May 23 Gun Control panel in Philly

[GunLawyer001]

Just got back from a 3-hour CLE program on gun control, put on by PBI, the Pa Bar Institute.

Former Governor Ed Rendell moderated. It's clear that he really, really believes in more gun control, this isn't some convenient horse he wants to ride to greater offices, he really thinks that we should suck it up and accept additional laws. We need "mandatory reporting of theft or loss" so that the DA will have an easier job prosecuting the straw purchasers...except that there's no straw purchase element of the offense. He thinks the state should enact a law, make failure to report the loss of your gun in a timely manner at least an M-2.

My take: That's a time bomb, there will usually be some question about when the loss occurred, and when you reasonably should have known. And fundamentally, the citizens shouldn't bear the burden of laws and legal jeopardy so that the govt has an easier time of it. They serve us, we aren't here for their convenience. Laws should punish bad conduct, not be tools to create leverage against 2nd or 3rd or 4th-tier involved parties who hurt nobody.

Rendell pushed the renewal of the AWB. A lot. He wants to see smaller mags, elimination of guns. He talked about how the loon who shot Gabby Giffords was stopped because he had to reload, and smaller mags would force spree shooters to have to stop, giving passersby the chance to jump them. He said nothing at all about whether some soccermom defending her kids from intruders should also be required to give the attacking rapists and killers the same sporting chance; nor did he comment on why 10 rounds are plenty for you to defend yourself from multiple attackers, but "highly trained" cops need more rounds to deal with the same criminals.

Attorney Jonathan Goldstein did a marvelous job of representing our side against a lopsided panel. I'd recommend him (if you can't get me, of course), he's in the Perkasie area.

Jonathan Lowy was the Brady hack, and he spouted the usual Brady lies. He stated that all 2 million NICS denials were dangerous criminals and loonies blocked from getting guns; the truth is that as many as 94% of these are erroneous denials:
http://www.newsmax.com/JohnLott/brad...6/14/id/399967

He also alleges that Florida's gun laws killed Trayvon Martin, who was an unarmed teen doing nothing wrong, and killed in error by George Zimmerman (unless you count "smashing George's head against the concrete in an attempt to kill him" as "doing something wrong".)

He compared Florida's post-CCW crime experience with "typical city" New York, which has tough gun control and no CCW for the little people. Except that NYC is not at all typical, they enacted an arguably 4th Amendment-violating "broken windows" policy, of routinely stopping and searching all suspicious folks and seizing any guns found, but not prosecuting them. They also prosecuted all the little crimes. NYC, with a population of around 7 million, had its crime rate fall so dramatically that it affected the overall NATIONAL crime stats under Clinton (for all 300 million or so Americans), which Clinton took credit for. Compare that to Chicago, which merely bans all guns and has become the murder capital of the the midwest.

Lowy repeated the falsehood that an AR or AK fires rounds so powerful that they would go through many walls and kill several neighbors with their unstoppable momentum, so they'd be no good for home defense. And the massive 5.56 and 7.62X39 rounds are no good for hunting because they would explode and shred the meat, unlike those nice, dainty 30-06 and .308 rounds that REAL hunters use. The fact that there's far less energy in an AR or AK round than in a standard "deer gun" round is an inconvenient truth.

Basically, Lowy spouted the usual falsehoods. He lied out his ass, and he either knew it, or he's too ignorant about firearm issues to have a voice in this debate.

Shira Goodman was the hateful shrew from Ceasefire PA, and she really, really hates us all. She made the usual platitudes about nobody wanting to take our guns, but in fact, it was clear that she'd be just fine with that happening, because our little hobby is getting people killed, and the 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with our guns, except for having a revolver inside your home. She had some fans in the audience, all women, all with obvious anger management issues. If evil gun owners get trapped by a patchwork of different gun laws in every PA municipality, they think we pretty much deserve some pain, because we're mostly men, and evil gun owners at that. They seemed like the kind of women who would make their sons sit to pee.

Representatives Brian Cutler and Todd Stephens are both good men who bring honor to their profession, which needs it. Their discussion of the issues was thoughtful and fact-based.

PPD Commissioner Charles Ramsey seemed sort of tired, but he made it clear that he'd like to see more gun laws, even if none of them are ever shown to work. He thinks that "doing something" is important, even if it's based on an unsubstantiated hope that maybe a bunch of ineffective laws would have a synergistic effect and at least slow down the crime. He discounted a survey of the police rank and file that thinks that gun laws don't really work, because he prefers a survey of the politicians who make up the Chiefs of Police Association, and the Chiefs who sit behind desks will obviously understand street crime better than the cops who spend their days dealing with it up close.

A worthwhile event. Everyone who has the chance should consider attending such panels, they are far more revealing than the edited sound bites you get from the TV news.

[donstrom]

I hope you showered with Lysol after being among that crowd.

We obviously have a very steep uphill battle ahead of us.

Thanks for the insight!

Regards - Don

[t1066]

Thank you for going and thank you for the insight.

+rep!

[vinlander]

Would it be legal to bring a camera and tape the whole thing so they can be outed later for their beliefs?

[GunLawyer001]

Would it be legal to bring a camera and tape the whole thing so they can be outed later for their beliefs?

It's going to be copyrighted by PBI, but they usually offer DVD's or webcasts of PBI events. Try here:
http://www.legalspan.com/pbi/publications.asp

I don't think that the anti's are really embarrassed about what they said, they say this stuff a lot.

[FNG19]

Everyone who has the chance should consider attending such panels, they are far more revealing than the edited sound bites you get from the TV news.

Well, it's good to know that the Other Side is being led by a gaggle of intellectual Typhoid Maries, and that they're being accurately represented by the gastric distress that passes for media coverage these days.

[TheTsieck]

Thanks for the overview!

[Freedom fighter]

Thanks for the overview!

Ditto! Nice summary.
The worst part is you actually had to pay to hear that crap!

[stainless]

Very good report Sir. Thanks you for taking the time to post it here.

Sometimes I step back and try to comprehend why the anti's are so radical about guns. I usually stop when I get an unbearable headache, but the best I can come up with is that most are just mindless robots. They know nothing about which they speak.

Their bias is unfathomable. In the case of the pols it is for votes (via face time and cranking up the base). Unfortunately the base is being taken for a ride because they are not capable of thinking.

Obviously I am not telling anyone here what they don't already know. Wouldn't it be cool to take one or two anti's to a range so they could learn how much fun it is and realize that whack jobs are the ones killing folks, not responsible gun owners

Sorry for the hijack.

[JenniferG]

Thanks for going and for the report GL. The only way to stop those guys is to defeat them on election day. They spout the same old tired crap but it is necessary for someone to be there to point it out and push the lever to flush.

Shira Goodman "shrew" is an apt description. She was looking right at me at their Morrisville Park debacle when she said "I'm not afraid of you" I was sorta yelling some unladylike things while she was shrewing out up on stage. She is the typical leftist that knows what is best for everyone else but if asked she couldn't tell you which end the bullet comes out of the gun. When she says you are more likely to shoot yourself than an intruder I think she may talking from her own personal experience with a gun.

Whenever someone says Ed Rendell I always have to mention he put Neil Ferber on death row for a murder Rendell knew Ferber had not committed. What can you say that hasn't been said about Fat Eddie Rendell. He is a gun grabber except when it comes to his own personal bodyguard. Typical do as I say and not as I do kinda a guy. It was fun making fun of him during the Philly NRA Convention. Rendell knows the only thing that reduces crime is to go after the criminals and put them away but that's not what he's about. He purposely refused to put people that committed crimes with a gun away for the mandatory sentences. He did it so he could look like he needed more money from that big crime bill they passed you know 100k new cops on the street. More crime more money from Slick Willie.