Sportsmen vow to fight calls for gun restrictions

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Originally Posted by www.philly.com

Sportsmen vow to fight calls for gun restrictions
At a national convention in Bethlehem, Pa., delegates also rejected resolutions on deer hunting.
By Don Sapatkin
Inquirer Staff Writer

Delegates representing nearly 100,000 sportsmen voted unanimously yesterday to fight all gun restrictions proposed to stem a surge of violence in Philadelphia.

The motion to "adamantly oppose" the legislative solutions to a rise in killings in the city essentially reiterated long-standing support for gun owners' rights from the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, the group's executive director, Melody Zullinger said.

She added that the vote strengthened her ability to lobby lawmakers in Harrisburg on behalf of more than 300 sportsmen's clubs around the state.

A special session of the House is scheduled for Sept. 26 to consider ways to reduce urban gun violence. With 274 homicides in the city so far this year, a broad-based coalition of political, religious, business, government, labor and law enforcement leaders from the city and suburbs is pushing for action to curb the availability of guns.

Among the proposals are bills that would require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within 24 hours of discovery; restrict handgun sales to one per month; and allow Philadelphia to enact its own handgun laws.

Pennsylvania law gives virtually all power to regulate firearms to the state. Republicans and Democrats in Harrisburg, where rural areas are strong, have shown little inclination for change.

Yesterday's action by the sportsmen came toward the end of their annual fall convention, held this year in Bethlehem. The delegates also rejected by large margins resolutions seeking to roll back changes made several years ago in deer-hunting regulations: a return to a two-week buck season and two-day doe season, and elimination of antler restrictions that determine legal quarry.

Those votes also were in line with the federation's position of supporting the increasingly controversial deer-management practices developed by state game commission biologists.

On Saturday, several candidates addressed the sportsmen, including U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) and his Democratic challenger, Bob Casey Jr.

Neither is a hunter, Zullinger said, although each took the opportunity to stress his support of gun owners' rights.