The Inky Misfires On Guns Again

I noted last week that The Philadelphia Inquirer had said nothing regarding the so-called Tiahrt Amendment, sponsored by Repug whack job Todd Tiahrt of the U.S. House (R-Crazyland, otherwise known as Kansas). This, as the Inky notes, protects rogue gun dealers by tying the hands of law enforcement in an effort to determine trends in murders committed by handguns through obtaining “trace data.”

However, the paper did finally speak out on the matter today (here).

The editorial also slams the PA State Legislature for its typical “thank-you-sir-may-I-have-another” routine on behalf of the NRA and politely chides the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus because, though they tried to get sensible gun legislation passed in Harrisburg (good luck there), they tried to do it by holding up the state budget in the process, affecting funding for SEPTA, preschool programs, etc. (but when all you have to grasp at are straws, sometimes straws look pretty damn good).

But since we are talking about the Inquirer after all, I must point out and try to refute this item of propaganda…

The odds of (firearms continuing to be obtained illegally) are heightened because of the lack of political will in Washington and Harrisburg to displease gun-rights absolutists.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate especially should feel ashamed.

If the Inky wants to blame the five Dems on the Senate Appropriations Committee who voted for this horrific amendment, go ahead. But, as Broder did yesterday, they cast blame on the party in power while absolving those chiefly responsible for the problem, and that would be the 14 Repugs on the committee who marched in lockstep with the gun nuts (as noted here, including Arlen Specter, who is mysteriously given a pass here by Philadelphia’s “newspaper of record”; on second thought, maybe that isn’t such a mystery after all).

So, welcome to the fight at long last, Inky (with reservations, though, I know). Of course, you could have said something about the Tiahrt Amendment when it actually mattered as the Courier Times did here (before it was voted on, that is), but I guess that was too much to ask.