Anti - Congressman Mike Doyle Pennsylvania 14th Congressional District (Pittsburgh)

[edstephan]

http://doyle.house.gov/issue/gun-violence
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, more than 16,000 Americans are murdered each year – and more than 11,000 of them are killed with firearms. The murder rate in the United States is three times as high as that of our next-door neighbor Canada (4.8 murders per 100,000 people versus 1.6 in 2011) – and four to five times as high as the other industrialized first-world nations (1.1 murders per 100,000 people in France and the UK, 0.8 per 100,000 people in Germany and Spain, and 0.4 per 100,000 people in Japan).

Our region isn’t immune to this terrible trend; in fact, we’re above the national average. Between 2008 and 2012, there were nearly 500 murders in Allegheny County – nearly 100 a year. With a population of 1¼ million people, that gives us a murder rate of roughly 8 murders per 100,000 people – and 7 out of 8 murders in Allegheny County are carried out with firearms.

The tragic elementary school shootings in Newtown Connecticut have brought gun safety issues to the forefront of our public debate recently. Once again, our region is no stranger to such horrendous incidents. In fact, over the last 13 years, we’ve had 5 mass shootings in southwestern Pennsylvania – two in 2000, two in 2009, and one in 2012. 16 people died as a result, and 17 people were wounded. At least 4 of the 5 shooters were mentally ill, and at least 3 shooters had multiple weapons. The shooters are all either dead or on Death Row, but many of our friends and neighbors still bear the scars, physical and/or mental, of those attacks.

Such a high number of deaths and injuries isn’t inevitable. I firmly believe that there are policies the federal government can adopt to reduce the number of homicides committed in our country each year, and I am working actively in Congress to have them enacted into law.

For example, I am a cosponsor of the following gun safety bills:

The Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2011, HR591
Currently, the Brady Law requires criminal background checks of people purchasing guns from federally licensed gun dealers, but unlicensed sellers are not required to do background checks. This loophole causes particular problems at gun shows, which give unlicensed sellers a guaranteed venue. In most states convicted felons, domestic violence abusers, and those who are dangerously mentally ill can walk into any gun show and buy weapons from unlicensed sellers, who operate week-to-week with no established place of business, without being stopped, no questions asked. This bill would require a successful background check for any purchaser of a firearm at a gun show.

The Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act, HR 263
The so-called fire-sale loophole currently allows gun dealers whose licenses have been revoked by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to convert their entire business inventories of firearms into personal collections and then liquidate the firearms in unregulated fire sales. By converting the business inventory firearms into personal collections, a formerly-licensed dealer can sell the guns without conducting otherwise required, instant FBI background checks that determine whether the purchaser is in a category of individuals prohibited from owning a gun. The Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act would require that any such firearms be transferred only to a licensed gun dealer or a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency.

The Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act, HR 308
This bill would prohibit the transfer, importation, or possession of high capacity magazines (that can hold dozens of rounds of ammunition) that are manufactured after the bill is enacted. Many of these devices are currently in private hands, and this bill would not ban their possession. Instead, the bill would prohibit the transfer of those devices currently in existence. This would allow individuals who currently own the devices to legally retain possession but works to prevent the spread of the devices by making it illegal to transfer them to other individuals.

The Fix Gun Checks Act of 2011
This bill would encourage greater reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for individuals with mental illness, domestic violence records, and histories of drug abuse, by increasing the penalties for states that fail to adequately turn over records for those who are prohibited from owning a gun. The legislation would also require that all gun sales, including those by private sellers, be subject to a background check, effectively ending the gun show loophole. The bill would also increase penalties for states that do not comply with the NICS’s current requirements. States that do not make available the data needed to assess those who are or may be prohibited from possessing firearms could face reductions in the amount of federal crime-fighting funds they receive. Another major provision of both bills focuses on the mental health issues of those seeking to possess firearms.

In addition, I strongly support the reinstatement of a ban on assault weapons. A national ban on the sale, import, and manufacture of assault weapons was passed in 1994, but it expired in 2004. While I was not in Congress when this law was approved, I subsequently voted to oppose repeal of the Assault Weapons Ban, and I have cosponsored legislation to reinstate it.

I also believe that we need to have a larger discussion in this country about mental health and the types of services that exist for people who need help. Maybe one or more of our local mass murders could have been avoided if John Shick, George Sodini, Richard Baumhammers, Ronald Taylor, and possibly Richard Poplawski had received the necessary help. I agree with President Obama that getting the mental health services one needs ought to be as easy as buying a gun.

I look forward to the results of Vice President Biden’s interagency task force on gun violence in January – and working with my colleagues in the coming Congress to reduce gun violence in our country.

An OC Activist and 1 of the 3%
Ed Stephan

[Fujisawa-sensai]

Yes, he's horrible. I just got an email response from him saying he appreciates my opinion and will seek to balance my Second Amendment rights with the need to protect children.

[mejho]

Then let us start to fight back. I am an allegheny county resident in this spineless mans district. People need to take a look in the mirror, I wonder how many members of this forum voted democratic to keep this man in office.

This is the results for doyle in the 14th district:

Candidate Votes Pct.
✓ Mike Doyle I 251,932 76.9%
Hans Lessmann 75,702 23.1%

This obviously has ties to the union and/or black voters. So take a look in the mirror if you voted for him, obama or any other democrat...you are part of the problem. These people are anti everything American. We have a mid term election coming and if the republicans lose the lower house, we as a nation will surely see our rights stripped away. If obama has the house and senate democraticly controlled he and they will run amok.

If you believe in any part of the bill of rights then you must support them all. You can't pick and choose, even when you disagree with something that they allow. This goes out to both parties.

It is time to take this country back from the politicians, we need politicians who believe in the bill of rights and in the people who go to work every day and pay taxes. Stop listening to the BS that it is the middle class vs the rich or big business that is how they control you. If you want America to be strong and great again then we need big business, manufacturing and so forth that is where jobs are created, governement jobs only use tax payers dollars. WAKEUP!

[Yellowfin]

Yes, he's horrible. I just got an email response from him saying he appreciates my opinion and will seek to balance my Second Amendment rights with the need to protect children.

Interestingly, exercise of our 2nd Amendment rights is usually with the purpose of protecting our families, so that is protecting children. Someone who is anti gun is inherently pro-rapist, pro-kidnapper, and pro-pedophile.