-
Stacy McCain's Kimberlin Story a Must Read
May 29, 2012 | 1 comment
-
WND's Aaron Klein: Obama Spoke at Socialist Conference
May 25, 2012 | 24 comments
-
Will WaPo's Erik Wemple Apologize to Hannity?
May 21, 2012 | 13 comments
-
Hannity Tonight: Vetting Obama
May 18, 2012 | 42 comments
-
CNN Blackballs Tyrrell for Calling Obama "Stealth Socialist"
May 14, 2012 | 31 comments
The Spectacle Blog
Second Amendment supporters by the hundreds flooded the rotunda of the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg yesterday. The packed, standing-room-only crowd, driving in from across the state in the middle of a torrential rain, listened to state lawmakers and gun owners denounce Governor Edward G. Rendell's call for a ban on assault weapons.
Rendell, who is term-limited and cannot seek re-election, recently called for a ban on assault rifles and a limit of handgun purchases in the state to one a month. His demand followed the recent shooting deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers who were murdered by 22-year-old Richard Poplawski.
One gun advocate took direct aim at Rendell's use of the Pittsburgh shootings, charging the Governor with playing politics. He noted that two of the three officers killed were shot not by an assault rifle but a pump-action shotgun and .357 revolver. He further noted that Poplawski, already the subject of several protection-from-abuse court orders, should have automatically been prevented from purchasing or owning guns under current Pennsylvania law. The laws, it was said, don't work, and Rendell wants more of them. Through a spokesman, Rendell disagreed, citing what he called a rising level of gun violence in the state.
The speakers, according to Harrisburg Patriot-News reporter John Luciew, included the Republican State Senate Whip, Senator Jane Orie of Allegheny County -- Pittsburgh. Also participating was John Sigler, the president of the National Rifle Association.
Gun control has long been a "third rail" issue in Pennsylvania. While outsiders view the state in terms of its two largest cities, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the state in fact has a large rural component that has focused repeatedly on Second Amendment rights. The pattern began when gun control first emerged as an issue following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s. In a surprise upset in 1968, then-Republican Congressman Richard Schweiker defeated former Philadelphia mayor and then-U.S. Senator Joseph Clark, who was running for re-election. Clark, a longtime liberal, had become a strong supporter of gun control. From that campaign forward Pennsylvania candidates have been leery of being depicted as anti-Second Amendment.
Rendell has no plans to run for office again in the state and was accused by gun owners at the State Capitol rally of seeking to burnish his credentials for a future job in the Obama administration.
View all comments (10) | Leave a comment
Leave a Comment
More Blog Posts by Jeffrey Lord
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/04/22/gun-control-battle-erputs-in-p
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
Special Feature
Better that we become a nation of choosers rather than beggars. Our symposium on choice from the May, 2012 issue:
FLASHBACK TO: 1984
-
The Fairness Delusion
The speech our President should make.
-
Media Smears: One Man’s Experiences
A noted economist fires back.
-
Chuck Colson vs. The Fundamentalists
How political can you get?
-
The Reagan Doctrine
You might have missed it, but it was boomed in January.
-
The Woman Problem
Farcical feminism is a decades-old phenomenon, as George Will's essay from 1970 reminds us.
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Tim| 4.22.09 @ 11:00AM
Gun control is a loser for the Dems, but like a toddler at the stove they have to touch it.
Pete| 4.22.09 @ 11:06AM
This same scenario will play out all across the country. Dishonest liberal suck-ups trotting out false statistics in order to further erode American's rights and swell their tax receipts. The people are on to this - go try to buy ammo right now in any standard caliber. There is a distinct shortage - the people are arming themselves in advance of the coming assualt on their 2nd Amendment rights. No wonder O(b/s)ama is trying to put together a Federal police force and pre-accusing conservatives of being terrorists, a term he won't even use for TNT-vested madmen in the middle east. Where we are headed is not pretty.
Big Leo| 4.22.09 @ 3:05PM
When it became pretty clear that Obama would be elected, I took half my IRA and converted it to firearms related stocks. A big increase in guns and ammo sales was predictable if Obama won. They've done extremely well while the market tanked. So never say that Obama isn't good for something. He increased my available retirement money by over 50% in a down market. Thanks, pal. I wish he'd make some noises about banning or registering some form of firearms, though. I need a yacht.
Pete| 4.22.09 @ 3:33PM
Nice move, Leo. By the time it was clear we were headed for an ACORNholing, my holdings were too far gone for it to make sense. Thankfully, I don't have to retire for many years, so in the event that the US doesn't turn all the way into Zimbabwe (sadly, a big IF right now), I have half a chance of a comeback at some point.
jr| 4.22.09 @ 4:41PM
"Through a spokesman, Rendell disagreed, citing what he called a rising level of gun violence in the state. " Perhaps fewer laws made by politicians and idiots would help us little people. Perhaps less fraud and graft by politicians would make us a little more friendly. Ed, do you have your millions by now?
Big Leo| 4.22.09 @ 4:53PM
Pete,
My investment decision was a combination of shrewdness, paranoia, and luck. I'd seen the jump in gun sales before when Clinton was elected, and thought it would be even greater this time because of all of Obama's anti gun record. Turns out I was right.
Do you suppose that Obama's election was a plot by gun and ammo companies to increase sales? Hmmm . . . could be . . .
Crusader| 4.22.09 @ 7:34PM
PA is my home state (don't live there anymore, thank God). You can think what you want about gun control and how important it is, but it went Dem in the last two presidential elections. Those rural, gun-toting "conservatives" in Western PA keep electing that traitirous moron Murtha to Congress too. I mean, before the last election he basically called them racist redneck rubes and they still re-elected him. What does he have to do to NOT get re-elected? Put an "R" after his name. They also elected uber-liberal ex Philly mayor Rendell guvnor. Yeah, some conservative state.
I guess what I'm saying is there are too many white, middle class, Christian and Catholics people in PA who vote D because they want their Blue Cross and Blue Shield and So'Security checks. It sickens me that I have Catholic relatives, allegedly pro-life, who voted for Obama.
On an unrelated note, the last "assault rifle" I bought, I bought from a PA state trooper who has an FFL as a side business. He said the State is buying them all new body armor, M16s, and CBRNE suits. WTF?!?!?
My white, middle-class, truck-driving grampa bashed Reagan throughout the 80s. Why? He was "rich." Class warfare works on white people too. Guns are nice but I am convinced a majority of Pennsylvanians would turn 'em in when Obama's civilian security force comes knockin' for 'em. America's not only turning socialist but we've been feminized/(p)ussified first. Easier to bully when you have no spine.
Pecos Pete| 4.23.09 @ 8:06AM
Crusader makes valid points. Lots of conservatives are voting for politicians based on bringing home the bacon. Also, I agree that when they come for the guns most folks are going to give them up. Watch what happens when the FCC closes down talk radio, lots of screaming and then the congress critters will be reelected.
Old Texican| 4.23.09 @ 8:53AM
Gentlemen, it is called "deterence". A hundred million gun owners in the US. Tyrants beware.
If only one in a hundred free men buried a gun, that is still a million snipers. Pray to God it never comes to that.
jojo| 1.11.10 @ 2:41AM
nike outlet
adidas outlet