| Reporter And Police Sergeant Get It Right |
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| Friday, April 10, 2009 |
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The headline reads, "Mayors say Pittsburgh shootings show need for new gun laws." In this case, the mayors are "Mayors Against Illegal Guns," an anti-gun front group founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Of course, "Pittsburgh shootings" refers to the cold-blooded murder of three Pittsburgh police officers by an apparently delusional individual who, some reports indicated, had been discharged from the armed forces under other than honorable conditions, and had been under a protective order relative to a former girlfriend.
The article, published today in the Allentown, Pa., Morning Call, was written by John L. Micek. Micek reported that in response to the Pittsburgh officers' murders, the mayors urge swift action on gun control, recklessly characterizing the officers' murders as evidence "that gun violence in Pennsylvania is a statewide problem." The mayors previously have supported legislation to limit handgun purchases, and to require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms, Micek noted. However, he added, "It seems unlikely that either action would have prevented the Pittsburgh shootings. The gunman had a variety of weapons, including handguns, a shotgun and an AK-47 assault rifle. His mother told a 911 operator he had legal weapons in the home, but the operator didn't pass that information on to dispatchers, a top police official has said."
Micek included in his report Bethlehem police Sgt. Don Hoffman's statement that "criminals and outlaws break the law regardless of what the law says," a good reminder that many police officers--the people who deal with criminals up close and personal on a daily basis--do not believe that restricting good Americans' rights is the solution to misdeeds by the aberrant few among us.
Micek's straightforward and refreshingly objective article can be seen at www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/state/all-a6_5mayors.6850510apr10,0,6802065.story.
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Mayors say Pittsburgh shootings show need for new gun laws
By John L. Micek | Call Harrisburg Bureau
- April 10, 2009
HARRISBURG | - A coalition of mayors, angry over the fatal shootings of three Pittsburgh police officers last weekend, has renewed a call for state lawmakers to take ''substantive action'' against guns.
The group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, counts among its members Allentown's Ed Pawlowski, Bethlehem's John Callahan and Easton's Sal Panto Jr.
''The senseless deaths of these officers demonstrates once again that gun violence in Pennsylvania is a statewide problem,'' the mayors wrote, urging swift action.
The letter offers no prescription. Previously, the mayors called on lawmakers to limit handgun purchases to one a month and to require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms.
It seems unlikely that either action would have prevented the Pittsburgh shootings. The gunman had a variety of weapons, including handguns, a shotgun and an AK-47 assault rifle. His mother told a 911 operator he had legal weapons in the home, but the operator didn't pass that information on to dispatchers, a top police official has said.
Officers from across the country were in Pittsburgh on Thursday paying final respects to their colleagues, who died Saturday while responding to an argument between the mother and Richard Poplawski, her 22-year-old son. He's in jail on homicide charges.
Efforts to pass gun-control measures in Pennsylvania largely have fallen on deaf ears, despite the support of Gov. Ed Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor.
That has Pawlowski perplexed.
''Why would you not report a lost or stolen weapon?'' the Allentown mayor asked, pointing out that people are required to report stolen cars.
Bethlehem police Sgt. Don Hoffman, speaking only for himself, said restrictions penalize law-abiding gun owners. ''Criminals and outlaws break the law regardless of what the law says,'' he said in a phone interview from his home.
In 2008, Rendell signed a bill imposing a 20-year mandatory sentence on anyone convicted of shooting at a police officer. The legislation also enhanced the penalties for other gun-related crimes.
Rendell's spokesman, Chuck Ardo, said the administration hopes the officers' deaths will ''allow legislators to rethink their positions regarding sensible measures to help control crime.''
The 253-member General Assembly includes many lawmakers from the state's more-rural interior, where hunting and gun ownership are ways of life.
''There's a mind-set that, if you start whittling away at our [Second Amendment] rights, where will it stop?'' said state Rep. Thomas Caltagirone, D-Berks, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a supporter of gun control measures.
Gun-control advocates have blamed the National Rifle Association for halting gun-control measures. An NRA spokeswoman, Rachel Parsons, declined to comment on the shootings.
''We think now is the time for families and communities to grieve and to heal,'' she said. ''We think it's poor form to try to capitalize on a tragedy when these officers are being buried.''
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