Radnor Township Considering Mandatory Reporting of Lost or Stolen Firearms Could be C

[Kb! Bob]

Was able to make it afterall and all went as I thought it would. They unanimously voted to table the Ordinance and instead send a resolution to the State. CeaseFirePA as as greasy as ever. In leiu of actual facts, Exec. Director Joe Grace regaled the crowd about the funeral he attended today for the father of late Philly cop Pat McDonald. While the gun that killed McDonald was not lost or stolen, or even from PA, and the shitbag who killed him was repeat violent offender who should have been UNDER the jail but wasn't, this prick felt it was somehow an appropriate story. There is a special place in hell for those who exploit the pain of others for their own gain.

Aaaaaaanyway, this is a win in my opinion. An outright rejction would have been great, but thats just not the political climate around here. CeaseFirePA has taken their nonsense to the State and been tossed, thats the reason for the traveling rhetoric carnival in the first place. At the State level they are playing in the big leagues, and the fact-checkers and lawyers eat them alive.

I want to get our Solicitors opinion for future use. Apprently, he found language pertaining to "Home Rule" communities that is not ambiguous in the least, and EXRESSEDLY restricts the local gov's ability to create firearm law.

Thanks to all!!

[Kb! Bob]

Also, I did not see the usual faces, but if anyone else from PAFOA was there please PM me.

[amagi]

Sorry I couldn't make it Bob, I was studying for this test all night!

I am glad to see our hard work finally paid off and we stopped them from passing it. We can still oppose the resolution they passed, but they don't have that stupid ordinance on the books.

Overall, I think we can say this day belongs to the side of liberty. Too bad Cease Fire and personally I hate it when these people argue with emotion instead of facts. I get that type of raw hatred in New Jersey all the time.

Also! I got my new Crossbreed Super tuck in the mail when I got home! just took it for a spin at the Bryn Mawr WaWa. I LOVE this Commonwealth!

Good Job Everyone!

[lprgcFrank]

Bob.
Thanks for being there and standing up for us.
Frank

[anonymouse]

Was able to make it afterall and all went as I thought it would. They unanimously voted to table the Ordinance and instead send a resolution to the State. CeaseFirePA as as greasy as ever. In leiu of actual facts, Exec. Director Joe Grace regaled the crowd about the funeral he attended today for the father of late Philly cop Pat McDonald. While the gun that killed McDonald was not lost or stolen, or even from PA, and the shitbag who killed him was repeat violent offender who should have been UNDER the jail but wasn't, this prick felt it was somehow an appropriate story. There is a special place in hell for those who exploit the pain of others for their own gain.

It would've been nice to bring up to Mr. Grace that the person who bought the firearm originally, Jason Mack, received a three year jail sentence. The guy that transported it to Pennsylvania from SC (Stephen Lashley) got 10 years though. If it weren't for the fact that this straw purchase ended in a LEO's death, he probably would've gotten a six months with immediate parole...


http://forum.pafoa.org/pennsylvania-...ml#post1084934

What about when the firearm is used to actually murder a police officer? Shouldn't the person who provided the gun be held accountable?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opini...7?userLogout=y

Editorial: 'Straw' man convicted

If more lowlifes got the message that gun trafficking in Philadelphia would earn them years behind bars, maybe city streets would be less dangerous for brave officers like slain Police Sgt. Patrick McDonald.

That message - along with a measure of justice - was delivered loud and clear this week.

A federal jury convicted the man who transported the illegal handgun used by an ex-con to kill McDonald during a September 2008 traffic stop in North Philadelphia. When sentenced in March for violating weapons laws, Stephen Lashley, 33, could face up to five years in prison.

In the hands of just-paroled Daniel Giddings, the .45-caliber weapon Lashley purchased illegally for cash and marijuana proved lethal when turned on the 30-year-old police sergeant. Giddings also used the pistol to shoot at other officers before being gunned down and killed by police.

Kudos to agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives who tracked the weapon. But the route of the gun into the hands of a killer proved all too common: Lashley, barred from owning a gun because of an earlier drug conviction, bought it from a man who purchased the gun legally in South Carolina. Lashley brought it to Philadelphia and, eventually, it came into Giddings' possession.

For years, guns used in crimes across the city and in Camden have been funneled to both towns' worst neighborhoods in much the same way.

Federal authorities working with Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham and state Attorney General Tom Corbett have been doing a good job lately of breaking up that supply chain. The Lashley prosecution is a high-profile example, but so-called straw buyers like Lashley have been getting convicted in federal court on a fairly regular basis.

While good work by police and prosecutors is critical to fighting trafficking, there's also a major role yet to be played by Pennsylvania lawmakers in enacting tighter gun laws. All they have to do is listen to law enforcement officers and local officials in 160 communities - instead of pledging allegiance to the National Rifle Association.

Police, prosecutors, and community leaders simply want lawmakers to require the reporting of lost and stolen weapons. The statute would give authorities another weapon to pursue gun traffickers, who often claim guns are lost or stolen as a cover story.

Along with Philadelphia, 16 communities have passed their own version of this law in an effort to nudge the state into action. The western community of Aliquippa became the latest to do so last week - ironically, it's only an hour's drive from Penn Hills, where a police officer, Michael Crawshaw, 32, was shot and killed Sunday. His alleged assailant is a career criminal authorities contend used an illegal weapon.

The Crawshaw shooting prompted a gun control group, CeaseFirePA, to call on the General Assembly to "show the courage to pass commonsense reforms to reduce illegal gun trafficking to protect our police."

Indeed, continued inaction by lawmakers would be as callous as any gun trafficker's thoughtlessly delivering a potential murder weapon to the city streets.

I couldn't find any court dockets because it's a federal case. But look at these press releases from the Department of Justice.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/pae/News...leyrelease.pdf

Lashley faces up to 15 years in prison. What about Jason Mack, guy he bought the gun from?

http://www.justice.gov/usao/sc/LiveP...sentencing.pdf

Three years in prison. That's all.

An article about Jason Mack:
http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blog...p-killing.html

And this one final item also guaranteed to turn your stomach. Charges are now pending in connection with the gun Giddings used to kill Officer McDonald and wound another highway patrolman.

A 29-year-old man from South Carolina will be charged in what appears to be a classic “straw purchase” of a firearm. Jason Mack is believed to have lied on the federal form needed to purchase the gun.

Mack claimed the gun was stolen.

Amazing! He claimed it was stolen, but they were still able to get a conviction!

Story about Lashley's sentence:

10 years for gun trafficker in officer's death

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER | JAMES OSBORNE | Fri, Mar 12, 4:00 AM

Mar. 12--The man convicted of transporting the .45-caliber handgun used in the 2008 killing of Philadelphia Police Sgt. Patrick McDonald was sentenced last night by a federal judge to 10 years in prison.

As the sentence was read, euphoric cheers erupted in the courtroom, which was filled to near capacity with McDonald's family and more than 30 police officers with whom he'd worked in the Highway Patrol Division.

"The judge did what was right. These guys here, they need to know there's justice," said Larry McDonald, the father of the slain officer. "Now we need to try and put this chapter of our lives behind us, if that's possible."

Stephen Lashley was convicted in December of transporting two guns into Philadelphia from South Carolina, where he hired a man to buy the weapons for him. Lashley was unable to purchase the guns legally because of an earlier drug conviction.

One of the weapons was ultimately used by Daniel Giddings in the fatal shooting of McDonald during a roadside traffic stop. Giddings was killed by another officer in a shootout.

Under the sentencing guidelines approved by U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson, Lashley faced up to 15 years in prison. Prior to sentencing, the judge described the issue of balancing Lashley's familial obligations -- he has 1- and 12-year-old sons -- with the need to send a message to other gun traffickers.

"The details of this case could be used in an Academy Award-winning script for why gun trafficking has to be taken seriously by the courts," Baylson said.

At the outset of yesterday's proceedings, Lashley had requested that his court-appointed attorney, Kenneth Edelin, be removed after the attorney had failed to meet with him in prison, to discuss legal strategy, after December's jury verdict. Edelin said he hadn't seen a need to visit with his client, but apologized to the court.

After Baylson rejected that request, Lashley sat quietly through the proceedings before standing to address the court before sentencing.

Turning to the audience at the rear of the room, he said, "I truly apologize. I know it doesn't mean much because you lost a brother, but I truly am sorry for what happened."

Contact staff writer James Osborne at 856-779-3876 or jaosborne@phillynews.com.

[anonymouse]

Thank you so much for all your hard work Bob, and everyone else. I'm upset I wasn't able to make it last night.

Did the topic of the township parks ban come up at all? Will we have to return to address that? I know someone already brought it to their attention.

[anonymouse]

I really appreciate the guy who puts these up on youtube.

http://mainlinemedianews.com/article...f257971052.txt

Radnor board tables local gun-reporting law
Published: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
By Sam Strike

Radnor Township’s Board of Commissioners has temporarily abandoned its consideration of a proposed ordinance that would require residents to report a lost or stolen handgun or face possible fines or jail time.

The ordinance’s introduction in February was met with controversy and public comment from opponents and proponents.

Board president John Nagle said the board intends to leave it tabled until the state’s courts and legislature address the issue of reporting lost or stolen firearms.

So instead the board on Monday approved a resolution that calls upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Edward G. Rendell to adopt a statewide law requiring residents to report lost or stolen handguns within a “reasonable” time period.

Radnor’s proposed ordinance would have required residents to report a lost or stolen handgun within 72 hours of the actual loss or discovery of the loss. Violators could have been fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to 90 days.

Although there have already been legal challenges in the state to such laws, they have been thrown out for lack of standing, meaning that to reach a court decision, the law would have to be enforced, and then fought, in one of the municipalities that have approved it.

Township solicitor John Rice said that provisions in state statutes prohibit home-rule communities like Radnor from adopting ordinances regarding guns. The question of pre-empting state law has not been squarely addressed on the issue by the courts, Rice added.

Opponents of Radnor’s proposed ordinance argued that it tries to pre-empt state gun laws, that it is ineffective and unenforceable and that it infringes on people’s constitutional rights.

Proponents said such an ordinance is one way to try to stop legally purchased handguns from getting into the illegal arena, and that it will contribute to efforts to stop gun violence.

The proposed ordinance came from Ceasefire PA, a statewide organization working to reduce gun violence.

[theshadow]

Listening to that made me sick. There are some ARROGANT, PRETENTIOUS, SANCTIMONIOUS <deleted> on that Board. The "bloke" with the English Accent who's lived there 36 years apparently still hasn't assimilated to America, and should return to the UK at once, for his own pice of mind.

[Kb! Bob]

Listening to that made me sick. There are some ARROGANT, PRETENTIOUS, SANCTIMONIOUS <deleted> on that Board. The "bloke" with the English Accent who's lived there 36 years apparently still hasn't assimilated to America, and should return to the UK at once, for his own pice of mind.

I noticed, as well, that the only two proponants at this meeting were the old lady who suggested we "ban all guns" and the englishman. Ask our resident PAFOA engishman how the gun control goes over there and you will understand that guy better.

[WhiteFeather]

Lashley faces up to 15 years in prison. What about Jason Mack, guy he bought the gun from?

http://www.justice.gov/usao/sc/LiveP...sentencing.pdf

Three years in prison. That's all.

An article about Jason Mack:
http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blog...p-killing.html


:

And this one final item also guaranteed to turn your stomach. Charges are now pending in connection with the gun Giddings used to kill Officer McDonald and wound another highway patrolman.

A 29-year-old man from South Carolina will be charged in what appears to be a classic “straw purchase” of a firearm. Jason Mack is believed to have lied on the federal form needed to purchase the gun.

Mack claimed the gun was stolen.

Amazing! He claimed it was stolen, but they were still able to get a conviction!

To update the story ABOUT how really tough they are on Straw Purchasers, guy in South Carolina gets caught after doing SIX Straw Purchasers and ONLY gets three years in jail.

They are so tough on criminals.

Then after guy cuts a deal after the fact, the prosecutors try to get him a reduction in sentence based on his cooperation.

Maybe instead of passing another gun control law on all of US because
they don't REALLY punish multiple Straw Purchases with long jail sentences to send a message.

A mandatory sentence 20 years for two firearms and add 10 years for every firearm after that. Then they can negotiate down from there.

One Straw Purchase "may be" a mistake from someone that doesn't know the complex firearm laws, TWO or more times is more than likely criminal activity, start making it heavy jail time instead of a slap on the wrist.

That will send a message, much better than yet another gun control law that will HOPIFULLY catch another Straw Purchase, why bother?

Just so they can be let go with the currect punishment of a slap on the wrist? That's not going to solve anyone's problem with Straw Purchaser now is it?

He's jailed 10 years in gun fatality case


Authorities said that Lashley had acquired nine guns in South Carolina but that seven have never been recovered.


Six of the firearms that Lashley brought back from South Carolina were straw-purchased by Jason Mack, who testified for the government at Lashley's trial.

He is serving a three-year sentence in federal prison for making false statements to a licensed gun dealer.

Earlier this week, prosecutors filed papers in federal court in South Carolina seeking a reduction in Mack's sentence based on his cooperation