Volume 6, No. 06 www.foac-pac.org July 15, 2006
Firearms Owners Against Crime
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"You do not examine legislation in light of the
benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in light of the wrongs it
would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered." President Lyndon
B. Johnson
E-Newsletter & FOAC Advance
Meeting Notice For August 13, 2006
Meeting Agenda-
Special Guest Speakers:
Mark Harris – Republican Candidate
for the 42nd District House of Representatives
Paul Snatchko – Republican Candidate
for the 46th District House of Representatives
Jesse White - Democrat Candidate for
the 46th District House of Representatives
7.0 Treasurers Report
7.1 Presentation of the July 2006 Report
8.0 OLD BUSINESS
8.1
None
9.0 NEW BUSINESS
9.1
Gun
Owner, Gun Club and FFL Dealer Election Prep – Kim, Herb, Dennis & Mary
9.2
Candidate
Developments – Kim Stolfer & Herb Ohliger
9.3
Meeting
with Congressman Murphy – Kim Stolfer & Herb Ohliger
9.4
Rescheduled
Picnic Preparations for FOAC members – Kim Stolfer
9.5
Statewide
Senate Gun Hearings Update – Kim Stolfer
9.6
New
Legislation Update & Gun Control Issues Statewide & Federal – Kim
Stolfer
9.6.1
HB
2536 – End Gun
Registration
9.6.2
SB
1156 – End Gun
Registration
9.6.3
HB
2563 – Hunters
& CCW (Passed 189-8)
9.6.4
HB
2231 – Castle
Doctrine
9.6.5
HB
1181 – PA
Employees & CCW
9.6.6
HB
544 – Election
Code Changes
9.6.7
HB
871 – One Gun a
Month
9.6.8
SB
1002 – One Gun a
Month
9.7
Southwest
Fall Banquet Preparations – Herb Ohliger
9.8
Erie
FOAC Committee developments – Kim Stolfer
9.9
Northwest
Fall Banquet Final Preparations – Paul Whitehouse
GUN
OWNERS ALERT:
Philadelphia Anti-Gun Caucus FORCES Consideration Of Gun Control in PA House
Senate
Throughout the last two months and
especially since the primary the Philadelphia caucus which is made up almost
exclusively (there are notable exceptions) of anti-gun House and Senate
members, has been holding the legislature hostage by threatening to amend every
Title 18 crimes code bill with some form of gun control. In a showdown between
Leadership and this Philadelphia caucus a compromise reached that would allow
them to have a full day to discuss gun control issues on the floor of the House.
This event will take place on September 26th and will be called
a Committee of the Whole, which will allow consideration of
issues and votes to be taken although the vote’s will not be recorded against a
legislators name and will be considered nothing more than a sense of the House
of Representatives.
IF YOU VALUE YOUR RIGHT TO
BEAR ARMS THEN IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU JOIN US IN HARRISBURG ON THIS DAY.
In a companion move in the Senate, Senator Leanna Washington attempted to move Senate bill 1241 in the Judiciary Committee. Senator Greenleaf are arranged a compromise with Senator Washington to hold hearings on gun violence all across the state so that her concerns with the violence in Philadelphia could be brought to the public's attention. These hearings are forecast to be held in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia on dates that are as of yet undetermined. The Allegheny County Sportsmen's League’ is working with Senator Greenleaf’s office to bring in experts in the field of sociology, a criminology and Criminal Justice for these hearings.
About the ‘Committee of the Whole’ Gun Session
· In the House only on Sept. 26
· House members can debate plans and take
"straw votes"
· Straw votes are unofficial votes in which
individual votes are not recorded
In the event you
would like to express your opinions on the upcoming ‘Committee of the Whole’ session
and ‘One Gun a Month’, listed below is the e-mail contact information for every
Philadelphia area Legislator who has indicated that THEY WOULD SUPPORT the
passage of one gun a month legislation (HB 871 & SB 1002) according to a
survey conducted by Tom Ferrick of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
PA House of
Representatives:
|
Rep. |
William |
R |
District 165 |
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|
Rep. |
Thomas |
D |
District 190 |
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|
Rep. |
Mark |
D |
District 202 |
mcohen@pahouse.net |
|
|
Rep. |
Lawrence |
D |
District 154 |
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|
Rep. |
Robert |
D |
District 185 |
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|
Rep. |
Dwight |
D |
District 203 |
||
|
Rep. |
Michael |
D |
District 148 |
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|
Rep. |
Harold |
D |
District 186 |
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|
Rep. |
Babette |
D |
District 182 |
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|
Rep. |
William |
D |
District 184 |
||
|
Rep. |
George |
R |
District 170 |
||
|
Rep. |
Tom |
R |
District 168 |
||
|
Rep. |
Thaddeus |
D |
District 159 |
||
|
Rep. |
Daylin |
D |
District 149 |
||
|
Rep. |
Marie |
D |
District 175 |
||
|
Rep. |
Kathy |
D |
District 194 |
||
|
Rep. |
Michael |
D |
District 173 |
||
|
Rep. |
Anthony |
D |
District 141 |
||
|
Rep. |
Nicholas |
R |
District 163 |
||
|
Rep. |
John |
D |
District 201 |
||
|
Rep. |
Frank |
D |
District 195 |
||
|
Rep. |
Cherelle |
D |
District 200 |
cparker@pahouse.net |
|
|
Rep. |
William |
D |
District 179 |
||
|
Rep. |
T.J. |
D |
District 133 |
||
|
Rep. |
Chris |
R |
District 158 |
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|
Rep. |
Carole |
R |
District 157 |
||
|
Rep. |
John |
D |
District 174 |
|
|
|
Rep. |
Josh |
D |
District 153 |
||
|
Rep. |
David |
R |
District 31 |
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|
Rep. |
John |
R |
District 177 |
||
|
Rep. |
W. Curtis |
D |
District 181 |
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|
Rep. |
Michael |
D |
District 14 |
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|
Rep. |
Greg |
D |
District 166 |
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|
Rep. |
Ronald |
D |
District 191 |
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|
Rep. |
Jake |
D |
District 19 |
||
|
Rep. |
Jewell |
Williams |
D |
District 197 |
JWilliam@pahouse.net |
|
Rep. |
Rosita |
Youngblood |
D |
District 198 |
RYoungbl@pahouse.net |
PA Senate:
|
Senator |
R |
12 |
||
|
Senator |
D |
7 |
||
|
Senator |
D |
3 |
||
|
Senator |
D |
5 |
||
|
Senator |
D |
2 |
||
|
Senator |
D |
4 |
||
|
Senator |
D |
8 |
||
|
Senator |
D |
17 |
'Crime
Guns' In Perspective
F. Paul Valone (President of Grass
Roots North Carolina - www.grnc.org)
RALEIGH - Voters' consistent rejection of gun
control forces gun opponents to periodically repackage their agenda. Having
failed to pass off gang murders as "children killed by guns,"
anti-gun organizations now tell tales about "rogue gun dealers"
feeding "iron pipelines" of illegal gun trafficking. Despite the new gift-wrap, their unwavering
goal is restricting your access to firearms.
Orchestrated by the Brady Center (formerly Handgun Control, Inc.), this
national campaign would ration how many guns you may buy and, via mandatory gun
tracing, would force the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (BATFE) to gather bogus statistics promoting gun control. A recent piece on this page alleged that
"The primary source of illegal guns is corrupt (or rogue) gun
dealers." In truth, a Department of Justice report entitled "Firearms
Use by Offenders" found the largest sources of crime guns are family or
friends (39.6 percent), followed by theft and black market sales (39.2 percent).
Gun and pawn shops ("rogue" or otherwise) accounted for just 8.3
percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.
And contrary to a claim that "On May 22, Charlotte's Hyatt
Coin and Gun Shop was named by [BATFE] as the fifth worst store in supplying
guns used in crimes nationwide," the bureau said nothing of the sort.
Agency spokesman Earl Woodham says it doesn't even keep such lists. Pursuant to
litigation, it actually released raw data on gun serial numbers traced by
police.
Therein lies the scam. Although gun control advocates call gun
tracing a measure of crime, traced guns are not necessarily "crime
guns." Says the Congressional Research Service: "Trace requests are
not accurate indicators of specified crimes...traces may be requested for a variety
of reasons not necessarily related to criminal incidents." Indeed, the BATFE encourages police to trace
all guns encountered. Mine was once traced during a traffic stop.
Other inherent biases include variation in tracing policies
between police departments (Charlotte traces all guns, skewing results against
merchants like Hyatt) and the fact that statistics aren't adjusted for total
number of guns sold by a dealer. After 47 years in business, Hyatt is one of
the largest dealers in the country.
Were it a similarly successful auto dealer, wouldn't more cars it sold
be involved in accidents?
Claims that the BATFE fails to pursue non-compliant gun dealers
are false: Not only do dealers overwhelmingly follow the law, the bureau
conducts audits and prosecutes rare scofflaws via a strict "zero
tolerance" policy. The bureau's Woodham said that if allegations about
Hyatt were true, it would be "an empty storefront."
Despite assertions that traffickers obtain firearms from gun
shows, the Department of Justice found an infinitesimal 0.7 percent of crime
guns come from such shows. Moreover, North Carolina has no real "gun show
loophole": all handgun transfers -- including gun show sales -- require
background checks, and rifles are used in only 1.3 percent of gun crimes.
Anti-gun advocates say trafficking is fed by "straw"
sales in which unqualified buyers (e.g., those with criminal backgrounds) use
qualified applicants for purchases. These guns are smuggled to strict gun
control states such as New York. But
straw sales carry a 10-year federal penalty. Under threat of prosecution --
enforced by "sting" operations -- gun dealers refuse identifiable
straw sales. Indeed, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, representing
dealers, has partnered with BATFE to train every dealer via a program called
"Don't Lie for the Other Guy." Beyond the irony that smuggled guns
cause more problems in strictly regulated states to which they are transported
than in less regulated states where they were originally sold, consider that
dealers can't control secondary transfers of guns which have left their stores.
Expecting them to track firearms they no longer possess is like expecting car
dealers to conduct drunken driving checkpoints.
While Virginia's "one-gun-a-month" law is hailed as a
model for reducing straw sales, Virginia remains the largest source of crime
guns in New York and elsewhere. Proponents avoid mentioning cases like that of
Shawn Pettaway, who was arrested for using 17 straw buyers to sell 107 Virginia
guns to undercover New York police.
Not coincidentally, gun rationing would make it harder for you to
buy guns and would require registering guns purchased.
Mandatory gun tracing would inflate North Carolina numbers of what
gun opponents misleadingly label "crime guns" relative to states without
such laws, the "solution" for which would be (you guessed it) more
gun control.
While no lawful person wants criminal access to firearms, public
policy should be driven by accurate information. Any bill mandating tracing of
"crime guns" should equally prohibit tracing guns not used in crimes.
If the goal is reducing gun trafficking rather than simply fueling more
restrictions, that should satisfy both sides in the debate. (Paul Valone (pres@grnc.org) is the president of Grass Roots North
Carolina - www.grnc.org.)
Gun Free DC Crime Skyrockets
By Cam Edwards (www.townhall.com)
Pity
the residents of Washington, D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey has declared a
“crime emergency” in the District, in part because of the 14 homicides that
have been reported during the past 12 days. In addition, armed robbery is up
14% over this time last year. No portion of the city is safe. A British man had
his throat slit in upscale Georgetown. A family of four was robbed at gunpoint
in the shadow of the Washington Monument.
Of
course, none of these victims have been able to defend themselves. While 40
states now have “Shall Issue” concealed carry laws, Washington D.C. residents
and visitors can’t even own a gun for their own protection, much less carry a
concealed pistol in order to protect themselves or their loved ones.
Blogger
Jeff Soyer from www.alphecca.com reported that at a recent community meeting in
Georgetown a resident asked a City Council member when the District would
recognize the 2nd amendment. The response was to tell people to carry a whistle
that they could blow when they’re attacked.
Last year, you’ll remember, Florida enacted the “Castle Doctrine”. That law states you have a right to stand your ground and defend yourself against an attack anywhere you have a legal right to be. After passage of the law, anti-gun groups like the Brady Campaign went on the offensive. They ran newspaper ads and handed out flyers to tourists in the Sunshine State, warning tourists to “avoid disputes” and “use special caution in arguing with motorists”. So what’s the Brady Campaign’s response to Florida’s continued drop in crime?