HB 29 is moving in Judiciary Committee

[WhiteFeather]

HB 29 is moving in the Judiciary Committee Meeting scheduled on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. for debate possible Judiciary Committee vote to follow.

here is full text of house bill 29.
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/...type=B&BN=0029

HB 29 – Registry for lost or stolen, failure to report, State Police duties (Amend 18 Pa.C.S.)

INTRODUCED BY WILLIAMS, D. EVANS, GERBER, CALTAGIRONE, JAMES, W. KELLER,
MYERS, WHEATLEY, BISHOP, COHEN, CRUZ, CURRY, FRANKEL, GALLOWAY,
JOSEPHS, KIRKLAND, LEACH, M. O'BRIEN, PASHINSKI AND ROEBUCK

bill summary from http://acslpa.org/n-legislative/Harr...f%204-2007.htm

Failure to report lost or stolen firearms to the appropriate local law enforcement official within 24 hours is a summary offense punishable by a fine up to $500. A person intentionally failing to report a loss or theft of a firearm commits a misdemeanor of the third degree. A court, in addition to any penalty prescribed by law, may prohibit you from acquiring a firearm for a period of six months.


Allows PA state police to” legally” create and maintain a database of stolen firearms. It prohibits any law enforcement agency to create, operate or maintain any registry of firearm ownership. However, nothing in this purposed bill forces the state police to destroy the illegal gun owner database that the state police have maintained for many decades. (A database created by diverting money away from crime fighting.)

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Kim Stolfer Allegheny County Sportsmen Leaque sent me this email about HB 29

The fact that this bill may be amended to modify certain sections does in no way mitigate the potential impact of this legislation when enforced in a manner that the drafters did not consider. If nothing else the mere fact that constitutional freedoms can be suspended for a ‘summary’ offense at the whim of a court that in an urban area can impose their views on firearms ownership is abhorrent. As you know I have been in court and helped attorneys defend gun owners against prosecutors and judicial activism and this entire approach is a distraction from the real issues.

In my testimony to the Judiciary Committee (twice this year) I provided the committee each time with the PA Commission on Sentencing data regarding enforcement of PA Gun Laws. Regarding the concept of Straw Purchasing Firearms, the data shows that authorities used violations of section 6111 on average less than 50 times a year in the last 10 years. This is not an example of using the tools available against those who break the law. In addition as you can see from the attached article even those uses are suspect because the likelihood is great that once convicted a perpetrator is most likely to receive probation in place of jail time. In the attached article I find the police officers position troubling as to the mercy shown the straw purchaser and in reviewing the crimes code she could have received up to 42 years in jail instead of 10 years probation. You will also notice there are NO federal charges/prosecution pending for this criminal.

It is time to act against the failure to impose the laws we now have and not enact more laws that will be ignored like those we now have.

The ACSL and the PSA are opposed to this concept in any form. Support for this bill, as presently written, will be considered by FOAC as an ‘anti-gun’ vote.


Kim Stolfer
ACSL, Legislative Committee, Chairman
www.acslpa.org
FOAC, Chairman
www.foac-pac.org
PSA, Legislative Committee, Vice-Chairman
(412) 221-3346, Home Phone
(412) 257-1099, Home Fax
(412) 352-5018, Cell

mention article is posted here
http://www.pafoa.org/forum/pennsylva...er-barrel.html

[WhiteFeather]

GOOD NEWS this got stuffed - not going anywhere any time soon