Gun

HOUSTON - National Rifle Association leaders told members Saturday that the fight against gun control legislation was far from over, with battles yet to come in Congress and next year's midterm elections, but they vowed that none in the organization would ever have to surrender their weapons. Proponents of gun control also asserted that they are in their fight for the long haul and have not been disheartened by last month's defeat of a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun sales.

They were standing next to each other in the pouring rain in Morrisville's Williamson Park, but they didn't exactly see eye to eye. Onstage, an anti-gun violence rally was in full swing, with preachers, parents and former Gov. Ed Rendell advocating for universal background checks on guns. In the crowd, anti-gun violence advocates intermingled with pro-gun rights protesters who had finished up a rally of their own an hour earlier. Men toting rifles and handguns stood at the front of the crowd and shouted at speakers on-stage while anti-gun violence protesters tried to drown them out with cheers and chants.

By Brian Wright O'Connor Nearly 50 years after leaving the University of Pennsylvania for Vietnam, Lt. Col. Mortimer Lenane O'Connor will receive a posthumous Ph.D. today in a ceremony honoring academic achievement and sacrifice on the field of battle. My father, who set aside his dissertation to lead soldiers in war, will be included in the Class of 1968, the year he would most likely have completed his doctorate had fate not intervened. Born in 1930, my dad grew up in the company of soldier-storytellers on Army garrisons from Manila to the Old West, and watched his own father and three uncles set off for war in Europe.

It was "paranoia" that caused the North Philadelphia teen-ager to shoot and kill a man who was trying to rob him, even after the man had put down his weapon, the suspect told police. Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron said Bryan Blair, 17, overreacted when he killed Anthony Jarman, 28, inside a house on Master Street near 15th on July 10. Yesterday, after a preliminary hearing, Municipal Judge J. Earl Simmons ordered Blair, of Jefferson Street near 17th, to stand trial in adult court on a general charge of murder.

THE LINE between life and death is sliver thin on Corlies Street. It was 4:45 on a November afternoon in 2008 when Alicia Colter stood up from the computer in her dining room and took a few steps toward the kitchen to start dinner. She stopped and turned when her then-8-year-old twins summoned her to the living room to watch something on TV. That very instant, a .380 bullet exploded through the dining-room window and whizzed by, six inches from her skull. If Colter hadn't veered, the bullet, which lodged in the kitchen wall, likely would have struck her. "My children called me away and they saved my life," Colter said.

WE'RE SURE Officer Vanessa Carter-Moragne feels terrible about her gun discharging and hurting a 10-year-old boy. She's a mother herself, after all; in fact, she was at school to pick up her son Wednesday when a group of students asked to see her gun. She removed the clip and passed the automatic weapon around; apparently, there was one bullet in the chamber. When she returned it to her holster, it discharged, grazing a student, who required five stitches and was sent home. But the fact that something far worse didn't happen doesn't mean she should get off easy.

ONE THING to remember about the Philadelphia Gun Violence Task Force is not how many guns it confiscates, but the people it arrests. And there is one other thing: the amount of noise it makes on the streets. Last week the task force, funded by a $5 million state grant championed by state Sen. Vince Fumo, announced 19 people had been charged with illegally transferring handguns. Since December 2006, the task force, which includes representatives of the offices of the district attorney, attorney general and Philadelphia police, has arrested 165 people and taken in 262 firearms.

TO letter-writer Albert Whitehead: As is clearly indicated in the picture on Page 6 (July 22), that is a revolver that doesn't eject its spent casings. The primers (center of the bullet) is indented, indicating the firing pin hit them and indeed blasted away in Southwest Philly - most likely at cops hired to protect you, your family and me when entering the city to work. Thanks to all the brave cops who put their lives on the line every day. Mark Daughterman, Langhorne Mr. Whitehead, before you start thinking that the police did wrong, look at the picture carefully!

By John R. Lott Jr. With horrible tragedies fresh in everyone's mind, including Newtown, people are understandably wondering what can be done to prevent yet another tragedy. Alas, the mainstream media have already concluded that more gun control must be the answer. Passions run high on both sides. As of Thursday morning, more than 80,000 Americans had signed a White House petition asking that CNN anchor Piers Morgan, a vocal proponent of banning guns, be deported. Another petition urging the White House to "Keep Piers Morgan in the USA" had generated 4,500 signatures.

Upon reading Christopher Hepp's Oct. 26 article, "Why prominent people hold gun permits," I feel compelled to respond to some of the issues discussed. I agree with the Police Commissioner Kevin M. Tucker that the number of gun permits should be reduced. But I believe that the more detailed application form, which now requires a fuller explanation of why the gun is needed and asks whether the applicant has tried other means before seeking a gun permit, is not enough. First of all, those interviewed for the article said that they rarely carried their guns.

THE GIANT letters and skull-filled periods tattooed on Michael DeLuca's neck stand for Same S--- Different Day, cops say, but Tuesday was hardly routine for DeLuca and his live-in girlfriend. DeLuca, 31, a member of the Warlocks Motorcycle Club, told police he was tattooing himself while high on meth and pot when a gun poking through his couch cushions caused such discomfort that he pulled it out and accidentally shot his 19-year-old girlfriend in the head, Upper Darby Police said.

TRENTON - Gov. Christie will get his first chance to change state gun laws after the Senate granted final approval Monday to several bills. A handful of measures aimed at reducing gun violence passed both Democratic chambers with bipartisan support, including a bill that requires state authorities to report certain mental-health records to the federal background-check database. That bill passed the Senate, 36-1, Monday. State and federal laws already ban gun ownership for those who have been involuntarily committed for mental-health treatment.

After a rural Kentucky family suffered an unspeakable gun tragedy late last month, that sad story, unfortunately, became new fuel for the scorching debate over gun control. When 5-year-old Kristian Sparks shot his 2-year-old sister with a rifle he had been given as a gift, opposing factions either defended rural America's gun culture or denounced it. Having grown up in the Deep South's gun culture, I feel nothing but sympathy for the Sparks family. One child is dead; another will be scarred for life.

By Julie Stewart and Pat Nolan Faced with an intolerable level of gun violence in Philadelphia, many legislators feel an urgency to do something to fix the problem. But the new mandatory prison sentences for illegally carrying a gun in the city are not the answer. The bills, introduced by State Sen. Lawrence Farnese (D., Phila.) and State Rep. John Taylor (R., Phila.), would impose a two-year minimum prison sentence on individuals caught in the city with a gun that did not belong to them.

Public officials are very selective about when violence and death matter. Massacres and terrorist incidents cannot be ignored, but the day-to-day toll from gun violence is often swept aside. Politicians who tout themselves as advocates of law and order don't want to be unmasked as caring even more about their ratings from gun lobbyists. And opponents of the most moderate gun reforms engage in a shameless game of bait-and-switch. Because measures such as background checks would not stop every murder, they're declared useless even though they'd still save lives.

Kutztown University students have been honing their debate skills since the college's administration announced this week that it would allow licensed concealed weapons on campus. Students interviewed on campus Friday resembled a microcosm of the gun-control debate in this country - a majority opposed allowing guns on campus, while a handful adamantly supported it. "I think it's stupid," said Katey Merkel, 20. "I don't want to get shot. " "I don't see any need for people to carry guns on campus," said Ashley Groves, 19. "We're in Kutztown, not Philly.

Kutztown University may not be the only state-owned college to begin allowing legally registered guns in "open areas" on campus. A blanket prohibition against firearms on campus is legally unenforceable, said lawyers for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) in conjunction with the state's Office of General Counsel. The system has 14 universities, including Kutztown. All, including West Chester and Cheyney, were asked to make sure their policies complied with the law, according to Kutztown president F. Javier Cevallos, who sent a message to the campus community about the change in policy Thursday evening.

They were standing next to each other in the pouring rain in Morrisville's Williamson Park, but they didn't exactly see eye to eye. Onstage, an anti-gun violence rally was in full swing, with preachers, parents and former Gov. Ed Rendell advocating for universal background checks on guns. In the crowd, anti-gun violence advocates intermingled with pro-gun rights protesters who had finished up a rally of their own an hour earlier. Men toting rifles and handguns stood at the front of the crowd and shouted at speakers on-stage while anti-gun violence protesters tried to drown them out with cheers and chants.

Police fatally shot a 21-year-old man who allegedly pointed a gun at officers Thursday night in Southwest Philadelphia. Shortly before 9 p.m., two 12th District officers on patrol in the 7000 block of Saybrook Avenue attempted to stop a man on the street when he ran off, said Chief Inspector Scott Small. One officer jumped out of the cruiser to chase the man while the other continued driving the vehicle, Small said. When they confronted the man in the 7000 block of Paschall Street, he allegedly pulled a loaded 9mm Ruger from his waistband and aimed at them, Small said.

TRENTON - A Senate committee advanced six gun-control measures Thursday but did not take up the most contentious one being debated in the Legislature: limiting ammunition magazines to 10 bullets. The Senate is moving more deliberately than the Assembly, which adopted 22 gun-control measures in February, just two months after the slayings of 20 children and six adults in a Newtown, Conn., school reignited debate across the country on gun laws. The bills adopted Thursday would bar firearms of .50 caliber or greater, force state-run pensions to divest from companies that make military-style guns for consumers, and require people applying for permission to buy guns to submit some mental-health records to a national background-check system.