stand up and support our police and the public on this issue - not the special interests."

Goldsmith said Grace's hiring would be effective next month, following the completion of his public service in Philadelphia. Grace's hiring is the latest in a series of moves by CeaseFire PA that demonstrate the organization's continued growth and momentum, including:

CeaseFire PA coordinated a press conference and rally in Harrisburg earlier this week featuring Gov. Rendell, mayors and police officers from seven Pennsylvania cities, more than a dozen legislators from different cities and regions, and advocates for stricter handgun laws. The rally speakers urged the General Assembly to pass stronger handgun laws, specifically HB 29, which establishes a reporting requirement for firearms lost, stolen or missing.

CeaseFire PA recently released a poll of six targeted House districts in key swing districts that shows overwhelming voter support for the lost-stolen-missing reporting legislation (96 percent support, 3 oppose), as well as strong public support for a law limiting the number of handguns a person can purchase to one handgun per month (70 percent support, 26 percent oppose).

CeaseFire PA recently added four new members to its board of directors, including a prominent former police union official, a former legislative aide who is well-versed in Pennsylvania politics, a former mayor from Reading and a college professor from Lewisburg, P who is helping to organize CeaseFire PA's college outreach efforts.

"All of these steps are focused on the same goal: reducing handgun violence in Pennsylvania through the passage of stronger and sensible handgun laws by our General Assembly," Goldsmith said. "We recognize this is a marathon, not a sprint. We're not going away."

Someone please enlighten me what is an "illegal gun" or even a "illegal handgun"?

I always here this term being used by the media and anti-gun groups but have no idea what really is meant by the term an "illegal gun".

[danp]

An "illegal gun" is a term created to unduly influence people's perceptions of an issue similar to an "assault weapon".

He who controls the language often controls the debate and it is pretty much the only area anti-gun activists have been even remotely successful in over the years.

[WhiteFeather]

Thanks Dan for explaining the made up term for something that doesn’t exist except it P.C. language.
Got some more info from the AG website, it always pays to study your opponents and their known associates. I bet they come to PAFOA to study US.


WELCOME TO CEASEFIRE PA!

CeaseFire PA is devoted to protecting your community from gun violence.

As the largest organization working to reduce gun violence in Pennsylvania, CeaseFire PA seeks the enactment of sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies through grassroots activism, to elect public officials who favor the prevention of gun violence and to increase public awareness of the gun violence crisis.

CeaseFire PA Goals:

Reduction of illegal handgun trafficking by limiting private buyers to the purchase of no more than one handgun per month.

Closing of the gun show loophole at the federal level.

Enactment of a strong and effective assault weapon ban.

Effective product safety standards for handguns.

The eradication of needless gun violence.


CeaseFire PA Board of Directors

Phil Goldsmith, President, is a principal and founder of GoldsmithKahn Associates, a public issues management consulting firm. A resident of Havertown, he has held senior positions in a broad spectrum of fields including law, journalism, government, banking and human resource consulting. He is the former chief operating officer of the City of Philadelphia, past interim chief executive officer o the School District of Philadelphia and interim executive director of the Fairmount Park Commission. He was an executive at PNC Bank for more than a dozen years.

Nancy Lamason, Vice President, is one of the founding members of CeaseFire PA. she came to this issue as a concerned citizen after many successful years in business, both in Pennsylvania and abroad.

Robin Valicenti, Secretary, is an art therapist who works with youth in crisis, often from the very communities being ravaged by gun violence. She is one of our founding members as well, and this is her second position as a CeaseFire PA officer.

Margaret (Peggy)McCausland, Immediate Past President, is a prominent member of the Philadelphia bar who practices in the field of employment law. She is also on the Board of Directors of Robin's Next, a New Jersey-based group that supports adolescents at risk and is an award-winning volunteer attorney with the Support Center for Child Advocates, which represents abused and neglected children throughout the Philadelphia area.

David B. Glancey is a lifelong resident of Philadelphia and recently retired from eh Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes. He served there for 24 years and was Chair of the Board for 17 of those years. He was also chair of the Democratic Party of Philadelphia from 1980-1983. He is a graduate of the Villanova School of Law and, prior to his service to the City, was associated with the Dilworth Paxon law firm.

Mary Beth Hacke joined the CeaseFire PA board as one of the original members. Her son was killed 10 years ago in Pittsburgh, at the age of fourteen months, when he was shot at while in their parked car at a gas station by a convicted felon with a gun. Ever since then, throughout her

James C. Higgins is an attorney in private practice in Delaware County, with a long history of public service. Jim is a veteran of the Vietnam War and several years ago served two terms as a Commissioner of Radnor Township, PA. He is president of a historical foundation in his community and has been an advocate for common sense firearms regulations for over thirty years.

Dr. Julie Levitt is a practicing clinical psychologist in Lower Merion, PA. She represents CeaseFire PA in an interfaith collaborative on the Main Line that conducts vigils and educational programming on gun violence prevention, and lectures widely on conflict resolution.

Lisa Macaulay is a business executive with Johnson & Johnson and lives in Chester County. She co-chairs CeaseFire PA's fundraising committee.

Mary McFate has been involved in gun violence prevention since the first federal assault weapons ban was enacted in 1994-1995. She is a member of the American Association for Suicideology, and was the first gun violence prevention advocate to start coalition building within that community.

Linda Rosenfeld is a community activist from the Lehigh Valley who has served as past president of Allentown City Council and Vice President of Lehigh County Commissioners. She is presently Chair of the Allentown Parking Authority and Special Advocate volunteer and has seen what gun violence and the threat of violence does to our children.

Bridgette Tobler is a licensed clinical social worker and therapi9st on the staff of Pennsylvania Clinical Schools in West Chester, PA, a residential treatment center for youthful offenders. She is also a member of the National Association of Social Workers and The Fiery Phoenix MC, Inc.

Jennifer W. Stein has been a CeaseFire PA supporter since its founding. She was a co-founder of the Coalition Against Jewish Domestic Violence in 1983, and has been active in anti-violence causes since then. She is an independent documentary filmmaker and lives in Delaware County.

Diane Edbril, Esq. is a former prosecutor and small business executive. She is a graduate of the Rockefeller College of Public Policy at the State University of New York at Albany, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and has been on the staff of CeaseFire PA and the CeaseFire PA Pennsylvania Education Fund since 2002.

[LittleRedToyota]

apparently they think we need to make illegal guns (whatever those are) even more illegal...

i mean, by definition, there is already a least one law against anything that is illegal, so whatever these illegal guns are, there must already be laws against them...by definition.

of course, they really mean illegal possession of a gun...but that moves the focus from the gun to the person posessing the gun...and we can't have that. it is much easier and more PC to attack inanimate objects than to hold actual people responsible for their actions.

[Agent Smith]

Originally Posted by LittleRedToyota

apparently they think we need to make illegal guns (whatever those are) even more illegal...

i mean, by definition, there is already a least one law against anything that is illegal, so whatever these illegal guns are, there must already be laws against them...by definition.

of course, they really mean illegal possession of a gun...but that moves the focus from the gun to the person posessing the gun...and we can't have that. it is much easier and more PC to attack inanimate objects than to hold actual people responsible for their actions.

They don't care about criminals, only disarming us.

[Damage control]

Originally Posted by WhiteFeather

[color="Blue"]The eradication of needless gun violence.

They just don't get it they need to think 3 dimensional instead of 2 dimensional
That's like saying The eradication of needless stick in the eye violence.
People will always find a way to kill people regardless of the tool used plain and simple. Our founding fathers for seen this and gave us a right to defend ourselves and family against felons and people who would harm, maim or kill us.

So take the guns off of law abiding citizens.
I think they have a better chance of solving world hunger!


Damage Control

[Garpman]

Exactly, there is no such thing as an illegal firearm.

The best way I've put it on a message board before was this, the only thing that is illegal is how it was obtained, and the purpose it was used for, which in the case of a criminal, would have been illegal with or without a gun.

[00gt1]

Originally Posted by WhiteFeather

....strong public support for a law limiting the number of handguns a person can purchase to one handgun per month....

um...... yea... the things these people come up with....

[steve762]

Let's remember that none of us on this board (how many active members again?) or the NRA/GOA/etc are paid for our advocacy (except lobbyists hired by the what? 5 Million members?)

Ceasefire PA is funded by wealthy dead people's foundations that are managed by statists who find private firearm ownership rights to be an obstacle on the path to totalitarian rule.

Their "grassroots" efforts are funded by the wealth of dead people, and are artificial, hence the term ASTROTURF.

That's all their efforts are is astroturfing.

You can expect that every publication in PA will get some type of weekly press release they can turn into a headline against private firearm ownership.

Until we can get DEAD PEOPLE'S MONEY out of today's politics, we'll have to find ways to deal with this.

[Brick]

Yes let's know our enemy. Are they a Non-profit Organization under IRS rules. 501C(3) or some such similar goobledy-gook? Do they file annual income tax returns? What rules govern their endorsement of political candidates? Have they endorsed politcal candidates?

Anyone know? Anyone know how to find out?

Question, Why is a contribution to NRA-ILA not tax deductible, but a contribution to the Brady Campaign is?