Gun Control

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.

Gun violence has reached crisis proportions throughout the United States. Once a problem thought to be confined to large urban centers, gun violence now has spread to smaller, historically safer cities, such as Milwaukee, Wis., and Charlotte, N.C., both of which will set firearms fatality records in 1991. Even small towns in rural America are not immune from this violence, as the recent massacre of 23 people by a crazed gunman in Killeen, Texas, has horribly demonstrated. This year, firearms violence is expected to account for 33,000 deaths and more than 250,000 injuries.

On a day when Connecticut and Maryland legislators ushered in historic new gun laws, a bipartisan lineup of Pennsylvania legislators and law enforcement officials put forth a bill that would slap an added mandatory two-year prison term on anyone caught with an illegal firearm - but only in Philadelphia. "This is not about gun control," Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said Thursday, flanked by politicians and officials from the city and suburbs. "People who carry guns illegally are the people who are shooting people, murdering people, pistol-whipping people, threatening witnesses.

The League of Women Voters is known nationally for sponsoring and promoting political debates without endorsing political candidates. Its unbiased approach to politicians, however, does not mean the league is unwilling to take a stand on political issues. It made that point clear when it sponsored a public forum on gun control at the Swarthmore Borough Hall Wednesday. "We do not support candidates, but we do take a stand on issues," said Lyn Jones, Swarthmore league president.

ONCE again, Stuart Caesar writes a letter huffing and puffing with indignation, but very few facts. Nazi Germany under Hitler did not require the forcible disarming of the populace to sweep into power. In Hitler's case, he won power at the ballot box by cleverly manipulating German citizens into hating Jews, gays and communists and by blaming all of Germany's woes on someone else. Once Hitler had the general populace duped, he didn't need to take away their guns. If anything, it was too many guns and not enough rational thought that allowed Germany to descend into the madness that was the Nazi era. But if open gun-toting among the populace is Mr. Caesar's idea of paradise, I'm sure he wouldn't mind moving to certain countries in Africa, Asia or the Mideast that have no gun control whatsoever, where you can find kids as young as 12 walking around with fully loaded AK-47s.

RE YOUR JAN. 30 editorial on gun control: Twenty, 30, even 40 years ago, Philadelphia had drugs and gangs - and 40 years ago, gun laws were nowhere near as strict as they are now. Yet, there wasn't the violence we have today. Why? If the laxity of Pennsylvania gun laws is to blame for our violence, why was Pennsylvania's murder rate below the national average from 1995-2004? From 2004 the laws are unchanged, but murder accelerates. Why? We have more than 30,000 concealed-carry permit holders in Philadelphia.

The Second Amendment does not sanction anybody to bear arms, contrary to the views of the National Rifle Association, says John J. Turner Jr., professor of history at West Chester University. Turner spoke on "Gun Control: Do We Have an Unlimited Right to Bear Arms?" at the Chester County Historical Society in West Chester last week, as part of the society's three-part series titled "Hot Topics: The Bill of Rights and Its Current Debates. " The series commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.

The wounding of a city police detective yesterday and a 12-year-old West Philadelphia boy's critical shooting on Wednesday offer the latest proof that the struggle to keep guns out of the hands of would-be killers is far from over. That makes a rare victory for gun-control advocates this week all the more sweet. In a convincing, 7-2 decision Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a 1996 law written by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.) that bars anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning a firearm.

HERE'S a different approach to gun control. Anyone who already owns a gun and applies to purchase another would have to bring in their current gun, on which police would conduct a ballistics test to find out if it was used in any criminal activity. If they were straw buyers, the odds of them still having the gun in their possession has to be remote, which means they can't produce the first weapon. This would raise a red flag and negate another purchase. If they are shown to be clean, only then can they buy another.

A RECENT LETTER took up the topic of "the right to bear arms" and how liberals are trying to take that right away. I agree that it's not necessarily the gun's fault, more the person's fault doing the shooting. And yes, unfortunately, drug dealers and other criminals will find a way to get a gun for fights over drug corners and who has on the better sneaks. And yes, a lot of these people are repeat offenders, something that is very bothersome and should be looked at closely.

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.

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.

Fate is fickle, power cyclical, and nothing is new under the sun. Especially in Washington, where after every election the losing party is sagely instructed to confess sin, rend garments, and rethink its principles lest it go the way of the Whigs. And where the victor is hailed as the new Caesar, facing an open road to domination. And where Barack Obama, already naturally inclined to believe his own loftiness, graciously accepted the kingly crown and proceeded to ride his reelection success to a crushing victory over the GOP at the fiscal cliff, leaving a humiliated John Boehner & Co. with nothing but naked tax hikes.

BURKESVILLE, Ky. - In southern Kentucky, where children get their first guns even before they start first grade, Stephanie Sparks paid little attention as her 5-year-old son, Kristian, played with the rifle he was given last year. Then, as she stepped onto the front porch while cleaning the kitchen, "she heard the gun go off," a coroner said. In a horrific accident Tuesday that shocked a rural area far removed from the national debate over gun control, the boy had killed his 2-year-old sister, Caroline, with a single shot to the chest.

GOV. CORBETT has made it his priority to encourage job creation and growth in Pennsylvania by encouraging business to come here and grow their workforce. The governor has also made job training a priority, ensuring Pennsylvania residents are prepared for the jobs created in today's market. In 2012, when it was announced that the three Southeast refineries would close, Corbett worked diligently to save them. These efforts retained 1,800 direct jobs and thousands of ancillary jobs that relied on the active operation of those facilities.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Pat Toomey's approval rating reached a personal high in a new poll taken days after he wrapped up his push to expand background checks for gun purchases. Pennsylvania voters gave Toomey a 48-30 approval in a new Quinnipiac University poll. His approval is up four points from a month earlier. More than half of voters – 54 percent – thought more favorably of Toomey, a Republican, because of his work on guns, against just 12 percent who think less of him. Even among Democrats, 41 percent approve of Toomey's work, against 34 percent who disapprove.

CRAIG HETHERINGTON, a 44-year-old Bedford County trucker, held a sign reading, "Pat Toomey, You Are Fired. " Kay Hartman, a Mifflin County "tea-party patriot old enough to be wise," carried a large white flag featuring a black AK-47 over the words "Come and Take It. " Another woman held a sign: "Gun Control is False Hope; Jesus Christ is the True Hope. " And a bearded man wearing a "Don't Tread on Me" red vest held a sign: "We Come Unarmed (this time). " Welcome to the Pennsylvania gun club.

NOW THAT THE legislation for further background checks for gun control has failed, where are we going? I think this proposal was just a smokescreen to make people think that something was actually going to happen. Expanded background checks are not the answer to controlling gun violence. What we really need are controls on semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. We should also have automatic jail sentences for those caught with an unregistered gun. If you want a licensed handgun in your home, that's certainly your right, and I have no objection.

WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected a bipartisan plan cosponsored by Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey that would have expanded background checks for gun purchases in one of several votes Wednesday that brought a crashing halt to the legislative push for new gun laws. Gun-rights advocates also defeated bills that would have banned assault weapons and limited the size of gun magazines, while lawmakers favoring gun control stopped Republican plans to loosen gun laws, once again exposing deep rifts on the issue.

THE STABBING of 14 people on the Lone Star campus demands a commonsense and meaningful response. The pointed end of all knives should be removed and a flat piece of metal be permanently attached perpendicularly to the blade. The pointed end of any knife is not needed and serves no culinary purpose, even for trained chefs. Knife-blade lengths should be limited to 10 inches because that is all a household kitchen requires. Prospective knife purchasers need to be screened for cooking abilities and a required need to possess these potential weapons.