Long Guns

I HAD a very good Mother's Day weekend. I got some unexpected presents and spent time with my husband and kids, my parents and my grandmother. But I also spent important time with some mothers who are not as lucky, who no longer have their kids to celebrate with. I stood with these mothers, who lost their children to gun violence, as well as with survivors of gun violence, and called for change that will spare others the tragedies they have suffered. Together we sent a clear message: We are not going away; we are here for the long haul.

A state-sponsored cash-for-guns program for Camden County residents picked up 1,137 firearms over two days, a record number for the state, officials said Tuesday. New Jersey's attorney general said some gun owners who showed up at two Camden churches Friday and Saturday appeared to be motivated by the killings Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Jeffrey S. Chiesa alluded to the possible motive at a news conference at Camden's police department, where heaps of surrendered firearms were on display.

The parking lot at the National Guard Armory was full, and so was the grassy field used as an overflow lot. Lines stretched out the door. Inside, attendees squeezed through narrow aisles - past mothers pushing babies in strollers, past burly men in camouflage, past long rows of tables displaying knives and holsters and ammunition and handguns and semiautomatic rifles. Saturday marked the first of Philadelphia's five scheduled gun shows this year, and by midafternoon, the crowd at the National Guard Armory in Northeast Philadelphia showed no signs of diminishing.

If you're on a hunt for antique hunting items, take aim at the Lancaster Farm and Home Center, which hosts 100 dealers and collectors tomorrow. You'll find shell boxes, old fishing lures, rods and reels, long guns, knives and traps, and decoys at the event, produced by R&S Enterprises. Ephemera will include a number of antique hunting and fishing licenses, game posters, books, patches and pictures. If you happen to have such items yourself, you might consider bringing them to the show to sell or trade.

The state Senate is expected to act today on legislation that would postpone criminal background checks on the sales of rifles and shotguns until as late as the end of next year. Under current law, state police are required to begin manual record checks of rifles and shotguns next month. They now want to put off the deadline for those checks until Dec. 31, 1999, because of looming logistical problems and fears about troopers' safety. But they still expect to begin computerized checks of handguns by July 1. The manual checks on sales of so-called long guns had been postponed to July 1 by the legislature last year after the state police expressed concerns about having to seize guns from those who fail the background reviews.

HARRISBURG - As two U.S. senators were trumpeting a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks on gun sales, a state lawmaker unveiled his own proposal for broader background reviews in Pennsylvania. State Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D., Bucks) said his bill would expand background checks in the state to include purchases of long guns, including assault rifles, conducted in private sales. Santarsiero said it was time to close the state loophole that allows the transfer of long guns among private sellers without a background check.

A story Sunday on a Philadelphia gun show incorrectly stated Pennsylvania law on background checks for gun purchases. State law requires dealers to obtain background checks on all firearms sales. Private sellers must obtain a background check for handgun purchases but not for long guns. The Inquirer wants its news report to be fair and correct in every respect, and regrets when it is not. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, contact assistant managing editor David Sullivan (215-854-2357)

NEW CASTLE, Del. - Eight people have been charged in a multiagency investigation into alleged drug distribution by members of a motorcycle club, according to Delaware state police. More than 100 law enforcement officers conducted the three-month investigation into the Thunderguards Motorcycle Club, state police said. On Monday and Tuesday, authorities executed search-and-seizure warrants on 11 sites in Delaware and Maryland. More than two kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of $100,000, was seized, along with handguns, long guns, vehicles, and cash.

Even though the state police say they will be ready this year to begin instant criminal-background checks on sales of rifles and shotguns, a bill approved by the General Assembly gives them until the end of next year. A last-minute attempt by the state House to move the deadline up to Dec. 1 failed when Senate Republican leaders decided not to vote on a House-approved measure. Instead, both chambers have passed legislation setting the deadline for Dec. 31, 1999. Gov. Ridge is expected to sign the bill.

I HAD a very good Mother's Day weekend. I got some unexpected presents and spent time with my husband and kids, my parents and my grandmother. But I also spent important time with some mothers who are not as lucky, who no longer have their kids to celebrate with. I stood with these mothers, who lost their children to gun violence, as well as with survivors of gun violence, and called for change that will spare others the tragedies they have suffered. Together we sent a clear message: We are not going away; we are here for the long haul.

HARRISBURG - As two U.S. senators were trumpeting a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks on gun sales, a state lawmaker unveiled his own proposal for broader background reviews in Pennsylvania. State Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D., Bucks) said his bill would expand background checks in the state to include purchases of long guns, including assault rifles, conducted in private sales. Santarsiero said it was time to close the state loophole that allows the transfer of long guns among private sellers without a background check.

A story Sunday on a Philadelphia gun show incorrectly stated Pennsylvania law on background checks for gun purchases. State law requires dealers to obtain background checks on all firearms sales. Private sellers must obtain a background check for handgun purchases but not for long guns. The Inquirer wants its news report to be fair and correct in every respect, and regrets when it is not. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, contact assistant managing editor David Sullivan (215-854-2357)

The parking lot at the National Guard Armory was full, and so was the grassy field used as an overflow lot. Lines stretched out the door. Inside, attendees squeezed through narrow aisles - past mothers pushing babies in strollers, past burly men in camouflage, past long rows of tables displaying knives and holsters and ammunition and handguns and semiautomatic rifles. Saturday marked the first of Philadelphia's five scheduled gun shows this year, and by midafternoon, the crowd at the National Guard Armory in Northeast Philadelphia showed no signs of diminishing.

Living with Guns A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment By Craig R. Whitney Public Affairs. 304 pp. $28.99   Were there to be a reasoned debate about gun control in the United States, Craig R. Whitney might make an ideal moderator. A former reporter, editor, and foreign correspondent for the New York Times, he grew up in hunting country in central Massachusetts, rather than in a large urban area infested with handguns and knee-jerk liberals. He has produced a well-researched and nuanced work about the history of the Second Amendment and attitudes toward gun control from Plymouth Rock to the current Supreme Court.

Repeal Second Amendment After reading the National Rifle Association proposal to turn our schools into armed forts, and all the discussion about gun control and constitutional rights since the tragedy caused by a gunman in Connecticut, I have not heard one politician recommend repealing the Second Amendment ("In wake of Newtown, a misfire from the NRA," Wednesday). The Second Amendment was written by 18th-century men for an 18th-century world, at a time when men feared the power of kings to disarm them and take away their rights.

A state-sponsored cash-for-guns program for Camden County residents picked up 1,137 firearms over two days, a record number for the state, officials said Tuesday. New Jersey's attorney general said some gun owners who showed up at two Camden churches Friday and Saturday appeared to be motivated by the killings Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Jeffrey S. Chiesa alluded to the possible motive at a news conference at Camden's police department, where heaps of surrendered firearms were on display.

NEW CASTLE, Del. - Eight people have been charged in a multiagency investigation into alleged drug distribution by members of a motorcycle club, according to Delaware state police. More than 100 law enforcement officers conducted the three-month investigation into the Thunderguards Motorcycle Club, state police said. On Monday and Tuesday, authorities executed search-and-seizure warrants on 11 sites in Delaware and Maryland. More than two kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of $100,000, was seized, along with handguns, long guns, vehicles, and cash.